Euphemisms in English Everyday Discourse Eufemismy V anglickém jazykovém prostředí

1.1.3 Euphemism as a Barometer of Changing Attitude 
Euphemisms are not considered to be stable items in a language because they are 
created almost daily. Some of them get into the centre of vocabulary and maintain their 
euphemistic status, but the others enter only the periphery and later on they disappear 
from our word stock. 
Sleep with
or 
pass away
are examples of those euphemisms which 
have been here for hundreds of years and they are still in use. Even some of them were 
intended to be primarily euphemisms, but in the course of time they became a part of 
everyday vocabulary and lost their euphemistic value.
“Penis, Latin word for tail, in Cicero’s time was put to work as a euphemism for the 
male sex organ. Once this term lost its euphemistic cover, others stepped up to take its 
place, then shape-shifted.” (Keyes, 2010: 13)
An instant changing of euphemistic climate might be seen when speaking about 
children whose parents did not get married. In the history we called them
bastards
or 
children of sin
, later on the term 
illegitimate children
was introduced. Nowadays, there 
is no need for euphemism which would name these offspring because our society does 
not care about the marital status of the child’s parents.
Language is an open system and undergoes many changes and one of these shifts 
affects euphemisms as well. Their meaning used to be good, but in the course of time 
they became bad and good again. A euphemism which was polite yesterday is tomorrow 
seen as a strait-laced roundabout. Keyes (2010) introduces an example of this 
euphemistic constant state of flux and thus the word 
cherry
. “It was once considered 
more respectable than 
hymen
. Now, just the opposite is true. The former is thought to be 
vulgar, the latter decent (Keyes 2010: 13).”
According to Rawson (1981) bad meanings or associations of words tend to 
drive competing good meanings out of circulation. This thesis is supported by an 
example of the word 
intercourse
which used to be a general term and meant 
communication
. However, when it reached its euphemistic status, the sexual meaning 
became dominant and nowadays other senses of this word are hardly ever applied.
Keyes (2010: 11) points out that “today, it is death, disability and discrimination 
that provide fodder for euphemisms, as we grope for inoffensive terms to designate 
loved ones who have died, those with physical or intellectual limitations, and members 

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of minority groups.” Yet, it does not mean that we would be more straightforward and 
we would be able to express ourselves openly without any inhibitions, but we can speak 
about certain topics with a greater deal of frankness, however, we still use euphemisms.