Euphemisms and Modern Writing

Euphemisms tend to be redundant and circumvent the real meaning of words. In modern writing it may strike a reader as even funny. Euphemisms are not taken seriously anymore except maybe in very special situations. A euphemism is an inoffensive word or phrase used for one that may be offensive or come up as coarse to readers. The word euphemism comes from the Greek phrase meaning “the use of words of good repute.” A writer may think that the word hooker may be offensive and so substituted it with the word prostitute, a euphemism for the more direct term. In recent years many writers have done away with euphemisms and embraced directness in writing. If they mean die then they write the word die, if they mean toilet they don’t say comfort station. The trend now is some writers even embrace outspoken and rejoice in downright vulgar words and phrases, this is a device called parrhesia: instead of dying a writer may use the more colorful but offensive term “turning one’s toes up to the daisies.” Instead of food he may say grub and so on. Usually we find a lot of euphemisms in government newsletters and public speaking engagements to circumvent the real truth behind matters. We also find euphemisms in job titles. In these two instances euphemisms may apply, wink wink.

Here are some funny euphemisms, some of it are so widely used we didn’t know they were euphemisms!

Amenity center-village green, public toilet
Archivist-museum or library clerk
Cardiovascular accident-stroke
Casket-coffin
Collection correspondent-bill collector
Combustible fieldman- garbage collector
Comfort station-public toilets
Confrontation-heated argument
Motion discomfort-nausea
Unmentionables-underwear
Trial marriage-free love
Rotund-fat
Food preparation center-kitchen
Facial dew-sweat
Extrapolation-educated guess
Intoxicated-drunk
Indisposed-sick
Love child-illegitimate child
Devouring element-fire
Prevaricate-lie
Mistress-kept woman
Plant food-manure
Problem skin-acne
Memorial park-cemetery
Mortical surgeon-undertaker

From Babel to Bailiff: A Vocabulary Builder

Babel
a. a smug, provincial member of the American middle class
b. a confusion of sounds or voices
c. a sudden large increase in the birthrate
Babushka
a. a woman’s triangular head scarf tied at the chin
b. and ancient empire of Mesapotamia
c. a plant having numerous white flowers
Baccalaureate
a. a card game in which the objective is to hold the numbers closest to nine
b. a person who holds a bachelor’s degree
c. a farewell address delivered to a graduating class
Baccarat
a. a. a card game in which the objective is to hold the numbers closest to nine.
b. a confusion of sounds or voices
c. a plant having numerous white flowers
Bacchanal
a. arduous
b. background
c. drunken celebration
Bacillus
a. clandestine
b. rod-shaped bacteria
c. antibiotic obtained from bacteria
Backhanded
a. oblique or roundabout
b. a subordinate position
c. to back off
Backlash
a. oblique or roundabout
b. a subordinate position
c. a hostile reaction
Backslide
a. to revert to sin or bad habits
b. in secret; privately
c. of inferior quality
Backstairs
a. clandestine
b. a knapsack
c. area behind the performing space in a theatre
Backswept
a. clandestine
b. a knapsack
c. angled backward
Backwater
a. an isolated place
b. a child
c. to extricate from trouble
Backwoods
a. an isolated place
b. a child
c. to extricate from trouble
Bad blood
a. enmity or bitterness between persons or groups
b. light playful banter
c. to frustrate
Badinage
a. enmity or bitterness between persons or groups
b. light playful banter
c. to frustrate
Baffle
a. enmity or bitterness between persons or groups
b. light playful banter
c. to frustrate
Bagatelle
a. a trifle
b. a gem cut in a narrow rectangle
c. a court attendant
Baguette
a. a trifle
b. a gem cut in a narrow rectangle
c. a court attendant
Bailiff
a. a trifle
b. a gem cut in a narrow rectangle
c. a court attendant

5 Kinds of Adverbs

Adverbs are used to describe or to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Imagine if John is walking, how would he be walking? Would he be walking fast or slow? Adverbs solve this dilemma, they describe and modify verbs. Adverbs can modify adjectives as well adjectives can never modify adverbs. An adverb may be a word or a combination of words. Adverbs usually end in –ly but this isn’t a guarantee that the said word is an adverb for example:

Joan is a lovely girl who lives in a friendly neighborhood.

Lovely and friendly are not adverbs, they are adjectives. There are 5 types of adverbs.

Adverbs of manner- these adverbs tell us how something is performed and usually ends in –ly.

Consider:
Jane walked briskly towards John
Sebastian played the piano expertly.
Joan answered the question smugly.
The waiter served the food quickly.
Jason drove the car furiously.

Adverbs of place- these adverbs tell us where something happened.

Consider:
The adults are arguing upstairs.
Don’t throw garbage out of the window.
Wilma is standing at the end of the garden.
Charisse is going out the door.
May is waiting at the corner of the street.

Adverbs of Frequency- these adverbs tell us how often an action takes place.

Consider:

The birds usually migrate here every summer.
I sometimes have lucky strike,
Joan often went to Italy for the summer.
Catherine has never been a fan of Lakers.
Becky has always wanted to own a bunny.

Adverbs of Time- these adverbs tell us when something happened. Example are afterwards, later, now, soon, yesterday.

Consider:

I am going to buy a Louis Vuitton bag on Monday.
I’ve been to the movies today.
I am going to school next week.
It will eventually fall in place.

Adverbs of Purpose- Adverbs of purpose tell us the intention, aim, goal or objective. It usually starts with to.

