For example, according to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the neutral Hebrew lexical item פעימות peimót ("beatings (of the heart)"), rather than נסיגה nesigá ("withdrawal"), to refer to the stages in the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (see Wye River Memorandum), in order to lessen the opposition of right-wing Israelis to such a move. Įuphemisms are sometimes used to lessen the opposition to a political move. For instance, one reason for the comparative scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at Auschwitz, relative to their sheer number, is "directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms".
They may be created for innocent, well-intentioned purposes or nefariously and cynically, intentionally to deceive and confuse.Įuphemisms are also used to mitigate, soften or downplay the gravity of large-scale injustices, war crimes, or other events that warrant a pattern of avoidance in official statements or documents.
Commonly, euphemisms are used to avoid directly addressing subjects that might be deemed negative or embarrassing, e.g. Reasons for using euphemisms vary by context and intent. The term euphemism itself was used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks with the meaning "to keep a holy silence" (speaking well by not speaking at all). Eupheme is a reference to the female Greek spirit of words of praise and positivity, etc. Euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemia ( εὐφημία) which refers to the use of 'words of good omen' it is a compound of eû ( εὖ), meaning 'good, well', and phḗmē ( φήμη), meaning 'prophetic speech rumour, talk'.
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