In Other Words: The Meanings and Memoirs of Euphemisms

by Dominique Enright

Have you ever heard a politician be a little economical with the truth? Or had to relay the sad news that old Uncle Geoffrey, ever the keen sportsman, has in fact now kicked the bucket? Funnily enough, these strange phrases are completely comprehensible to us - such is the power of euphemisms and the extent to which they are now subsumed into our everyday language. But where did they come from originally, and for just how long have we been colouring and shrouding our speech with them? In Other Words explains just that, wittily describing the history, origin and clever common usage of our favourite euphemistic phrases.

Genres: Nonfiction, Language

160 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Fictionophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not a lot that I wasn't somewhat acquainted with already.
The English language and words in particular have long been my passion - so I wanted more from this book.

[Guy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Small selection of euphemisms gathered by British writer Enright. Nearly all of them are commonplace; several are various forms of the same phrase. Many are graced by Ms. Enright's own editorial opinions which appear to be both anti-abortion and anti-military (including euphemisms for abortion in a section of the book devoted to "killing" wasn't exactly subtle.)

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting but yeah not the best thing ever.