MODERN American speech, while not always clear or correct or turned with much style, is supposed to be uncommonly frank. Witness the current explosion of four-letter words and the explicit discussion ...

Historically, euphemism has been correlated to fear or superstition. For example, often times we hear death referred to as passing away; while death is inevitable, avoiding direct reference to it both ...

George ORWELL’s essay “Politics and the English Language”, published in 1946, took aim at the bureaucrats, academics and hacks who obfuscated their misdeeds in vague, jargon-packed writing.

Throughout history euphemisms have been exploited for insidious purposes. They've been used to mislead and deceive—that is, with hypocritical intent. And even when they've been employed to be ...