Euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener; or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for the speaker. (Relentlessly wrenched from the bowels of Wikipedia)
It is my opinion that the person who invented the concept of the euphamism needs to die. If (s)he is already dead, they need to be exhumed, brought back to life, and killed again. It is a sad fact that they exist, sugar coating the very words that usually make people stand up and pay attention.
A primary example of this lies in a realm that up until now has been cautiously avoided by the crew here at Arsenic and Jubilation. I speak of politics. I was enjoying an Oktoberfest celebration at the university watering hole last week, when we were approached - very nonchalantly I might add - by an individual who wanted to preach to us the virtues of socialism. I snickered quietly to myself and sat back, disinterested, while my companion decided to engage this stain upon the free market in conversation. I tuned out, listening to the entertainment around us as she blah blah'd on, tuning in occasionally to hear her talking about chair factories, planned economics, and the like. What made me emit an audible snort was when she defined socialism as 'communism, but with all the negative connotations removed'
Hah! Yes, because you can simply remove every bad reference to an ideology simply by calling it something else. I know! Let's rename Nazism to nationalism! There! The Holocaust never took place! I made it all better! Fuck off.
My point isn't really that socialism is bad. I believe it is, but if there is one thing that this writer has learned, it is to keep his political opinion to himself. My point is that anyone who preys on the ignorant by sugarcoating their extemist political views fancy new words needs to die a slow and painful death.
kthxbai.
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