Dysphemism

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In language, dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation"), malphemism (in Latin malus "bad"), and cacophemism (in Greek kakos κακός "bad") refer to the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of a polite one; they are rough opposites of euphemism. “Dysphemism” or "malphemism" may be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating, while “cacophemism” is usually deliberately offensive. (More recently, the Australian linguist Kate Burridge has coined the term "orthophemism," to refer to a neutral name or expression.) Dysphemy is related to "blasphemy," but is less focused in scope, and therefore not directly synonymous.

Examples of dysphemism include "dead tree edition" for the paper version of an online magazine or "worm food" for "dead."

Oddly, some humorous expressions can be either euphemistic or dysphemic, depending on context, because terms which can be dysphemic can also be affectionate. For example, pushing up daisies can be taken as either softer or harsher than died. Such variance can also be cultural; for instance, "twit" is a dysphemism for "idiot",^{[citation needed]} but in British English is nearly always a humorous or affectionate term.

Look up dysphemism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Contents 1 Examples 2 Dysphemism treadmill 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Examples

• Kill or rape for a severe defeat. For example, "Our team is gonna kill you guys in the next game"
  or "We're getting raped in the bond markets!"
• Fuck or screw, in reference to treatment perceived as unfair, e.g. "They fucked me over on my taxes this year" or "He really got screwed in the last round."
• Junk, Rubbish or Garbage for something without real value, as in Junk food or Junk mail.
  Similarly, "talking rubbish/garbage", nonsense.
• Bullshit (for "lies" or "nonsense", or an unfair situation)
• Shit (anything contemptible, also slang for "stuff")
• SOS (Shit On Shingle) for any food where something creamy is poured over something hard.
  Usually this refers to chipped beef on toast, the dish that first got its name in military as SOS.
• Shit for Brains (commonly used to refer to someone who is/has acted stupidly)
• Idiot box (Television)
• Crippled
  • As in Crippleware (software with features limited or removed,^[1] also called broken)
  • The free software community also uses a number of dysphemic terms for software,
    such as Foistware or Ransomware.
• Grammar nazi (a strong promoter of linguistic prescription)
• Dead tree edition (often original, printed version of on-line resource)
• Meatspace (referring to physical reality, as opposed to "cyberspace")
• Snail mail for traditional, non-email, mail delivery systems
• Revenue raising (excessive enforcement of traffic laws to raise government revenue) by the pigs (Law enforcement).
• Stupidity tax for national lottery (due to the outrageous odds).

Many further examples can be found in a 'profanisaurus' published by 'Viz' magazine^[2]

[edit] Dysphemism treadmill

Dysphemism treadmill refers to a phenomenon in which a previously shocking word loses its shock value and thus ceases to be a dysphemism. It may then give way to some new dysphemism which may be used in its place.^{[dubious – discuss]} A complementary Euphemism Treadmill also exists.

[edit] See also

• Euphemism
• Hyperbole
• Metaphor
• Pejorative
• Power word

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (January 2009)