Consider:

Jane sings to keep the crowd happy.
Eric goes to the gym to lose weight.
Her parents work hard to send her to school.
The actress did silly things to be famous.
The mother bought the doll to reward her daughter for her efforts.

From Abase to Abstemious: A Vocabulary Builder

Do you know the following words? Are you familiar with them? Which meaning matches the words below?

Abase
Abattoir
Abdicate
Abduct
Abet
Abeyance
Abject
Abjure
Ablation
Ablution
Abnegation
Abominate
Abound
Abracadabra
Abrasive
Abrogate
Abscond
Absinthe
Absolution
Abstemious

-a washing or cleansing of the body especially in a ritual manner
-to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law
-gibberish
-to encourage or assist especially in wrongdoing
-to humble or degrade
-to renounce under oath
-to relinquish power or responsibility formally
-exercising self-restraint in appetites or behavior.
-to detest thoroughly, abhor
-slaughterhouse
-kidnap
-suspension
-despicable or miserable
-amputation of a body part or reduction, as by melting
-self-denial
-to be fully supplied
-harsh or irritating in manner
-to abolish or annul especially by authority
-a strong bitter liqueur
-the formal remission of sin imparted by a priest, as in the sacrament of penance

5 Kinds of Adjectives

Have you ever seen a rainbow and admired how it looks? All the beautiful and translucent colors in a perfectly blue sky is indeed a sight to behold. Imagine if you have seen a rainbow and you wanted to tell your friends about it. How would you begin to describe it? What words will you be using? This is where the adjectives come in. Adjectives add color and vibrancy to our language much like the rainbow itself. Adjectives are words used to describe or modify nouns and pronouns. There are five kinds of adjectives:

Descriptive adjectives- describe nouns and pronouns; they give color, shape, size, quality etc. to the noun.

Consider:
The rainbow is colorful against the blue sky.
The movie has a dark theme.
The movie is unfit for children.
Celia is a very talented fashion designer.
Money can be the root of all evil.
The joker likes the combination of purple and green.

Proper adjectives- are adjectives that derive from proper nouns

Consider:
Ilyanna longs for the American dream; so she decided to become a nurse.
Jose Rizal is indeed a Filipino patriot.
Is that Peruvian dish tasty?
The ambassador speaks with a heavy Russian accent.
Tom’s Siberian Husky loves chasing cars.

Limiting adjectives- they set a limit through the ff:

Cardinal numbers- one, two, three
Ordinal numbers- first, second, third, fourth….
Articles- A, an, the…..pertains to one item only.

Consider:
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
He is the man to beat.
Fifty tables aren’t enough for the huge party.
She is the seventh of twelve children.
This is the fourth time she has changed jobs.

Indefinite Pronouns used as adjectives: many, several, few, some, most

Consider:
There were many people at the stadium
Only several people went to her party.
There were a few people who voted for him.
Some people are satisfied with the simple things in life.
Most people would not opt for a vegetarian diet.

Possessive pronouns used as adjective: my his, hers, ours, theirs

Consider:
This is my own book.
His expensive watch was stolen.
The house and lot on Instruccion Street is hers.
The dream of landing a job is finally ours to have.
Don’t forget that half of the pizza is theirs.

Call for Filipina Writers

Refer to:
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2008/07/call_for_filipina_writers_1.html

The 3 Types of Verbs

Which part of a sentence has the most exciting role? The doers of action of course: the verbs. Verbs show the passing of action from one situation to the next. Without verbs our language will have no movement, it will be static and boring. Verbs are the action words and are vitally important in a language. Merriam-Webster defines verbs as “a word that expresses an act, occurrence, or state of being” while Wikipedia it is defined as “In syntax, a verb is a word (part of speech) that usually denotes an action (bring, read), an occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (subject, object, etc.)” and some define a verb as, “A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence”.
There are three types of verbs: the linking verbs, the transitive verbs, and the intransitve verbs.
The Linking verbs do not express action, it is used to join subject and predicate. They link the subject to a predicate to add additional information about the subject.

Consider:
Celia is a shopaholic.
They are good people.
Juan and Luis are friends.
Melissa and Juan are lovers.
Paintings is a vocation like nunnery.
People with passion are never lonely.

However it is important to note that there is such a thing as Oblique linkers which function like linking verbs because they do not have a direct object. In oblique linkers you cannot see the action. Examples of these oblique linkers are: seem, look, taste, smell, sound, become.

Consider:
This plant seems edible.
Hmmm, that pochero looks good.
She became snotty after she got rich.
That sounds like a good deal to me.
The neighbor’s cooking smells delicious.

The next type of verbs is the transitive verbs, they are the action words and the action is always followed by a direct object. Transitive verbs cannot exist alone; it needs a direct object to complete its meaning without a direct object the meaning is incomplete. Transitive verbs are the easiest to identify.

Consider:
The shelf can hold all of mother’s pots.
The committee named Don Juan employee of the year.
The city mayor of Quezon City gave presents to the poor yesterday.
Clara Cruz has written a novel about love and loss.
The teacher scolded the boy for forgetting his assignment.
The English teacher loves his profession very much.
Mrs. Ocampo baked a very tasty roast chicken.
Dr. Mendez will be traveling to Mindoro to do a medical mission.

The last type of verbs is the Intransitive verbs. Here they do not need a direct object to complete their meaning. To determine whether a verb is transitive or intransitive consider if the action is being received in some way by a noun.

Consider:
Jenny writes legibly.
The losing candidate complained bitterly.
Jenny writes songs.