The Branches of Semantics "Symbol and Referent - Euphemism"

“SYMBOL AND REFERENT”

These terms may clarify the subject. A symbol is something which we use to represent another thing - it might be a picture, a letter, a spoken or written word - anything we use conventionally for the purpose. The thing that the symbol identifies is the referent. This may sometimes be an object in the physical world (the word Rover is the symbol; a real dog is the referent). But it may be something which is not at all, or not obviously, present – like freedom, unicorns or Hamlet. Difference between both of them that referent is (semantics) the specific entity in the world that a word or phrase identifies or denotes while symbolis a character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.

SYMBOLISM

Symbolism is the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.

Symbolism can take different forms. Generally, it is an object representing another to give it an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant. Sometimes, however, an action, an event or a word spoken by someone may have a symbolic value. For instance, “smile” is a symbol of friendship. Similarly, the action of someone smiling at you may stand as a symbol of the feeling of affection which that person has for you.

Symbols do shift their meanings depending on the context they are used in. “A chain”, for example, may stand for “union” as well as “imprisonment”. Thus, symbolic meaning of an object or an action is understood by when, where and how it is used. It also depends on who reads them.

Common Examples of Symbolism in Everyday Life In our daily life, we can easily identify objects, which can be taken as examples of symbol such as the following :

The dove is a symbol of peace.

A red rose or red color stands for love or romance.

Black is a symbol that represents evil or death.

A ladder may stand as a symbol for a connection between the heaven and the earth.

A broken mirror may symbolize separation

Symbolism Examples in Literature

To develop symbolism in his work, a writer utilizes other figures of speech, like metaphors, similes, allegory, as tools. Some symbolism examples in literature are listed below with brief analysis :

Example 1

We find symbolic value in Shakespeare’s famous monologue in his play As you Like It :

“All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

they have their exits and their entrances;

And one man in his time plays many parts,”

The above lines are symbolic of the fact that men and women, in course of their life perform different roles. “A stage” here symbolizes the world and “players” is a symbol for human beings.

Example 2

William Blake goes symbolic in his poem Ah Sunflower. He says :

“Ah Sunflower, weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the sun;

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the traveler’s journey is done;”

Blake uses a sunflower as a symbol for human beings and “the sun” symbolizes life. Therefore, these lines symbolically refer to their life cycle and their yearning for a never-ending life.

Example 3

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights presents almost every character, house, surroundings and events in a symbolic perspective. The word “Wuthering”, which means stormy, represents the wild nature of its inhabitants. The following lines allow us to look into the symbolic nature of two characters :

“My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it; I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath a source of little visible delight, but necessary.”

The phrase “foliage of leaves” for Linton is a symbol for his fertile and civilized nature. On the contrary, Heathcliff is likened to an “eternal rock” which symbolizes his crude and unbendable nature.

Example 4

Sara Teasdale in her poem Wild Asters develops a number of striking symbols :

“In the spring, I asked the daisies

If his words were true,

And the clever, clear-eyed daisies

Always knew.

Now the fields are brown and barren,

Bitter autumn blows,

And of all the stupid asters

Not one knows.”

In the above lines, “spring” and “daisies” are symbols of youth. “Brown and barren” are symbols of transition from youth to old age. Moreover, “Bitter autumn” symbolizes death.

Function of Symbolism

Symbolism gives a writer freedom to add double levels of meanings to his work: a literal one that is self-evident and the symbolic one whose meaning is far more profound than the literal one. The symbolism, therefore, gives universality to the characters and the themes of a piece of literature.

EUPHEMISM

The term euphemism refers to polite, indirect expressions which replace words and phrases considered harsh and impolite or which suggest something unpleasant.

Euphemism is an idiomatic expression which loses its literal meanings and refers to something else in order to hide its unpleasantness. For example, “kick the bucket” is a euphemism that describes the death of a person. In addition, many organizations use the term “downsizing” for the distressing act of “firing” its employees.

Euphemism depends largely on the social context of the speakers and writers where they feel the need to replace certain words which may prove embarrassing for particular listeners or readers in a particular situation. 

Some examples :

Direct and blunt	Euphemism
die	pass away, pass on, go to be with the Lord, called home, gone to heaven, departed
copulate	engage in sexual intercourse, make love, have marital relations, pitching woo
urinate	pass water, number one, go to the toilet, go to the bathroom, wee wee, relieve yourself

Often a euphemism is used to make something bad sound better, and in this case, the disguise is usually deceptive or wrong.

Direct and blunt	Euphemism
murder	terminate, neutralize, put a hit on
lie	misstatement; misspeaking; plausible denial
steal	appropriate from
civilian deaths	collateral damage
abortion	interruption of pregnancy
pro-abortion	pro-choice
whore house	cat house, house of the rising sun, massage parlor, sporting house, Turkish bath, body shop

Techniques for Creating Euphemism

Euphemism masks a rude or impolite expression but conveys the concept clearly and politely. Several techniques are employed to create euphemism.

It may be in the form of abbreviations
e.g. B.O. (body odor), W.C. (toilet) etc.

Foreign words may be used to replace an impolite expression
e.g. faux (fake), or faux pas (foolish error) etc.

Sometimes, they are abstractions
e.g. before I go (before I die).

They may also be indirect expressions replacing direct ones which may sound offensive
e.g. rear-end, unmentionables etc.

Using longer words or phrases can also mask unpleasant words
e.g. flatulence for farting, perspiration for sweat, mentally challenged for stupid etc.

