Ralph Keyes51LpBoqTRfL

Hardcover, 278 pages

(Bibliothèque de Westmount)

Originally used to avoid blasphemy, honor taboos, and make nice, euphemisms have become embedded in the fabric of our language. EUPHEMANIA traces the origins of euphemisms from a tool of the church to a form of gentility to today’s instrument of commercial, political, and postmodern doublespeak.

—

THC Reviews
(…)

What I got was a fascinating study in euphemisms which intermingled the words and phrases themselves with their origins and social commentary on their use. I learned a lot of new euphemisms with which I was not familiar, as well as where many I already knew came from. The author draws on a wide variety of sources including quotes from famous people, songs and literature. (…)  Since censorship is an area ripe for the use of euphemistic talk, there is some interesting discussion on what words and phrases can and can’t be used in movies, television and other media both now and down through history.

(…) In addition to the great history of words, I also got a wonderful study on the sociology and psychology behind word usages. The sociology angle explores which words and phrases were acceptable in polite company in various eras and cultures and why that is. It is absolutely fascinating how something can be perfectly acceptable in one country/culture and considered insulting in another or how a particular saying could go from being acceptable to vulgar, and perhaps back to acceptable, depending on the time frame in which it was used. In this vein, there was another hilarious side bar on the conflicting meanings of various euphemisms between America and Britain. The psychology angle discusses how “prettying-up” certain words can fool the brain into thinking they are more appealing, such as how adding French words to the name of a food that would normally be considered icky on a restaurant menu will make it sell better. The author also makes some fabulous points on the use of euphemisms, one being that, when done well, euphemisms can show a marked talent for creativity and they can be a really fun way to communicate, the other being that euphemisms can sometimes be overused to the point that they sap power from the words that they replace.

Euphemania covers a large selection of potentially taboo or at the very least uncomfortable subjects with major chapter topics including sex, anatomy, bodily functions, illness and death, food, money and commerce, and war. This book is chock full of “bad” words and “naughty” phrases which could be offensive to some readers, but when one critically analyzes the subject matter, I’m not sure how a book like this could have been written without them. I personally found the author’s directness to be refreshing. There is also an index and extensive bibliography that looks like it might make for some interesting extended reading on the subject. For me,Euphemania was a fast-paced, humorous, and entertaining look at why we use euphemisms that is definitely going on my keeper shelf for future reference. Ralph Keyes certainly has a way with making a topic that could have been dry into something fun and easy for the average lay-person to understand. I only wish all non-fiction books were so engaging and well-written.