With elections hovering ominously over the remains of truth and reality both here in sa国际传媒 and later in the U.S., it is time for those of us fascinated by the power of language to turn our attention to the perils of that over used verbal slight of mouth, the euphemism.
Euphemisms, especially as employed by 鈥渢hose above,鈥� have been the subject of satirists since Lewis Carroll鈥檚 scathing parody about of a young girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by absurd versions of recognizable celebrities of the mid-19th century.
Interestingly, and appropriately, Alice in Wonderland has never been out of print since 1865, when it was first published.
Two of Carroll鈥檚 most often-quoted characters, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, are still names flung back and forth on the hustings 154 years later.
Another of Carroll鈥檚 characters, Humpty Dumpty, was and still is a term used to describe an overweight, verbally clumsy person, given to meaningless statements that are baffling to everyone except Humpty himself.
鈥淲hen I use a word,鈥� Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 鈥榠t means just what I choose it to mean 鈥� neither more nor less.鈥�
Humpty was a master of the euphemism, that vague term that disguises an otherwise indigestible truth or is, as the saying goes, 鈥渁 velvet glove enfolding reality鈥檚 iron fist.鈥�
At its most appalling level of misuse in this past week or so, mass murderers were euphemistically referred to in the media as 鈥渟hooters,鈥� not 鈥渕urderers whose insane purpose is to mindlessly kill as many people as possible in the shortest period of time.鈥�
In the same way, although describing less drastic but no less far-reaching consequences, experienced journalists, when writing about candidates for election or even those already elected to high office, tend to prefer euphemism over reality when quoting various claims and denials.
Subsequently, euphemisms transform an obvious narcissist into a 鈥渢emperamental perfectionist,鈥� a bigot into a 鈥渢raditionalist鈥� or an unhinged demagogue into a 鈥減assionate idealist.鈥�
When a political wannabe, or one already safely in office, tells a straight out in-your-face lie, the statement becomes 鈥渁n exaggeration,鈥� 鈥渁 half-truth,鈥� 鈥渁 fib鈥� or the currently in-vogue 鈥淧inocchio.鈥� Anything except an egregiously outrageous lie.
In the Wonderland of political spin, lies are no longer deliberate attempts to deceive but, euphemistically, statements that 鈥渄eviate from the truth,鈥� 鈥渆quivocations鈥� or 鈥渟lip-ups鈥� that 鈥減lay fast and loose鈥� or 鈥渢rifle鈥� with the facts or that the liar 鈥渕ight have misspoken.鈥�
When it comes to euphemism-wielding prevaricators, the clear winners would be politicians who describe people who flee across a border as 鈥渋llegal aliens鈥� and 鈥渁聽threat to security,鈥� unless those same politicians are employing immigrant people to tend their golf courses or resorts, at which point the 鈥渋llegal aliens鈥� become known as 鈥渦ndocumented workers.鈥�
Perhaps these examples of abuse by euphemism could be considered extreme but, at a more accustomed and much more amusing level, we have all become used to second-time-around vehicles being 鈥減re-owned,鈥� even 鈥減re-loved.鈥�
Real-estate agents, struggling to find something positive to include in a house ad, will describe an older building as 鈥� a pristine mid-century modern gem.鈥�
A house from the 1950s will have retained 鈥渕uch of its original charm鈥� while 鈥渁 quaint family home with many upgrades鈥� fairly screams 鈥渉andyman special鈥� to the reader not misled by euphemisms for 鈥渂ulldozer bait.鈥�
One apparently inaccessible gem I聽found was celebrated as having 鈥渇erry access to the village.鈥�
The world of entertainment brought us Janet Jackson鈥檚 鈥渨ardrobe malfunction,鈥� or a bumbling awards speaker who got it all wrong but was just 鈥渢ired and emotional.鈥�
An offensively drunk Hollywood celebrity was described by her publicist as just 鈥渋ntensely convivial.鈥�
In a not-so-long-ago era, some Nixonian statements turned out to be 鈥渋noperative鈥� after the fact-checkers had called out the lie. There were also 鈥渙perative statements鈥� that a Nixon White House press secretary used to describe any of those statements that were actually true.
A personal favourite, dating back to pre-Second World War days, was 鈥渓ikes his Wagner,鈥� a more euphemistic way of describing a member of the British aristocracy who was a Hitler admirer and who thought that the Nazis were a breath of fresh air in European politics.
Come to think of it, 鈥渓ikes his Rachmaninoff鈥� or 鈥渆njoys a little rice and kimchi from time to time鈥� are euphemisms we have yet to hear from the White House 鈥� not yet, anyway. Stay tuned.
Geoff Johnson is a former superintendent of schools.
