# Euphemisms I hate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 6, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612 "2013-05-06T13:52:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/121 "2013-05-31T23:54:19Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > ‘‘Consumer’’ instead of ‘‘patient.’’ I briefly interned at a partial-hospital psychiatric center and we called the clients ‘‘consumers.’’ I think this originated with Mad Pride / people taking ownership of their mental health care, and that’s cool, but it just sounds terrible. I did free lance work for a social service agency that did this, too. Instead of _clients_, they said _consumers_. I told them that everyone else in this type of work refers to their clients as clients and I don’t want to have to explain to every funder I’m writing to what you mean by that word and how that is the same thing as client. If they’re clients, that’s what I’m going to call them. It’s hard enough to raise money without having to explain basic terminology. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/122 "2013-06-01T01:16:14Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > “Right to work” law > > Instead of Union suppression law. or “closed shop” for have to join a union ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/123 "2013-06-01T01:19:46Z")
I hate word type euphemisms such a the F word or the N word. Everyone knows you are saying fuck or nigger, just say it. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/124 "2013-06-01T02:42:32Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > I hate word type euphemisms such a the F word or the N word. Everyone knows you are saying fuck or nigger, just say it. Well, actually I was going to fornicate some negroes… you’re making it sound dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/125 "2013-06-01T19:03:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I did free lance work for a social service agency that did this, too. Instead of _clients_, they said _consumers_. I told them that everyone else in this type of work refers to their clients as clients and I don’t want to have to explain to every funder I’m writing to what you mean by that word and how that is the same thing as client. If they’re clients, that’s what I’m going to call them. It’s hard enough to raise money without having to explain basic terminology. I understand why “consumer” is better (at least, from the point of view of the people advocating the change) than “patient.” But what’s wrong with “client”? If anything I would think a client has more of a say than a consumer does. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/126 "2013-06-01T22:40:30Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > I get stabby every time I see the word “guest” used for “customer”. > > Stores now have “guest services”. Restaurants hand out “guest menus”, etc. A guest is someone you invite, who is entertained or given hospitality by a host. They do not pay for the privilege. Stores do not have “guests”. I don’t know whether this is a misguided attempt to make people think the store cares about you as a person, but it’s annoying and ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with the word “customer.” It is not a shameful activity to be selling things to people who want to buy them. Stop pretending we are good friends or family. We have a business relationship and there’s nothing wrong with that. Similarly the employees are “associates” or some other buttfucking term. Now, in some sort of high end profession like lawyer or something, yeah, but the guy cleaning the crapper and stocking the shelves in your big box store is an associate? Sure… > [@Ludovic](#): > > Yeah! Funk dat! Heheheheheheheh ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/127 "2013-06-02T15:43:59Z")
I hate the use of “adult” for “erotic”. There are lots of adult things out there that aren’t at all erotic. When I see an “adult” video store, sometimes I want to go in and ask if they’ve got the latest federal budget debate on DVD. Use your gonads and give your products their proper name. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/128 "2013-06-02T16:57:28Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I hate the use of “adult” for “erotic”. Fair enough. I hate the use of “erotic” for “pornographic.” I’m a busy man, and I don’t have time for stuff that is only “erotic.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/129 "2013-06-02T18:45:42Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I hate the use of “adult” for “erotic”. > > There are lots of adult things out there that aren’t at all erotic. When I see an “adult” video store, sometimes **I want to go in and ask if they’ve got the latest federal budget debate on DVD.** Use your gonads and give your products their proper name. [My bolding] Wow, I dunno about you, but this paints some pretty i\*n-ter-esting \*pictures in my head… I like the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/130 "2013-06-03T16:30:48Z")
When my mother-in-law died last year, we were pretty blunt with the term ‘died’ so that our kids would know that Nana was, in fact, not coming back. But someone said something to my son about his grandmother “passing away” and that phrase almost stuck with him. He now talks about “Nana getting passed out”, which is probably not how she wants to be remembered. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/131 "2013-06-03T16:48:34Z")
When something is called a “tool” that is not an actual tool that you’d buy at Canadian Tire or something. (Website, spreadsheet, advice, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/132 "2013-06-05T04:40:47Z")
Cashier at Wendy’s: Will this be for the dining room this evening? Listen, I am standing in Wendy’s. You don’t have a dining room. You have tables and chairs with snot and ketchup smears on them. There will be no candles and violinists at my table. What self-important marketing prick came up with this little gem? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/133 "2013-06-07T02:18:49Z")
In the bible, “knowing” means “having sex with.” ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/134 "2013-06-07T04:18:51Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > In the bible, “knowing” means “having sex with.” Well, everyone who knows me. . . ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/135 "2013-06-07T04:44:29Z")
I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets annoyed at the “passed away” thing. I got spanked on the Roger Ebert thread for [objecting to stating that an out and proud atheist “passed away”.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16164830&postcount=98) When my mother died, her obituary made it clear that she died. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/136 "2013-06-07T07:09:29Z")
“Progressive”-Whiny, self-righteous, washed-out ex-hippies without any sense in foreign policy and hypocrites who engage in rapid apologia for Islamist reaction as long as its against “American imperialism”. The only exception among self-described Progs these days is Bernie Sanders and even he panders to anti-nuclear bullshit. Would leave classical Progressives like Teddy Roosevelt spinning in his grave “Libertarian”-When applied to pro-pot legalization Pat Buchanan, ie Ron Paul who was rated the most conservative politician in the United States. Or those sociopathic Islamophobes who thinks nuking Mecca is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/137 "2013-06-07T11:44:04Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Cashier at Wendy’s: Will this be for the dining room this evening? > Listen, I am standing in Wendy’s. You don’t have a dining room. You have tables and chairs with snot and ketchup smears on them. There will be no candles and violinists at my table. > > What self-important marketing prick came up with this little gem? You: “We’ll be at that corner table by the window. Please send the sommelier over promptly, and the violinist after we choose our wine.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/138 "2013-06-07T13:03:26Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Cashier at Wendy’s: Will this be for the dining room this evening? > Listen, I am standing in Wendy’s. You don’t have a dining room. You have tables and chairs with snot and ketchup smears on them. There will be no candles and violinists at my table. > > What self-important marketing prick came up with this little gem? I didn’t know that one was still around - I’ve only heard it a couple of times, and that was 15-20 years ago. I remember being confused the first time I heard it, because my mind more readily associated “the dining room” with the one in my house, rather than the tables in the fast-food joint. I can’t recall for sure at this remove, but I think I may have said something like, “no, I’m eating here,” which undoubtedly confused the person behind the counter. I think what I’d say if I heard it again is, “Let me explain: you do not have a dining room. What you have is the ‘here’ of ‘here, or to go?’ Either way, I’m not eating in the dining room: you don’t have one, and if I order this ‘to go,’ I’ll eat it at the kitchen table.” > [@pkbites](#): > > Why do people call public restrooms a “bathroom” when there is not a bath in it?😕 Hell, why do they call them **rest** rooms? They’re about the last place I’d want to take a nap in! :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/139 "2013-06-07T13:05:28Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > Well, everyone who knows me. . . _To know, know, know you is to love, love, love you_ ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612/140 "2013-06-07T13:11:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Hell, why do they call them **rest** rooms? They’re about the last place I’d want to take a nap in! > > :eek: 😃 What do you want to call them, shitters? Sometimes euphemisms are good things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/euphemisms-i-hate/657612.md?page=8)