# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![TwoCarrotSnowman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twocarrotsnowman/32/15879_2.png) [@TwoCarrotSnowman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoCarrotSnowman)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/61 "2021-12-17T12:38:15Z")
A friend of mine who used to be in the (British) Army once mentioned in passing that a particular NCO would “take you for a little run” rather than deal with discipline issues officially. I took this to be a euphemism, and I’m glad I never found out exactly what it was for. One from the nicer end of the spectrum: on the Great British Bake-Off, judge Mary Berry used to use the phrase “rather informal” when what she meant was “what the fuck is _that?_” 😀 ---
**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 17, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/62 "2021-12-17T14:22:27Z")
My favourite source of alternate phrases is probably _Yes, Prime Minister_. But not all of these are euphemisms, even if they are both courageous and novel. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/63 "2021-12-17T16:40:56Z")
My favorite these days is from Brockmire: Big brown bear knocking at the back door ---
**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 17, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/64 "2021-12-17T20:42:01Z")
In the Red Sparrow spy trilogy, some British spies in Hong Kong spoke of an incompetent boss as FIGJAM.That stood for “Fuck, I’m Great, Just Ask Me.” ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/65 "2021-12-17T21:50:50Z")
That was Phil Mickelson’s nickname amongst his fellow professional golfers. > **[They Called Phil Mickelson What? Here's What 'Figjam' Means](https://www.liveabout.com/phil-mickelson-a-hated-man-3971652)** > > Phil Mickelson is one of the most popular golfers in the world with spectators. But he was once called by an unflattering nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/66 "2021-12-18T02:37:18Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Right, like how some women never pee or fart, but do regularly leave the dinner table at a restaurant to “powder their nose” or “freshen up”. Years ago I was in mixed company when one of the women excused herself, saying she had to “go and use the facilities.” After she had left I wondered aloud why she couldn’t just come right out and say she needed to take a leak. One of the other women responded, “maybe she needed to take a shit.” ---
**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 18, 2021, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/67 "2021-12-18T02:47:47Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > My favourite source of alternate phrases is probably _Yes, Prime Minister_. But not all of these are euphemisms, even if they are both courageous and novel. Are you sure you didn’t mean _Yes, Minister_? I thought this earlier series was more fun than its successor, all the more so because Hacker was beset both from the bottom, by the civil service, and from the top, by the Prime Minister’s Office. And I’m pretty sure that _Yes, Minister_ was where the euphemism of a “courageous decision” came from. ---
**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 18, 2021, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/68 "2021-12-18T03:00:52Z")
You’re right. In my own mind, FWIW, when I said that I meant both series - which I view as a continuum. Both books and series were great fun. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/69 "2021-12-18T03:33:11Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I wondered aloud why she couldn’t just come right out and say she needed to take a leak. I usually say, ‘Excuse me. I have to urinate.’ I think Mrs. L.A. doesn’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/70 "2021-12-18T09:13:19Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > “Sheet frogs” “Tree frogs” The pink slip in English turns into a blue letter in German, at least in Switzerland. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/71 "2021-12-18T16:03:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > > > I wondered aloud why she couldn’t just come right out and say she needed to take a leak. > > I usually say, ‘Excuse me. I have to urinate.’ I think Mrs. L.A. doesn’t like it I prefer “tap a kidney”. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/72 "2021-12-18T16:33:17Z")
> [@TwoCarrotSnowman](#): > > One from the nicer end of the spectrum: on the Great British Bake-Off, judge Mary Berry used to use the phrase “rather informal” when what she meant was “what the fuck is _that?_” 😀 I had a design professor who, if she didn’t like a project, would say “Well, that’s a choice.” ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/73 "2021-12-19T00:03:16Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > In my vernacular (British English, London) this is not a euphemism for going to the toilet. And I grew up with the same meaning applied to a similar expression, “I’m going to see a man about a horse.” ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/74 "2021-12-19T00:21:22Z")
> [@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** ”. I just recently saw the term “nervous shock” used by Trevor Noah’s lawyers in a suit he is filing against an orthopedic surgeon. I learned about all kinds of shock in medical school. Septic, hypovolemic, cardiogenic, anaphylactic, and even neuorgenic. Nervous, however, wasn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/75 "2021-12-19T00:44:20Z")
Those little dried chili peppers you find in Asian dishes? In Korean they’re called _gochu,_ which is also the Korean euphemism for a little boy’s penis. I’ve always felt English sadly lacked that distinction out of the belief that a pre-puberty penis becomes a different item after it begins to have erections and pass fool-juice as well as urine. At any rate, pre or post puberty, [Chachi](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/joanie-loves-chachi/) is not a word for penis, unless we referring specifically to Scott Baio. ---
**Author:** ![vorpal\_sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e36b37/32.png) [@vorpal\_sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vorpal_sword)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/76 "2021-12-23T23:30:29Z")
Ahhhh…but the correct lyric for (that farty girl) Windy is: “Who’s tripping down the streets of the city” I know this because as 8 year olds, my best buddy and I were titillated to hear: “Who’s STRIPPING down the streets of the city”. The idea of a woman casually breaking public nudity taboos being celebrated in a pop song seemed pretty awesome to us ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/77 "2021-12-23T23:49:18Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Vomiting into a toilet: talking to Ralph on the big white phone. There are more layers to this one than you realize, because “toilet” is, itself, a euphemism for that fixture. In fact, nearly all of the terms for both that fixture and the room in which it is found are euphemisms. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/78 "2021-12-24T02:27:33Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Vomiting into a toilet: talking to Ralph on the big white phone. Hah, that’s funny, I didn’t know that idiom. There’s an equivalent expression in German: “mit Kurt und Jörg telefonieren”, “having a call with Kurt and Jörg”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/79 "2021-12-24T02:30:10Z")
Calling Earl. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745/80 "2021-12-24T03:08:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There are more layers to this one than you realize, because “toilet” is, itself, a euphemism for that fixture. In fact, nearly all of the terms for both that fixture and the room in which it is found are euphemisms. My mother actually tends to call that fixture “the euphemism”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-euphemisms/955745.md?page=5)