Political dysphemisms

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:30 PM -0400 8/16/09, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>I thought dysphemisms and euphemisms were different.
>
>JL

I was just about to wonder the same thing.  "Partial birth abortion"
is presumably a dysphemism, as is "death tax".  "Clear skies
initiative" and "healthy forests initiative" are clearly *euphemisms*.

LH



>On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Julia Achenbach <
>julia.achenbach at uni-oldenburg.de> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Julia Achenbach <julia.achenbach at UNI-OLDENBURG.DE>
>>  Subject:      Re: Political dysphemisms
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Cronies, stupidity tax, regime, idiot box.
>>
>>  - Julia
>>
>>  > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  > -----------------------
>>  > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  > Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
>>  > Subject:      Re: Political dysphemisms
>>  >
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  > And maybe the most successful of them all, "partial birth abortion."
>>  >
>>  > On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 5:09 PM, Herb Stahlke<hfwstahlke at gmail.com>
>>  wrote:
>>  >> Bush's "Clear Skies Initiative" and "Healthy Forests Initiative."
>>  >>
>>  >> Herb
>>  >>
>>  >> On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Baker, John<JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>>  >>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  >>> -----------------------
>>  >>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >>> Poster:       "Baker, John" <JMB at STRADLEY.COM>
>>  >>> Subject:      Re: Political dysphemisms
>>  >>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>>
>>  >>>        "Star wars," for President Reagan's Strategic Defense
>>  >>> Initiative, comes to mind.  This one was particularly successful,
>>  >>> receiving widespread use in mainstream media.
>>  >>>
>>  >>>
>>  >>> John Baker
>>  >>>
>>  >>>
>>  >>> -----Original Message-----
>>  >>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>>  >>> Behalf
>>  >>> Of Mark Peters
>>  >>> Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 11:25 AM
>>  >>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>  >>> Subject: Political dysphemisms
>>  >>>
>>  >>> I'm writing about politically motivated dysphemisms this week: terms
>>  >>> like death panel, death tax, and terrorist fist jab. I'm sure I'm
>>  >>> missing a lot. Any suggestions?
>>  >>>
>>  >>> Mark
>>  >>>
>>  >>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>  >>>
>>  >>
>>  >
>>  > ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>  >
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  "He, who lives upon hope, will die farting"
>>  [allegedly] Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>   The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
>--
>"There You Go Again...Using Reason on the Planet of the Duck-Billed
>Platypus"
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org