journal of linguistic studies

influenced the minds of the people to such an extent that, once the real truth had been
revealed, many were unable to accept it because it was so gruesome.
The practice of “resettling” of entire nations had been a part of the political programs
of various invaders. For us in Croatia, the most painful and still very much alive in the
memory of many people, are the examples from recent wars: the Croatian Homeland War
and the war in the neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, during which the exile of tens
of thousands of people has been referred to with a rather specific and more neutral
expression ethnic cleansing, as if these people had been exposed to some kind of hygienic
measures and not to one of the forms of genocide. Because of the proportions which this
“cleansing” had assumed, some politicians thought that the expression ethnic cleansing
has become “too hard” a term, so this euphemism was replaced with another, “milder”
term: humane resettling, although there was nothing humane in it. This new expression
was soon accepted by many journalists and political commentators as it is shown in the
following example from a daily newspaper:
…London conference, the meeting of Tuđman and Ćosić, and the formulation
human resettlement, which referred to the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
has in some way contributed to the ill-intentioned treatment of Croatia.
http://www.vjesnik.hr/pdf/2001/01/06/05A5.PDF
War, as one of the worst experiences of mankind, is officially defined as the
continuation of politics by other means 5 , whereas the term war itself is rather rarely used.
With the exception of two world wars, the period from the end of the 19 th century to date
has abounded in skirmishes, exchanges of fire, clan conflicts, inner conflicts, border
incidents, armed rebellions, interventions, limited military operations, pacifications,
peace and peacemaking missions, liberating operations, international frictions, street
unrests and struggles, actions of aggression, offensive or defensive actions… No trace of
the word war! Avoiding the word war has become almost a rule in reporting about wars
in all media, printed or electronic:
…The Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe, which is meeting this week
in the plenary session in Strasbourg, will tomorrow have an urgent debate about
the threat with military action against the Iraq.
http://vijesti.hrt.hr/arhiv/2002/09/25/HRT0012.html
Political speech is a special form of communication which is always oriented towards
a specific aim, most frequently towards mobilizing the largest possible part of the
population around a certain centre of gravity of the local, party, state or international
politics. What distinguishes the language of politics from the daily language of common
people is the careful choice of vocabulary, which includes numerous stylistic devices by
means of which speeches can be correctly dosed and “seasoned”. In this context,
euphemisms are of enormous importance because among their many characteristics there
are some that are especially useful in the political discourse; euphemisms make it possible
to explain certain ideas by “packing” them up in forms much more acceptable for the ear
and for the situation. However, they can also have a completely reversed effect of
“blurring” or screening the real meaning or, even more often, they allow one and the
same statement to be subsequently interpreted in different ways depending on the current
political situation, needs and goals. In such situations the speakers frequently use registers
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