[Ads-l] DPR--candidate for "most euphemistic"?

[Laurence Horn]

> On Jun 12, 2015, at 10:25 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Hey, what's with the mandatory apostrophe in "D'oh" anyway? Glottal stop or
> hypercorrection?

I've always assumed the former.

> Or something more...occult?
> 
> JL
> 
> On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 12:38 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      Re: DPR--candidate for "most euphemistic"?
>> 
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>>> On Jun 11, 2015, at 12:04 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>> =20
>>> On Thu, Jun 11, 2015 at 10:48 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>> =20
>>>> DPR (direct potable reuse)
>>>> =20
>>>> [for the practice of recycling waste water into drinking water under
>>>> consideration in drought-stricken California]
>>>> cf. =
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__www.cnbc.com_id_1025=
>> 89492&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3DwFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1T=
>> sSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3Dbr83XzeCC6m7Lt56Sf8ghUEVNiBBu5y2ohlB4WWKSuI&s=3DzY4X=
>> k_UZ3yMFriUJmCwPmxlo1UvVgbWseeE8OTg0Z88&e=3D=20
>>>> =20
>>>> The non-euphemistic but perhaps somewhat misleading name for the =
>> process
>>>> is "toilet to tap", but the method of conversion does include
>>>> intermediate steps rather than, say, a hose directly linking the =
>> former
>>>> to the latter.
>>> =20
>>> Relevant clip from last night's "Daily Show" (about 2 minutes in):
>> 
>> Yup, that's where I learned about it.
>>> =20
>>> =
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=3Dhttp-3A__thedailyshow.cc.com_=
>> videos_hkjwb4_california-2Ddry&d=3DAwIBaQ&c=3D-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=3Dw=
>> Fp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=3Dbr83XzeCC6m7Lt56Sf8ghUEVNiB=
>> Bu5y2ohlB4WWKSuI&s=3DwCoEyar5PvPrNvdlzBTUkOa4bdKAk-TOTJ-iDJEEZfU&e=3D=20
>>> =20
>>>> What makes "DPR" especially congenial is that it only gets you to the
>>>> euphemism indirectly, in the plain-brown-wrapper tradition of "E.D.",
>>>> "STD"/"STI" (or the earlier "VD"), "P.E.", "B.O."
>>> =20
>>> Or, indeed, the 2014 winner for Most Euphemistic, "EIT" (for "enhanced
>>> interrogation technique").
>> 
>> D'oh!  I knew there was another recent one I was forgetting.  (I even =
>> brought up that plain-brown-wrapper cover via initials to support EIT's =
>> candidacy during the WOTY floor debate in Minneapolis.
>> 
>> LH=
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=igD_a9vPx3Cwp7U3oo2Si34qYK7yWDh-JdP3dYO-kXo&s=c-V0J9j1MfpBg-y5a9nF2QKm1HNdv8U5oaanO55PrG0&e= 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=AwIBaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=wFp3X4Mu39hB2bf13gtz0ZpW1TsSxPIWYiZRsMFFaLQ&m=igD_a9vPx3Cwp7U3oo2Si34qYK7yWDh-JdP3dYO-kXo&s=c-V0J9j1MfpBg-y5a9nF2QKm1HNdv8U5oaanO55PrG0&e= 

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