journal of linguistic studies

THE FUNCTION OF EUPHEMISMS IN THE LANGUAGE
OF NEWSPAPERS AND POLITICAL SPEECHES
ŽELJKO RIŠNER
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University, Osijek, Croatia
zeljko.risner@os.t-com.hr
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to describe the use of euphemisms in daily newspapers as
a means of public communication, and to analyze and compare transcripts of some
Croatian and foreign politicians’ speeches. Euphemisms shall be extracted and
described with respect to some of their functions: the first and primary function of
softening facts and presenting them in a manner more acceptable for the masses, but
also the secondary, derived function of (mis)using euphemisms for political purposes.
Such derived euphemisms are intended to allow the speaker to alter the interpretation
of his statements, depending on contextual needs. Such procedure frequently neglects
the principles of political consistence and correctness and puts in question the
credibility of the author of the statement.
Keywords: Euphemisms; Euphemization; Taboo words; Political speeches
1. INTRODUCTION
Every language communication is subject to a number of rules of which we are
frequently unaware and apply them “out of habit”. From the earliest age, for example, we
are taught that we must be polite, that we must expresses ourselves nicely, taking care of
whom we are talking to and what we are talking about, and that we must choose our
words very carefully. The fact is that with the acquisition of language we also acquire a
system of written and unwritten rules about its pragmatism, i.e. about its usage in
different situations and in different surroundings. The instruction that we must express
ourselves nicely, however, often does not suggest which words and expressions should
be used - on the contrary, it rather warns us that there are words and phrases that should
not be used, that need to be avoided, and that are rude, prohibited, taboo. And here we get
to the root of problem: the words in question are closely connected with basic life and
body functions, with the very beginning of life and its end, with different illnesses and
addictions, with a wide spectrum of human activities, as well as with the politics, with
relations between nations and states… In short, they are omnipresent. Since simple
deletion of the taboo-words from texts is impossible because it would make the
communication impossible, it is necessary to replace them with acceptable, “good”
words/expressions following the principle of closeness or similarity of meaning. Such
acceptable, good words or expressions are called euphemisms 1 .
Euphemisms are, therefore, part our everyday life. We use them in the
communication with colleagues at work, in discussing our favourite topics while having
coffee with our friends, in a variety of situations in family surroundings, while we are
talking with our children, spouse, relatives… In most cases we are not aware that we are
using euphemisms, partly because of their conventionality, and partly because
euphemisms are rather difficult to be recognized as such since, according to their
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