Euphemisms - Writers Forum

Pawn · 03-11-2005, 08:11 AM

Currently considering a poetic work dealing in the larger part with the euphemistic... 'passed away' etc.

If you could drop in any that you know, 'twould be of great help.

Pawn · 03-11-2005, 09:16 AM

Yup, exactly. Thankye for that.

Not only death related, of course.

Pawn · 03-11-2005, 09:33 PM

Tehe.

Could do with a couple for the major themes:

Love,
Death,
Sex,
Husband/Wife,
Work.

And anything else that springs to mind. It's really the very everyday stuff that I'm interested in: I decided to write the poem after hearing a line from a film: "Come over for dinner later, if you're feeling up to it." It was spoken to a character who'd just recieved notification via mail that her two closest friends had died. Something about it struck me. Adolescents, growing up, traditionally believe that no one understands them. This, I'm starting to think, is in part because so many things are euphemistically expressed in a language that teenagers have no yet learnt. I'm probably not making any sense. Hopefully it'll come out in the poem.

Cipher2 · 03-12-2005, 06:56 AM

Love,
Death,

http://phrontistery.50megs.com/longpig/dead.html

Sex,

http://www.starma.com/penis/richardk...hardkitty.html

Husband/Wife,

Work.

http://www.sys-con.com/pbdj/article.cfm?id=587

mammamaia · 03-12-2005, 08:32 AM

Love,
that ardent ache in heart and soul,
gives way to
Death,
to whom one's escape from life's the goal

Sex,
a musty, lusty exercise of need,
is used by
Husband,
the man of the house, to spill his seed,
so the
Wife,
his better half, can breed.

Work,
what one does to make a living,
is simply taking what someone else is giving...
all just to justify acquisitiving!

Pawn · 03-12-2005, 11:33 AM

Tremendously helpful, all.

Many thanks.

Philo · 03-17-2005, 07:34 AM

There were phrases I remember being myterious to me when I was young, while others seemed less so. This was probably compounded by their intermingled use or when I'd heard something similar but different enough to make me wonder.

To hear that someone 'had passed' or was 'gone' was confusing. My favorite was that they had 'given up the ghost'

'the two headed beast' took a while to figure out as a teen.

Spouse: 'other half' or 'better half' or 'partner in crime' or 'ball and chain' (the last, usually about a wife)

Work: 'bringing home the bacon'

Get away from me: 'take a hike/walk' or 'hit the bricks' or 'take a long walk off a short pier' (which always seemed like too much time spent trying to get rid of someone, so funny)

excusing oneself to the toilet: 'I have some business to attend to' or 'I need to see a man about a horse' or 'I need to visit the library' or the worst (and remember, you asked) 'I've got to go drop off the twins'

I hope this helps. I look forward to reading what you come up with, as long as it doesn't include the last one.