During times of war objectionable actions such as hatred, murder, and bombings are euphemized to help people accept them. Euphemisms are a complex method of making horrible actions seem more pleasant. Dehumanizing People and Euphemizing War and When Words Go to War are prime examples of usage of euphemisms in war. The use of this powerful tool in both essays is different, but they both serve the same purpose: to gain support from one's nation and to justify war and the killings.
"Collateral damage" used in Bella English's essay When Words Go to War, is very ambiguous. The definition of collateral is "situated side by side; parallel" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), and the definition of damage states, "harm or injury to property or a person, resulting is loss of value" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In no fashion does theses words relate to the bombing of civilian areas, where innocent people. This euphemism allows the killing of another nation's people seem harmless. It significantly distorts our image of what is actually happening. .
Another form of euphemism used in English's essay was the use of acronyms over the use of the actual term. Examples she used are "KIA" and "NBC's", these stand for killed in action and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The acronym as it stands tells nothing of the actual truth; what does KIA and NBC mean? Killed in action seems much more offensive then KIA, for the simple fact that the word killed was used. The simplicity of KIA and NBC's make it seem as if they are in no way harmful or destructive to human life. However, NBC's refer to nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, which can be easily linked to the tragedy in Hiroshima, where millions of innocent people lost their lives.
"To remove the moral obstacles to such a course, leaders, both political and religious, euphemize killing and the weapons of destruction and dehumanize the potential victims in order to justify their extermination.
The first world war was a time of glory and gloom. ... The heart-wrenching euphemism, " He put a bullet in his brain. ... Even the veterans returning from the wars struggled to cope. ... War is not easy-It takes time and lives are lost. ... War was not like that at all. ...
Mairs refuses to describe herself with kinder sounding euphemisms such as "disabled" or "handicapped" because she feels their definitions do not accurately describe the limitations imposed by her illness. ... According to Mairs, the other popular euphemisms negate the magnitude of her illness. ... In another example of the bitter tone in the essay, Mairs writes, "Society is no readier to accept crippledness than to accept death, war, sex, sweat, or wrinkles." ... Nancy Mairs embraces it for it provides her with a small glimpse of truth in a world of sugar-coated euphemisms. ...
The Compromise was a triumph for the Southerners because direct taxes were only seldom levied by Congress before the Civil War. ... Our founding fathers were forced to take quick action, even if that meant using Euphemisms for the word slave. ...
In President Lincoln's second inaugural speech, the president reminds the citizens that they should move forward, away from the civil war, but look back, to note on the significance of the bloodiest war in American History; They should also consider the freedom of one eight of the population who were oppressed by the Confederate "insurgents", who are condemned the most, but at the same time they are equaled in the president's authoritative and groundbreaking tone. From the beginning, the "fitting and proper" events of the civil war are to be included in the second inaugural speech b...
The war in the Pacific did not start out as a race war at all nor did its continuation necessarily qualify it as a race war. ... On the defeated side, the war from the Japanese perspective was viewed as a race war and the country's racism was of extreme prominence in its war effort and was largely influenced on racial theory. The war itself was not racist however it was the means and the way in which the war continued was based on race. ... The statement was a euphemism that basically outlined an implicit understanding of racial hierarchy and order. ... These cartoons did not necessari...
Additionally, should any signatory find itself at war with two powers (or more), the other two were to provide military assistance. Finally, should any of the three determine to launch a 'preventative' war (a euphemism if ever there was one), the others would remain neutral. One of the chief aims of the Triple Alliance was to prevent Italy from declaring war against Austria-Hungary, towards whom the Italians were in dispute over territorial matters. ... In 1914 Italy declared that Germany's war against France was an 'aggressive' one and so entitled Italy to claim neu...
The Horses The poem " The Horses " by Edwin Muir opens with the devastation of a nuclear war. ... The poem is about a nuclear war which has lasted for seven days and has 'put the world to sleep'. ... All the way through the poem the author uses euphemism to make the events of the war seem less unpleasant. An example of this is 'Put the world to sleep' the author is telling us that after the war the world seemed quiet and afraid because so many had died. ... The theme of the poem is the effect war and technology has had on our lives. ...
Introduction Contemporary American slang is a very complicated language phenomenon. It is a kind of very colloquial and extremely word style, which constitutes new words, new meanings or some figure of speech (Fengjian, 1987: 43), but humor is the most distinctive characteristic, which can be found in its vocabulary, grammar, phrases or expressions. This article attempts to make an exploration in the humorous language form and the rhetoric model function of American slang.. 1 •Humorous slang language form Language is a kind of social communicative instrument and humor makes...
For more than 30 years, most of the world population was at war. ... From there, everything seems to premeditate another World War. ... It is interesting to note the quantity of euphemism used in this kind of letter. ... This very large number impacted on the events of the post-war period. ... This conflict is the basis of the Cold War. ...