Euphemism
A euphemism is a substitution for an expression that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the receiver, using instead an agreeable or less offensive expression, or to make it less troublesome for the speaker.
The purpose of the substitution may also be to avoid revealing secret or sacred names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a conversation from in certain situations.
Purpose
Avoidance
Reasons for using euphemisms vary by context and intent. Commonly, euphemisms are used to avoid directly addressing subjects that might be deemed negative or embarrassing, e.g. death, sex, excretory bodily functions. They may be created for innocent, well-intentioned purposes or nefariously and cynically, intentionally to deceive and confuse.
Mitigation
Euphemisms are also used to mitigate, soften or downplay the gravity of large-scale injustices, war crimes, or other events that warrant a pattern of avoidance in official statements or documents. For instance, one reason for the comparative scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at Auschwitz, relative to their sheer number, is "directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms".
Rhetoric
Euphemism may be used as a rhetorical strategy, in which case its goal is to change the valence of a description.
Example
The word "punishment" might upset some people, so you might use the word "correction".
References
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