Using technical terms may reduce the rudeness exhibited by words
e.g. gluteus maximus.

Deliberately mispronouncing an offensive word may reduce its severity
e.g. darn, shoot etc.

Euphemism Examples in Everyday Life

Euphemism is frequently used in everyday life. Let us look at some common euphemism examples :

You are becoming a little thin on top (bald).

Our teacher is in the family way (pregnant).

He is always tired and emotional (drunk).

We do not hire mentally challenged (stupid) people.

He is a special child (disabled or retarded).

Examples of Euphemism in Literature

Example 1

Examples of euphemism referring to sex are found in William Shakespeare’s “Othello” and “Antony and Cleopatra”. In “Othello”, Act 1 Scene 1, Iago tells Brabantio :

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.”

Here, the expression “making the beast with two backs” refers to the act of having sex.

Similarly, we notice Shakespeare using euphemism for sexual intercourse in his play “Antony and Cleopatra”. In Act 2 Scene 2, Agrippa says about Cleopatra :

“Royal wench!

She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed.

He plowed her, and she cropped.”

The word “plowed” refers to the act of sexual intercourse and the word “cropped” is a euphemism for becoming pregnant.

Example 2

John Donne in his poem “The Flea” employs euphemism. He says :

“Mark but this flea, and mark in this,

How little that which thou denies me is;

It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee,

And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.

Thou know’st that this cannot be said

A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead;

Yet this enjoys before it woo,

And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two;

And this, alas! is more than we would do.”

In order to persuade his beloved to sleep with him, the speaker in the poem tells her how a flea bit both of them and their blood got mixed in it. This is a euphemism.

Example 3

“The Squealer”, a character in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, uses euphemisms to help “the pigs” achieve their political ends. To announce the reduction of food to the animals of the farm, Orwell quotes him saying :

“For the time being,” he explains, “it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.”

Substituting the word “reduction” with “readjustment” was an attempt to suppress the complaints of other animals about hunger. It works because reduction means “cutting” food supply while readjustment implies changing the current amount of food.

Function of Euphemism

Euphemism helps writers to convey

A euphemism /ˈjufəˌmɪzəm/ is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant.[1] Some euphemisms are intended to amuse; while others use bland, inoffensive terms for things the user wishes to downplay. Euphemisms are used to refer to taboo topics (such as disability, sex, excretion, and death) in a polite way, or to mask profanity.[2]

There are three antonyms of euphemism: dysphemism, cacophemism, and loaded language. Dysphemism can be either offensive or merely ironic; cacophemism is deliberately offensive. Loaded language evokes a visceral response beyond the meaning of the words.

Etymology

Euphemism comes from the Greek word εὐφημία (euphemia), meaning "the use of words of good omen", which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eû (εὖ), "good, well" and phḗmē (φήμη) "prophetic speech; rumour, talk".[3] Etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme "evil-speaking." The term euphemism itself was used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks, meaning "to keep a holy silence" (speaking well by not speaking at all).[4]

Purpose

Euphemism use ranges from a polite concern for propriety, to attempting to escape responsibility for war crimes. For instance one reason for the comparative scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at Auschwitz (at least given the scale) is "directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms."[5] Columnist David Brooks called the euphemisms for torture at Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and elsewhere an effort to "dull the moral sensibility."[6]

Formation

Phonetic modification

Phonetic euphemism is used to replace profanities, giving them the intensity of a mere interjection.
Shortening or "clipping" the term ("Jeez" for Jesus, "What the—" for "What the hell")

Mispronunciations, such as "Frak", "Frig" "What the fudge", "What the truck", "Oh my gosh", "Frickin", "Darn", "Oh, shoot", "Be-yotch", etc.

Using the first letter ("SOB", "What the eff", "Suck my D", "BS"). Sometimes, the word "word" is added after it ("F word", "S word", "B word"). Also, the letter can be phonetically respelled, for example, the word "piss" was shortened to "pee" (pronounced as the letter P) in this way.

NOTE : Contrary to popular belief, the words "crap" and "freaking" are not euphemisms for "shit" and "fucking." However, crap is a synonym and is nearly as vulgar as shit, and freaking can refer to obscene and sexual dancing. Crap, on the other hand, can refer to a dice game; to which the word "shit" isn't associated with.

Figures of speech

Ambiguous statements (it for excrement, the situation or "a girl in trouble" for pregnancy, going to the other side for death, do it or come together in reference to a sexual act, tired and emotional for drunkenness)

Understatements ("asleep" for "dead", "drinking" for "consuming alcohol", "hurt" for "injured", etc.)

Metaphors ("beat the meat" or "choke the chicken" for masturbation, "take a dump" and "drain the main vein" for defecation and urination respectively).

Comparisons ("buns" for "buttocks", "weed" for "cannabis").

Metonymy ("lose a person" for "coping with a person's death", "pass away" for "die", "men's room" for "men's toilet").

Rhetoric Edit

Euphemism may be used as a rhetorical strategy, in which case its goal is to change the valence of a description from positive to negative.

Using a less harsh term with similar meaning. For instance, "screwed up" is a euphemism for "fucked up"; "hook-up", "we hooked up", or "laid" for sexual intercourse.

There is some disagreement over whether certain terms are or are not euphemisms. For example, sometimes the phrase visually impaired is labeled as a politically correct euphemism for blind. However, visual impairment can be a broader term, including, for example, people who have partial sight in one eye, those with uncorrectable mild to moderate poor vision.

References :
www.teachit.co.uk
www.literarydevices.net/euphemism/
www.virtualsalt.com