Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Euphemisms of the year - American Dialect Society

Most Euphemistic Words of the Year

2010: Kinetic Event - Pentagon term for violent attacks on troops in Afghanistan.

2006: Waterboarding - an interrogation technique in which the subject is immobilized and doused with water to simulate drowning; reported to be used by U.S. interrogators against terrorism detainees.

2005: Internal Nutrition - force-feeding a prisoner.

2004: Badly Sourced - False.

2003: Pre-emptive Self-Defense - attack before a possible attack on oneself.

2001: Daisy Cutter - large bomb that explodes a few feet above the ground. Massacres everything in its path which resembles a daisy.

2000: Courtesy Call - an uninvited call from a telemarketer.

1998: Senior moment - momentary lapse of memory due to age.

1996: Urban Camping - living homeless in a city; Food Insecure - a country where people are starving


Source: American Dialect Society - Word of the Year 2010

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