How Not to Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms (Oxford Paperback Reference)

by R.W.Holder (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $4.00

  This re-named edition of A Dictionary of Euphemisms is full of old favourites, such as early bath or push up the daisies , as well as euphemisms from modern times, like human sacrifice and coffee-housing . Definitions include examples from real authors, along with historical explanations of origins, and now obsolete euphemisms like leaping house , nightingale are signposted as such. To prove that the use of euphemisms is not just a British speciality, there is widespread coverage of American euphemisms too: English (pertaining to sexual deviance), and watermelon (an indication of pregnancy) are two examples.