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1. Euphemism
Euphemism is a generally innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive, and often misleading terms for things the user wishes to dissimulate or downplay. Euphemisms are used for dissimulation, to refer to taboo topics (such as disability, sex, excretion, and death) in a polite way, and to mask profanity. The opposite of euphemism roughly equates to dysphemism. Euphemisms may be used to avoid words considered rude, while conveying their meaning: "Kiss my you-know-what!" instead of the more vulgar, "Kiss my ass/arse"; the expletive sugar to substitute shit. Some euphemisms are so commonly used as to be standard usage: "pass away" for "die". Over the centuries euphemisms have been introduced for "latrine", and themselves replaced as they came to be considered unacceptable; "toilet", once itself a euphemism, is often euphemised as "bathroom", "restroom", etc. Euphemisms are used to downplay and conceal unpalatable facts, as "collateral damage" for "civilian casualties" in a military context, and "redacted" for "censored". The word euphemism comes from the Greek word ευφημία (euphemia), meaning "the use of words of good omen", which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (ευ), "good/well" + pheme (φήμι) "speech/speaking", meaning glory, flattering speech, praise, Euphemia, citation, good reason why. Etymologically, the eupheme is the opposite of the blaspheme (evil-speaking). Primary examples of taboo words requiring the use of a euphemism are names for deities, such as Persephone, Hecate, or Nemesis. The term euphemism itself was used as a euphemism by the ancient Greeks, meaning "to keep a holy silence" (speaking well by not speaking at all). Historical linguistics has revealed traces of taboo deformations in many languages. Several are known to have occurred in Indo-European languages, including the presumed original Proto-Indo-European words for bear (*rkso), wolf (*wlkwo), and deer (originally, hart—although the word hart remained commonplace in parts of England until the 20th century as is witnessed by the widespread use of the pub sign The White Hart). In different Indo-European languages, each of these words has a difficult etymology because of taboo deformations: a euphemism was substituted for the original, which no longer occurs in the language. An example is the Slavic root for bear, *medu-ed-, which means "honey eater". Names in Germanic languages—including English—are derived from the color brown.
Types of euphemisms
1. Abstraction: Some euphemisms serve to distance people from unpleasant or embarrassing truths, as when we say that a dead person passed away or a celebrity who has canceled an appearance is suffering from exhaustion.
2. Indirection: A euphemism may replace an explicit description of an action, as when people speak of going to the bathroom or of others sleeping together.
3. Litotes: Sometimes, euphemism occurs in the form of this rhetorical device in which the gravity or force of an idea is softened or minimized by a double negative, as in the reference to someone as being not unattractive.
4. Mispronunciation: Alteration of pronunciation is a form of euphemism, as when we say frigging or shoot, or jeez or cripes, so as not to offend people by using profanity (figurative or literal). These types of euphemisms, involving rhyme, alliteration, or shortening, are also called minced oaths.
5. Modification: A bluntly offensive noun can be transformed into a euphemism by converting it to an adjective, as in saying someone has socialist leanings rather than labeling them a socialist outright.
6. Personification: One form of euphemism is when things that some people prefer not to mention candidly, such as genitals, are assigned personal names. (I will go beyond euphemism and let readers think of examples on their own.)
7. Slang: Much of slang, derived to produce a vocabulary exclusive to a social group, is euphemism, as in the use of joint for marijuana (itself a slang term, derived from the Spanish names Mary and Juana — closely related to “Mary Jane,” yet another euphemism).
2. Taboos
The word 'Taboo' has been derived from an ocevic word 'Tapu' or 'Tabu', which in turn refers to certain specific types of prohibitions. A taboo word is a word that certain people might find dangerous, holy, magic or shocking. Because of their shock element, taboo words are often used in situations where people want to express strong emotions such as pain, anger, etc. by swearing. Taboo language in general includes a wide variety of free speech issues such as hate speech, fighting words and sexual harassment. Violation of which is believed automatically or by supernatural means to produced undesirable consequences. Such beliefs are widely spread among the primitive society observed by all the members of a society without any exceptions. In all these societies, the consequences of the breach are believed to be drastic and more clearly defined, such as illness, death, draught, or disaster and economic failure and so on. Taboo is in fact a different kind of prohibition in the sense that it is considered as ritual prohibition. Since they are followed and observed by all the members in a culture, with an element of compulsion by which certain acts or behaviours are profited, therefore, taboos are also defined as negative compulsives of culture. The association of the fear of the supernatural with taboo makes it a part of the belief system. Since there are many types of acts prohibited by this term in different societies, they qualify different types of Taboos. Studies in primitive societies qualify different types of Taboos. Studies in primitive societies reveal following four types.
Types of taboos
Religious Taboos To protect the privileges and prestige of sacred persons or sacred places there are certain types of activities and behaviors which may be prohibited for them. The Toda sacred dairies and their dairy men enjoy high status in Toda societies. The posts and utensils of the sacred dairies and milk and the buffaloes associated with them are of sacred category and cannot be handed or touched by the commoners. The 'dairy men' of these sacred dairies have to abstain from sex throughout his life. However, it is generally seen that the acts prohibited or forbidden by Taboos are often anti social in nature such as adultery, theft, homicide, etc. Beliefs in Taboos discourage such activities. In this way, Taboos act as important mechanism of social control-the unwritten law of the primitives operative through supernatural agency. Forbidding anti social acts, it reinforces prescribed social values.
Food Taboos They are more usually than not associated with totemic beliefs because of which the consumption of certain plant and animal species (which are totems) is prohibited and it's non observance is considered to be detrimental for the society. In many societies, consumption of specific food articles is prohibited temporarily or permanently for the men of ranks or forbidden to women and children.
Sex Taboos Certain prohibitions pertaining to sex relations are categorized as sex taboos. 'Incest' is an almost universal sex prohibition in primitive societies which prohibits any sex contact between the members of the same nuclear family and other closely related kinds. Women in primitive societies are prohibited any sex during the lactation period after the birth of a child. Similarly, taboo may also be observed during performance of some magic, religious activities or during hunting-expedition period.
Protective Taboos There are certain 'taboos which are observed for the sake of protection. Thus, tribal chiefs kings are not allowed to be touched by the commoners. The idea behind such taboos is to provide maximum protection to the life and persons of these political luminaries in tribal societies. But all taboos cannot be rationalized like that. In Polynesia, certain things as a new born child, a dead body, body of a chief are not allowed to be touched. By doing so an individual himself becomes a 'Tabu' polluted and certain rites of purification live be performed. This is known as desacralization and he or she becorae a 'Noa' after the performance there rites, a term opposed to 'Tabu'. Sigmond Freud regards Taboos as an act of repentance, a product of conscious of some common guilt. However, the study of various types of taboos indifferent societies does not warrant any sing explanation of the phenomenon.
3. Irony
Irony is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used. Irony involves the perception that things are not what they are said to be or what they seem. Dramatic irony lies in the audience's deeper perceptions of a coming fate, which contrast with the character's perceptions. Irony is a form of utterance that postulates a double audience, consisting of one party that hearing shall hear and shall not understand, and another party that, when more is meant than meets the ear, is aware, both of that "more" and of the outsider's incomprehension. Irony is, therefore, a matter of perceived and real attitude or values of the speaker, rather than a difference between the denotative meanings of the words a speaker uses. The song "Poor Judd" from the musical Oklahoma! provides an especially clear example of this form of irony: Curley's words and tone of voice are perceived by Judd as expressions of camaraderie and empathy, while the onlookers (and the audience) understand that it is mockery.