"euphemism" = metaphor or figure of speech

[Benjamin Barrett]

Last night, I heard what seems like a similar shift for "oxymoron" where
someone used it to mean anytonym. The word was "tiny" referring to a person
who is large. BB

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of
Jonathan Lighter

    "How many times do I have to tell you, Ralph ?  Whistle-blower is just a
euphemism...."

In my day, soon after the invention of humor, we concluded similar jokes
with the phrase "just a figure of speech."  The framing talk balloon is
quite big enough to contain the longer phrase.

The use of "euphemism" to mean "synonym" has already been commented on,
IIRC.

Cf. "allegory," currently used almost exclusively to mean "metaphor" on live
TV.

JL