A Dictionary of Euphemisms

by R.W. Holder

This thoroughly updated paperback marks 20 years of R. W. Holder's popular and successful dictionary of euphemisms, offering a delightful collection of jocular and evasive expressions for sex, death, murder, crime, prison, and much more. Here are almost five thousand euphemistic expressions
listed in alphabetical order, ranging from well-known favorites to less amusing expressions from the bureaucratic and military world. For each word or expression, Holder includes examples from real authors, along with entertaining explanations of the word's origins and meaning. New to this edition
are over 250 new entries and fourteen introductory articles on major themes in euphemistic language, such as business, sex, death, and the human body. The book includes an extensive thematic index which groups words together under topics such as Age, Bankruptcy, Bribery, Copulation, Funerals,
Killing and Suicide, Low Intelligence, Politics, and Warfare. From "five-fingered discount" to "surgical strike," here is a wonderful collection of colorful words and phrases that allow us to avoid life's unpleasantness, as well as add spice and humor to our everyday speech.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Writing, Linguistics, Dictionaries

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love dictionaries. Really, I do. This one has a special place where my heart should be.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Urban Dictionary is much more amusing.

But this would be good to learn some crazy British and Irish slang. Never heard the phrase "Point Percy at the porcelain." Never sure I needed to, either.

[Jonathan]

None

[Steve Clark]

USA (1997)