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euphemism treadmill

noun

Etymology

Coined by Steven Pinker in 1994, but preceded by Sharon Henderson Taylor's 1974 "euphemism cycle."

Definitions

  1. The process by which euphemisms fall into disuse and are replaced by new ones, as the old…

    The process by which euphemisms fall into disuse and are replaced by new ones, as the old ones become socially unacceptable over time.

    • Euphemism, if successful, exemplifies case m: the new term has a new tone, but preserves sense and reference. The sort of backfire characteristic of the 'euphemism treadmill' is a shift to case i: the tone reverts to that of the old term.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for euphemism treadmill. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA