Euphemistic lexicon and phrases in the field of employment and occupation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/1505-9065.12.05Keywords:
taboo, euphemism, vocabulary, employmentAbstract
The use of euphemisms is a linguistic strategy common to all languages. Here, we examine euphemistic words and expressions in French referring to the field of employment. Arising as a result of the influence of globalisation, the concepts studied in this semantic field are: unemployment, job insecurity, poverty and dismissal. Assistante de caisse instead of caissière, dossier de règlement d’emploi instead of licenciement, conducteur d’autobus instead of chauffeur and demandeur d’emploi instead of chômeur are just some examples of this type of linguistic transgression used to mitigate or even camouflage the truth. Our findings suggest that the euphemism is an autonomous figure of speech, which together with the metaphor and periphrasis, serves to attenuate the effects of taboo, above all in relation to the social and professional status of individuals.
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