Euphemism - The Power of Communication

Webster’s dictionary defines euphemism as the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. Eu- is a Greek term for “well” or “sounding good” and pheme translates as “speech” therefore amounting to good-sounding speech. An absolute definition can be difficult to capture, because it is subject to one’s own interpretation! A person can turn, flip, stretch, or construed the definition of anything, in order to justify an argument.

Euphemisms consist of two parts: the symbolic and the descriptors. The descriptor provides the necessary link between the actual object described, and what it symbolizes. We all do it at some point of time. For instance, we certainly don’t like to call people fat, which is why we have everyday euphemisms like ‘frumpy,’ although when the meaning is so well known, it can be just as offensive. I see it as a natural human tendency to do a bit of instant self-sanitization, in order to accommodate our current audience, or, to quote the immortal Mary Poppins, to add the proverbial “spoonful of sugar” to help the medicine go down.

In a political context, a politician uses euphemisms to persuasively convey to his or her audience their political beliefs, and why they are important to that audience. In his 1946 essay, Politics and the English Language, George Orwell criticizes the language of his day as “ugly and inaccurate.” He claims that mid 20th century prose was being used so carelessly that it had lost its genuine meaning and had instead become ambiguous and hollow. Although there are some who may find it financially or politically beneficial to euphemize their language, Orwell warns that the phenomenon hardly stops with these. The “contagion,” as he calls it, has spread to the general public so that those who have no intention of hiding something heinous such as “genocide,” still speak only of “ethnic cleansing.”

This reminds me of the famous dialogue from Spiderman “With great power, comes great responsibility”. Most of us fail to consider the power we hold through the daily use of our tongues and pens. As humans, who are constantly working towards the betterment of society, it is our duty to consciously reject vague euphemistic language that has been recommended over the years by politics and media. It is our responsibility to allow the light of truth to shine in our words. We should be conscious, careful and cautious while choosing our language. We must always consider the great responsibility that is bundled with its use.

Revising an email- Office Food Collection Project

1. Provide a general critique of this email.

This email provided the information that this year’s Hunger Action Month will start on Sep 1st. The goal of this action is providing more food for the community through a competition way.

2. What is the writer’s objective?

The writer’s objective is to spread out the information about this year’s Hunger Action Month to all the employees.

3. Has the writer achieved her objective?

I don’t think the writer achieve her objective because she may not get people’s attentions on this email.

4. If not, what would you change to help the document achieve the writer’s objective?

First thing first, I will make the subject more outstanding like “Hunger Action Month is coming back on Sep 1st!!!!!!” Secondly, I will use bullet point to explain the detail information. It will make the information easier and cleaner to understand.

5. Imagine that you received this email over the weekend, and did not see it until first thing Monday morning, in a crowded email inbox filled with dozens of emails. What key element is missing from this email that could result in recipients not bothering to open and read it?

In my opinion about last question, it is all about the subject.

Using few words to explain the objective of this email

Make the subject more outstanding to catch people’s eyes.