How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms | R. W. Holder

How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms | R. W. Holder | A fun reference book that may make you blush...

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	How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms R. W. Holder Oxford University Press, USA, 2007 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This thoroughly updated new edition of How Not to Say What You Mean celebrates 20 years of R. W. Holder's popular and successful dictionary of euphemisms, offering a delightful collection of jocular and evasive expressions for sex, death, murder, crime, prison, and much more.
Here are almost five thousand euphemistic expressions listed in alphabetical order, ranging from well-known favorites such as "push up the daisies," "fly-by-night," "red light district," "take to the cleaners," "get lucky," and "five-fingered discount," to less amusing expressions from the bureaucratic and military world such as "restructuring," "collateral damage," and "extrajudicial killing." For each word or expression, Holder includes examples from real authors, along with entertaining explanations of the words origins and meaning. Thus we learn that "bite the bullet" (to make a difficult decision) comes from the fact that soldiers, being flogged, were once given a bullet to bite down on, and "Stool Pigeon" (an informant) comes from the practice of tying a pigeon to a stool to lure other pigeons to capture.
New to this edition are over 250 new entries and fourteen introductory articles on major themes in euphemistic language, such as business, sex, death, and the human body. The book includes an extensive thematic index which groups words together under topics such as Age, Bankruptcy, Bribery, Copulation, Sexual Variations, Drunkenness, Erections and Orgasms, Farting, Funerals, Killing and Suicide, Low Intelligence, Politics, Prison, and Warfare.
From "suck the monkey" to "surgical strike," here is a wonderful collection of colorful words that allow us to avoid life's unpleasantries as we add spice and humor to our everyday speech.
"A must for tiptoeing around the truth. It is also rollicking reading for those who love words and the not always forthright uses to which they are put." --Chicago Sun-Times

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Straightforwardness over euphemism every time

R.W. Hodderfs dictionary is very helpful for those of us who want to say and write to be helpful without ambiguity, and who rail against the subversion of political correctness.

How Not To Say What You Mean is the updated guide to probity, candor, earthiness, and straightforwardness. The dictionary provides definitions with example sentences as well as explanations where appropriate. Thematically indexed the entries are wide-ranging: work, sexuality, bankruptcy, clothing, education, politics and aircraft, provide the real meaning for phrases well-known and obscure we come across daily in speech and writing such as liquidity crisis, coronary inefficiency, four-letter man, normalization, investigative journalism, governmental relations, ethically challenged and year of progress.

Itfs a dictionary to browse, to be entertained by and take courage from. Highly recommended for all who have the courage to say and write what we mean.

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A fun reference book that may make you blush...

This is a good reference book for readers and writers, and possibly courageous public speakers. A thematic index at the back of the book makes finding the right term easy. The entries provide concise, clear definitions, as well as quoted sources which add clarity as to the origin and usage of the word or phrase. These authorities are cross-referenced to an author/work bibliography in the front of the book, handy for those who wish to conduct further research. Many of the euphemisms deal with sexual topics, a possible commentary on either the repressive or playful nature of our social mores. Most of the words and phrases are modern, at least within the last fifty years, but some obsolete terms are included, often to show comparison to current usage. While not an exhaustive study of euphemisms, or a substitution for a good slang dictionary, this is a great reference book to have, to use, and to read -- just for the fun of it.

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Must read for lovers of words

The contents may be offensive to some readers. So be it! Words and their usage are part of our language. As an aside, I'd like to see someone take on the task of relating euphemisms to short titles of Congressional bills: Leave No Child Behind Act; Fair Tax Act; The USA Patriot Act; Help American Vote Act...

You have to read to the fine print

This is the fourth edition of a venerable and useful work that first appeared in 1987, according to the jacket notes. These jacket notes are easily readable, owing to the choice of a civilized type face and size. The same cannot be said for the bulk of this otherwise admirable volume itself.

Most persons reading this review will know that the euphemism "small print" means, as the book says: "onerous conditions in a contract which are not given prominence." However, in this review, "small (or fine) print" means much of the main body of the text, which is in print that many will find hard to read without a magnifier.

Despite my cavil about the tiny font used to print much of this book, it is a gem. Not only are the terms arranged in alphabetical order, dictionary-style, with examples of usage and micro-essays , they are also placed alphabetically into fourteen different thematic groupings, each preceded by a little essay on the subject. These page-and-a-half-sized essays are well-written and rewarding to those who can tease out the words from the miniscule printing. Thus one can immerse oneself into the world of evasive language in each of these fourteen rubrics: Addictions, Affairs of State, Bodily Functions, Childbirth, Crime and Punishment, etc. It is amusing and instructive to do so.

I recommend this book to all word-fanciers whose vision, natural or enhanced, is up to it.

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