"euphemism" = metaphor or figure of speech

[Laurence Horn]

>?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

Well, I'm not sure that would count as an antonym anymore than an
oxymoron.  "Tiny giant" would  be an oxymoron, while "tiny" and
"huge" would plausibly be antonyms.  But calling a giant "tiny" (or a
silent person "Gabby", and similar cases) don't really fit either of
these categories--what we have here is a...sarconym?  (I'd suggest
"ironym", but I've already nominated that for "Welsh rabbit", "Jewish
penicillin", and similar examples.)

Larry

>-----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