Some subjects are considered personal, sensitive or taboo in English. For this reason, people avoid mentioning them by name and instead use a "euphemism" or humorous expression to refer to them. Here are some common euphemisms in English.
To refer to death
pass away: "Her uncle passed away last year."
fight a long battle with: "He fought a long battle with cancer."
Humorous expressions to refer to death
meet your maker: "He's gone to meet his maker."
six feet under: "I won't worry about money When I'm six feet under."
pushing up daisies: "Last I heard about him, he's pushing up daisies."
in your / his / my box: "When I'm in my box you can argue all you like about the inheritance."
snuff it: "I've heard that poor old Ernie has snuffed it."
popped his clogs: "Harold popped his clogs last year."
kick the bucket: "So Joe has finally kicked the bucket."
Animal euthanasia
put down: "We had to put our cat down as she was very ill."
put an end to its suffering: "We put an end to her suffering."
To refer to the bathroom
restroom: "Can I use the restroom?"
Where can I wash my hands?
public conveniences: "Are there any public conveniences nearby?"
ladies / gents: "The ladies and gents are down the corridor on your right."
Can I use your bathroom?
Humorous expressions to refer to the bathroom
the bog: "He's in the bog."
the smallest room of the house: "I'd like to pay a visit to the smallest room of the house."
powder my nose: "Where can I powder my nose?"
see a man about a dog: "He's gone to see a man about a dog."
Other themes
Unemployment
between jobs: "Steve is between jobs at the moment."
a resting actor: "Harry's a resting actor." (Only use for unemployed actors.)
Pregnancy
in the family way: "She was in the family way, so they got married."
have a bun in the oven: "Have you heard that Katy has a bun in the oven?"
Drunk
tired and emotional: "The newspaper said the president was tired and emotional."
have a bit too much to drink: "He had a bit too much to drink last night."
to be a bit worse for wear: "He was a bit worse for wear by the time he came home."
to have over-indulged: "I think he over-indulged in the free beer at the party."
Lying
economical with the truth: "The boss is known for being economical with the truth."
Arguments
full and frank discussion: "The directors had a full and frank discussion in the meeting."
have words with someone: "Those two have had words."
Being poor
be disadvantaged: "The government is introducing new schemes to help the disadvantaged."
financially embarrassed: "I'm afraid I can't come to the restaurant with you. I'm financially embarrassed at the moment."
24 comments on “English euphemisms”
The euphemisms are particularly entertaining.
Thank you for sharing.
the euphemisms are really entertaining plus improving. thanks for making them a part of my language!!!!
I think the euphemisms are unneccessary.and they are very hard for memorizing.
Well I found them quite nice, being half Turkish myself I find Turks don't use them enough and everything is really direct when it shouldn't be and not direct enough when things should be! =) They may avoid confrontation (like if an employee has a problem with the boss but doesn't say anything) and then say "Oh have you gotten fatter?" out right and when you're not expecting it! I control myself as to not slap ppl all day (since I'm a teacher, God help me)… Oh but back to your euphemisms, good stuff. I'll use some of them for an upcoming workshop we'll be doing. Thanks!
euphemisms r the best way to express oneself without using embarrasing or hurting words
thanks very usefull
I'm so tired and emotional that I really have to see a man about a dog. XD
are the euphemism above used in England as well? nice website, very helpful. x
Yes, the euphemisms above are all British English.
Sound interesting topic.Thanks a lot for such a great article.
How to pronounce a word euphemisms.
thank you
It's pronounced: "u – fa – miz – um".
Some of the euphemisms listed above seem just too vague and absurd to be useful.
This is supposed to be a site about English, but it contains a split infinitive (a "no-no") in the list of examples. It splits "put" and "down":
put down: "We had to put our cat down as she was very ill."
Should be: "We had to put down our cat as she was very ill."
A split infinitive is where you put something between the "to" and the rest of the infinitive "go" as in "to boldly go". Split infinitives aren't really considered as a "no-no" any more, but in any case, the example sentence isn't a split infinitive. You have "had to" (past form of "have to") then a phrasal verb "put down" as in "We have to put sth down / put down sth". With some phrasal verbs such as "put down" you can put the object either after the particle "down" or after the verb "put".
Euphemism's were for homework, and the teacher said "the person who has the most euphemism's gets a prize" I won because I used this site!
THANKS
Excellent!
what does "dabber" mean in this sentence?:(for sure it's not a euphamism)"The kid dabbers picked up ,was AWOL,he's had it.
I have absolutely no idea I'm afraid!
yes,really euphemism is very important in literature to suggest sth unpleasant to the listener.
For example ,
william shakespeare's "My mistress Eyes", in this poem he speaks frankness poetic about his mistress ,he describes her in unpleasent way to reach his goal that beauty is not important thing .So ,i can say this style of writhing is very attractive in some ways that we should use in such situations to offer our idea in a good way.
hi, i´m from mexico..and maybe in mexico the people use them more than you because in mexico there are so many taboos
I think that 'euphemisms are frequently needed for polite conversations.
In Arabic there are similar ones adopted to alleviate the offensiveness of certain words and expressions.
Really, euphemism plays a great role in Languages it works like a decoration to the building.My language( Arabic )is full of such technique.
Saudi Arabia
