# Odd Euphemisms **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745 "2021-12-09T01:30:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/1 "2021-12-09T01:30:13Z")
Watching the ball game when a commercial came on for tampons. It stood out only because they used a thin red liquid to show their product’s absorbency rather than the puzzling turquoise one. The next commercial featured soft toilet paper and urged viewers to “enjoy the go”. I’m not saying it would have been better to call spades spades. But are they any other odd euphemisms you have noticed recently? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/2 "2021-12-09T02:03:32Z")
This one isn’t recent as I coined it years ago when some friends and I were in Oakland, Calfiornia and a funeral procession went past us. The procession was definitely not a typical funeral and it was for the leader of a small arcane religious group. My friend, new to California, asked me what was happening. I responded with the guy’s name and added, “is off to check the validity of his claims.” [Here’s a recent one](https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202112/09/WS61b13445a310cdd39bc7a2df.html), from yesterday’s government newspaper in Beijing: > China: Democracy That Works. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/3 "2021-12-09T02:22:10Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Watching the ball game when a commercial came on for tampons. It stood out only because they used a thin red liquid to show their product’s absorbency rather than the puzzling turquoise one. I never thought about it before, but the weird conceit of using blue liquid to show absorbency could really freak out a pubescent girl if she imagined that color is what is supposed to come out! ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/4 "2021-12-09T02:58:51Z")
Isn’t Democracy that works an incomplete sentence? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/5 "2021-12-09T03:40:13Z")
Blue Buffalo pet food. Not sure I want my jerkish Siamese cats to be like Bobcats. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/6 "2021-12-09T03:54:53Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > [Here’s a recent one](https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202112/09/WS61b13445a310cdd39bc7a2df.html), from yesterday’s government newspaper in Beijing: > > > China: Democracy That Works. It works so well that diplomatic officials in actual western democracies are boycotting the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s human rights abuses, though athletes will still be allowed to attend. Also, anyone in China who depicts Xi Jinping as a Winnie the Pooh caricature will be severely punished (that’s not a joke, BTW). Apparently Xi finds the uncanny resemblance unsettling. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/7 "2021-12-09T07:09:54Z")
Here’s a sick old one from the 1950’s era when contraception was illegal: “Feminine hygiene” was a euphemism for contraception. Old Lysol ads were gruesome (and hideously sexist, both misogynist and misandrist) pitches to use Lysol douches for “feminine hygiene”. Lysol was a much stronger formula in those days and, according to this article, would typically be dangerous for the purpose. Note the awfulness of the ads shown here. > **[Lysol’s Vintage Ads Subtly Pushed Women to Use Its Disinfectant as Birth Control](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lysols-vintage-ads-subtly-pushed-women-to-use-its-disinfectant-as-birth-control-218734/)** > > As if that wasn't bad enough, Lysol isn't even an effective contraceptive ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/8 "2021-12-10T23:59:01Z")
The cute bears selling Charmin toilet paper from their home in the forest seem to be a coy reference to the old joke, “Does a bear shit in the woods?” ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/9 "2021-12-11T00:03:17Z")
Yes, and the cool ones wipe with Charmin,!😄 ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/10 "2021-12-11T00:07:16Z")
That had never occurred to me, but I’m sure you’re right. (And some of the Charmin bears seem to have been drenched in that bright blue menstruate.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/11 "2021-12-11T03:51:55Z")
I recently saw that guy who burned the Fox Christmas tree called “unhoused”. (When that becomes unacceptable, the euphemism will be “differently domiciled”.) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/12 "2021-12-11T04:12:29Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I recently saw that guy who burned the Fox Christmas tree called “unhoused”. Possibly an auto-correct of “unhinged”? 😉 > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (When that becomes unacceptable, the euphemism will be “differently domiciled”.) Or maybe “mobile citizen” (MC). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/13 "2021-12-11T04:32:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > the euphemism will be “differently domiciled” Itinerant-American ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/14 "2021-12-11T05:37:03Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The cute bears selling Charmin toilet paper from their home in the forest seem to be a coy reference to the old joke, “Does a bear shit in the woods?” The Charmin Bears tell you that your shit doesn’t stink. Look closely: They have no nostrils! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/15 "2021-12-11T13:52:21Z")
I knew a man who had no nose. How did he smell? Awful. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/16 "2021-12-11T14:07:28Z")
Body functions are a rich source of euphemisms. “Spend a penny.” “See a man about a dog.” and many more. But what about legalisms? I heard of an instance where something blew apart (from entrapped hydrogen) and the defendant’s lawyers told everyone to refer to the event as “ **energetic disassembly** ”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/17 "2021-12-11T14:09:43Z")
Do bears “drop a couple of kids off at the pool”? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/18 "2021-12-11T14:28:11Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > “See a man about a dog.” In my vernacular (British English, London) this is not a euphemism for going to the toilet. It’s a way of announcing your departure without saying exactly what you’re going to do, with the implication (usually meant jokingly) that you’re off to do something dubious that you cannot talk about. In principle I suppose that could include going to the toilet. But in my experience it’s used more when you are announcing your departure and not coming back, not to excuse yourself temporarily to go to the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/19 "2021-12-11T14:41:23Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > But what about legalisms? I heard of an instance where something blew apart (from entrapped hydrogen) and the defendant’s lawyers told everyone to refer to the event as “ **energetic disassembly** ”. That’s a tongue-in-cheek euphemism that seems to come from the engineering world, with perhaps some bleed-over into physics. Why a lawyer in a court proceeding would think it appropriate, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/20 "2021-12-11T14:43:53Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > Why a lawyer in a court proceeding would think it appropriate, I have no idea. Was someone being sued for liability for people getting hurt? I would assume that it’s a half-assed attempt to make an explosion sound like something less sensational. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745.md?page=2)