journal of linguistic studies

…We have also boosted the growth of economy, which allows us orderly debt
servicing. (All of the above was said by Ivo Sanader, the then Prime Minister of
the Republic of Croatia in his speech at the 15 th Traditional Consulting of the
Croatian Association of Economists in Opatija in November 2007)
(http://www.vlada.hr/hr/naslovnica/novosti_i_najave/2007/studeni/govor_predsje
dnika_vlade_rh_dr_ive_sanadera_na_15_tradicionalnom_savjetovanju_hrvatskog
_drustva_ekonomista_u_opatiji)
As much as they are frequent and useful in political and economic themes,
euphemisms are irreplaceable in reporting about various themes that include some
controversy or conflict with ethical or other principles. When “common people” take
something they did not pay for, they are thieves and criminals. However, if a person from
political or economic circles (especially those in higher spheres) does the same, this
becomes a hot potato for political parties or companies in which these people were
working, but also for the media who have to inform about it. Since it is highly immoral
to steal, managers and politicians never do that. For their actions, the media (and
sometimes the political parties themselves) have invented euphemisms such as alienate,
or, more recently, fog up or obscure.
As a manager of a company you provide another company with an excellent
business. And then you transfer to that other company. In this way, you have
fogged up millions of Kunas… (Jutarnji list, 16 th September 2010)
Head of the Department “Obscured” the Money: a Five Million Kunas Heavy
“Sin” (Jutarnji list, 29 th August 2009)
Former Managers of FC Croatia ‘Obscured’ 120 Million Kunas (Jutarnji list,
19 th May 2008)
And then, there are even some scientific achievements that are questionable from the
point of view of ethics or humanity, so journalists devise new terminology for such cases
as well. This group includes e.g. information about the experimenting with human
embryos like these conducted in Britain: Here the newspaper article informs about the
positive voting outcome in the British Parliament, which legalizes and justifies the use of
human foetuses as blood donors – as if the foetus were some kind of a warehouse with
necessary replacement parts…)
or
Britain Approves Little Minotaurs (the Title refers to hybrid human-animal
embryos)
Representatives have, furthermore, approved of the process of scanning embryos
for the purpose of creation of “saviour brothers” for children who suffer from
severe illnesses, and who can be saved from dying by their still unborn brothers
or sisters by donating their blood. (Jutarnji list, 19 th May 2008)
62