Language awareness / Talking point
Language Awareness - Euphemisms
Sonido
A euphemism is a word or expression that is spoken when people want to find a polite or less direct way of talking about difficult or embarrassing topics. For example, last week my dog passed away (died). Sometimes they are used to make things seem better than they really are. For example, the word administrative assistant to describe a secretary.
A. Identify the euphemistic expressions in these sentences. What do they really mean?
1) | The girl who reads the news on Channel 2 is a little plain | |
2) | My uncle Ted is 88 years old. He´s tall and a little cuddly | |
3) | I´ll be back in a minute; I´m just going to see a man about a dog | |
4) | Over the past few weeks he has had a rather relaxed attitude to his work | |
5) | Tom has strong opinions aborut everything and is not afraid to voice them | |
6) | Daniel goes to a special school for the intellectually challenged | |
7) | The homelless person waited at the underground station | |
8) | If you are not happy with the service, you are welcome to fill out a response form | |
9) | The police seized a quantity of adults films | |
10) | Last Saturday after a couple of glasses of wine Katie got a little tipsy | |
11) | At night grandma takes out her dentures and leaves them in a glass by the bed | |
12) | The boss lay off 5 workers | |
13) | In the gym you can see that a lot of people perspire | |
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B. Look at the following euphemisms and explain them.
1) | Homeless person | |
2) | Quaint | |
3) | Boisterous | |
4) | Inmate | |
5) | Landfill | |
6) | Fib | |
7) | Chubby | |
8) | Remuneration | |
9) | Issue | |
10) | Self-cantered | |
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Talking Point
Historically, Sunday was left aside for attendance at Church and spending time with one's family. Work was prohibited, and shops were shut by law.
However, whilst the Anglican Church is still 'established', it is also true that Britain is a more and more multicultural country, and many people have proposed that this be recognised by removing the specific religious restrictions on shopping on a Sunday. A step was made towards this in the 1980s, when a law relaxed Sunday trading laws.
Discuss
Should shops and other commercial services be allowed to open on Sundays?