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Inside The WordhuntEuphemisms: Beyond The Lace Curtain of LanguageSometimes we may curse them, but euphemisms provide a very useful service – sometimes plain talk is just plain horrible. The OED defines a euphemism as a word or expression used as a substitute for a harsher or more offensive one. Our Wordhunters helped to solve some euphemistic etymological mysteries - but others still remain. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external web sites. domesticUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1963. Fans of Z Cars might be able to help the OED with the term a domestic in the specific sense of a household argument. The current first quotation is from a magazine article translating British slang terms from the series for bemused Australian viewers, so the word must have been in use, probably in the series itself, before then. But did the script writers invent it or did they get it from the police themselves? Time for some detective work… glamour modelUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1981. Perhaps this term was born when Britain’s nude and topless models decided that they needed a more decorous job title to grace their CVs. Or perhaps it was invented by tabloid subeditors to add an air of sophistication to their third-page content. But did the euphemistic expression burst on to the scene before 1981? looUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1940; information on the origins of the word A small word for the small room, but one that has caused a big stink among etymologists. With no firm evidence to support any one theory the loo debate looks set to continue. Did James Joyce invent the term in a pun about Waterloo? Is it from the French ‘lieu’ or ‘l’eau’, or even ‘bordalou’, a portable commode fashionable with ladies in 18th century France? With the first evidence of the word appearing in 1940, this last theory seems unlikely, unless you can find any earlier evidence. regime changeUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1990 Did you instigate a regime change before 1990? And did you pause to note it down in your diary? The term originally referred to a simple change of government, but has more recently transformed into a euphemism for forcefully overthrowing a hostile foreign government. The first euphemistic use of regime change in the OED is from 1990 and relates to US activity in Nicaragua. whoopsieUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1973 Let us speak plainly here, did you do whoopsies before 1973? This is one of the many euphemisms for excrement found in the OED, and it first appears in a script of ‘Some Mothers do ave ’Em’. But perhaps long before Frank Spencer came on to the scene, whoopsie was the euphemism of choice in your household. |
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