Euphanisms

Nobody is telling anyone what they should or should not say, this is just a discussion about euphemisms that may ( or may not) grate or annoy.

Women use to ‘fall’ pregnant didn’t they? ?
The little girls/boys room is an annoying one to me ( I said this to DH once and he said “would you rather they said I’m off for a widdle?”)Actually, I would!

well, since we're getting a bit more risque, I can't stand adults calling 'things' a willy.
When at work, I even saw someone had written down that so-and-so had a sore willy.

In the accident book? ??

Oh blimey this was meant to be a bit light hearted wish I d kept my big mouth shut
I m not walking around with a placard placating everyone who uses a euphanisn and I ve never ever commented to a person using one
Old meg I m very sorry you see my remarks as censoring our language, blimey some of things people shout about on here and I start a fairly innocuous thread and i m a real baddy well you have rested your case very nicell so you can stop ‘spitting out your dummy’ have a cup of ‘Rosie Lee’ and forget I spoke ?
And I m quite light thanks Mawboon if I get any lighter I ll be floating over the stars with the unicorns ?

Using all the correct words can backfire. DS3 always asked a lot of questions and always got the correct answer. One day I was stopped at the school gates by another mother who was not happy that my 5 year old had told her 5 year old all about how babies were made with all the correct terminology!

When someone talked about a miscarriage as having 'lost a baby' a child who heard refused to be left with the parent who had miscarried for a long time until her Grandad found out why. Can't blame her.

I prefer the term died to any other but that is just for me, I wouldn't object to anyone else using the other terms.

I still talk about Death Duty rather than IHT because it really is a tax on dying!

Never heard "fur baby" - does it just mean any pet, even a tortoise?

Luckygirl

That's so sad Grandtant brought a tear to my eye.

Yes periods have their fair share of euphemisms, one parent would ring me and say ' Jane is like that there other this week' decipher that if you will.

I understand where you were coming from Bluebell - your innocuous post was meant to be light hearted. Shame it was not always seen as such.

OP you are clearly not alone in hating flowery ness. Those of us who do are perfectly entitled to say so and to use the language we prefer. If others want to talk about fur babies and rainbow bridges that’s fine but we don’t have to like it. And I don’t.

I must be alone because although I can see "fur babies" is not only nauseating and ridiculous, there's something about such a silly description that perversely makes it appealing. I want one

When I was in America, I always found the coyness of the"Rest Room" daft, given that not a lot of resting takes place in such a room. I tended to ask "where are your lavatories please", to which I often got the response "you want the rest room", which always made me feel tempted to reply with "no I don't I'm not tired" but probably that would have been taking British eccentricity too far

A lady I met some years ago had been a transAtlantic BOAC stewardess when young and in her early days found some Americanisms confusing. Once when asked where the “Reast room” was on the plane, replied that she didn’t think there was one, but she could provide a pillow if required.

“Rest room” of course!

The Americanism “Bathroom” for loo/ toilet/ lavatory is spreading. Apparently schools now have “Bathrooms” and British people are wearing “Underwear” rather than pants.
I’ve had to tell lots of people lately that,”I’ve lost my dog, not lost as in gone missing, lost as in died” and by the time I’ve got all that out I’m crying in the middle of Waitrose.

Is a euphamism using our language to its fullness?

No word is being banned, it is a question of context and , yes, I hate coy euphemisms. The language we use tells people about us and what sort of people we are. When you die, you are dead. wrapping it up in scented paper by saying 'passed, 'passed away' or any of the other euphamisms for death are a throwback to the coyness of 19th century England

I thought fur babies were something to do with fur balls.

Miss A & Annie B .
On a more light hearted note I worked in a 2 storey building (the company I worked for had the ground floor & another company had the first floor). A member of staff who Initially worked for us changed jobs & went to work for the company on the first floor when our receptionist told clients that he had "gone upstairs" it caused great consternation.

Lemongrove, I love off for a widdle much better than all that nonsense like "going to see a man about a dog"

Widdle"s a great word!

I thought it was bad form to correct a poster's spelling or grammar

a sort of cross between wee and piddle isn’t it?

I don't have a problem with people saying, 'passed away.' It's been around a long time hasn't it?

But when and why did it get shortened to 'passed?'

Because certain parts of the US say ‘passed’ and have done for a very long time.
Due to US tv and social media it has now taken hold ( by some) here.

Thanks, lemongrove.