{"id":23829,"date":"2023-04-10T09:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T16:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=23829"},"modified":"2023-03-30T10:38:42","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T17:38:42","slug":"open-space-euphemisms-worse-than-honesty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2023\/04\/10\/open-space-euphemisms-worse-than-honesty\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Euphemisms worse than honesty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The English language is one of the more challenging languages to learn. English is loaded with rules, with teaching methods that don\u2019t always apply or even make sense. For instance, \u201ci before e except after c\u201d is one of the first grammar laws we are told to memorize, yet there are plenty of times when this grammar rule is tossed aside (it\u2019s weird and makes me feisty). There are words like \u201ctough,\u201d \u201csought,\u201d \u201cdough,\u201d and \u201cbough,\u201d which all have the same spelling pattern but very different pronunciations. These unpredictable patterns in the English language are just the tip of the iceberg, which brings me to another frustrating aspect of the language: idioms, or euphemisms.<\/p>\n

An idiom is a word or expression that is used as a substitution for a word or expression that could be considered too blunt, embarrassing, or just boring. When I used \u201ctip of the iceberg,\u201d it was a more interesting way to say \u201cjust the beginning.\u201d When somebody says, \u201cI\u2019m on fire,\u201d it\u2019s a fancy way of saying that they are accomplishing a lot.<\/p>\n

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This story originally appeared in our April 5, 2023 issue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is easy for people who grew up speaking English, but for a non-native speaker, it\u2019s confusing. They might end up physically checking the person they are conversing with to make sure they aren\u2019t engulfed in flames.<\/p>\n

A euphemism is a type of idiom, and it\u2019s also used to replace a word or situation which is considered embarrassing, uncomfortable, or vulgar. A euphemism is used to soften the blow (idiom), to make a situation easier to bear. Euphemisms are everywhere, and are used to sugar-coat (idiom) what might be normally a tough thing to talk about. They\u2019re used in the workplace: \u201cyou\u2019re being let go\u201d instead of \u201cyou\u2019re fired.\u201d They are very commonly used when talking about sex: \u201cwe made it to third base\u201d instead of \u201cwe touched each other\u2019s genitals.\u201d I mean, can you imagine talking about a sexy moment like that literally? It would sound embarrassing, although kind of funny, to everyone around.<\/p>\n

Euphemisms are most used when talking about death. Rarely is the word \u201cdead\u201d used; people most often say \u201cpassed away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The thing about these handy expressions is they discourage honesty, especially when talking to children. How many kids grow up not really understanding death, and are really surprised (or traumatized) when they find out what actually happened to Grandma when they were told she \u201cwent with God\u201d was that she was dead?<\/p>\n

As teenagers or adults, How many people are told \u201cI need some space\u201d by their sweetheart instead of being told plainly that the relationship is over?<\/p>\n

Euphemisms can make a situation easier to deal with, however, it often leaves things confusing and open-ended, and only made easier on the person doing the talking. There\u2019s a certain point when we have to start trusting that people might be able to handle the truth. Honesty is uncomfortable at times, but will make things easier in the long term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The English language is one of the more challenging languages to learn. English is loaded with rules, with teaching methods that don\u2019t always apply or even make sense. For instance, \u201ci before e except after c\u201d is one of the first grammar laws we are told to memorize, yet there are plenty of times when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,286],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-april-5-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23831,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23829\/revisions\/23831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}