early euphemism of the year candidate--"artificial calamari"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I'd prefer "imitation" myself, but I just fell into line.

Come to think of it (but only come to think of it), this is an odd use of
"artificial," which implies to me something synthetic.

Of course, "counterfeit" would work fine in this case, except that, as I
said, the very name says it's fake.

AJL

JL

On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 8:58 AM, Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
> Subject:      Re: early euphemism of the year candidate--"artificial
> calamari"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 1/23/13 1:05 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> > Date:    Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:51:54 -0500
> > From:    Jonathan Lighter<wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: early euphemism of the year candidate--"artificial calamari"
> >           (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> > I agree. "Artificial calamari" says it's fake right there in the name.
> >
> > What kind of euphemism is that?
> >
> > JL
> I heard that This American Life segment as well. And I have to say that
> where you all (and those on the show) are saying "artificial," I would
> be using "imitation" (as in "imitation crab," "imitation vanilla extract").
>
> Is it a "euphemism" along the lines of "sweetbread" (thymus or pancreas)
> or "head cheese" (a sausage or "jellied mass" [gotta love that W3 def:
> yum!] made from meat from the pig's head, feet, tongue, and heart)?
>
> ---Amy West
>
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