A Dictionary of euphemisms : how not to say what you mean /
Oxford dictionary of euphemisms
R.W. Holder.
- 3rd ed.
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.
- xxii, 501 p. ; 20 cm.
- Oxford paperback reference .
CONTENTS; AN EXPLANATION; BIBLIOGRAPHY; DICTIONARY OF EUPHEMISMS; THEMATIC INDEX
Now in paperback, this brand new edition of A Dictionary of Euphemisms: How Not To Say What You Mean is still as lively a guide to the language of evasion, hypocrisy, prudery, and deceit as you could wish for. Packed full of the old favourites, such as 'early bath' or 'push up the daisies', as well as euphemisms from modern times, like 'human sacrifice', 'coffee-housing', and 'tuft-hunter'. Definitions include examples from literature and the press, along with historical explanations of origins, and now obsolete euphemisms like 'leaping house', 'nightingale' are signposted as such. And to prove that the use of euphemisms is not just a British speciality, there is widespread coverage of American euphemisms too: 'English' (pertaining to sexual deviance), 'watermelon' (an indication of pregnancy).