Dysphemism

Definition:
In language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation") and cacophemism (in Greek kakos κακός "bad") refer to the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of a polite one; they are rough opposites of euphemism. “Dysphemism” may be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating, while “cacophemism” is usually deliberately offensive. (More recently, the Australian linguist Kate Burridge has coined the term "orthophemism," to refer to a neutral name or expression.) Dysphemism is related to "blasphemy," but is less focused in scope, and therefore not directly synonymous.
Pronunciation: (noun)
\ˈdis-fə-ˌmi-zəm\
Pronunciation: (adjective)
dys·phe·mis·tic \ˌdis-fə-ˈmis-tik\
Etymology:
dys- -phemism : the substitution of a disagreeable, offensive, or disparaging expression for an agreeable or inoffensive one ; also : an expression so substituted.
1. a deliberate substitution of a disagreeable, offensive, or disparaging word for an otherwise inoffensive term, as pig for policeman.2. an instance of such substitution.
Thesaurus:
dysphemism - an offensive or disparaging expression that is substituted for an inoffensive one; "his favorite dysphemism was to ask for axle grease when he wanted butter"
jalopy, heap, bus - a car that is old and unreliable; "the fenders had fallen off that old bus"
locution, saying, expression - a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations; "pardon the expression"
old man - an informal term for your father
euphemism - an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harshss
References in periodicals archives:
Career politicians use this dysphemism for a reason: You might vote for higher taxes to solve an ``affordable housing'' crisis, but you would never knowingly raise your own taxes so someone with a higher income can spend a smaller percentage of it on housing.
These were small disappointments compared to the terrific things I did discover, rather serendipitously, like the article by Marvin Pope on euphemism and dysphemism in the Bible (there are plenty of both) with a concluding section on sanitizing strategies used over the centuries on biblical language.
Euphemism and dysphemism:
(Greek eu- 'good' / dus- 'bad' + phem- 'speak')
These terms give us ways of talking about the evaluative content of language: that part which doesn't describe a thing in the world, but rather expresses the speaker's attitude towards it.
§ Euphemism: "making something sound better"
· Dysphemism: "making something sound worse"
"A euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one's own face or, through giving offence, that of the audience, or of some third party." By Allan & Burridge.
Note: Allan is British-Australian, Burridge is Australian, so some of their examples may be unfamiliar.
Dispreferred expressions:
§ Taboo concepts: "bodily effluvia, reproductive processes, and the associated body-parts", also often religious terms used as exclamations ("god", "hell" etc.)
§ Contextually awkward concepts: "bribes, graft, and expenses-paid vacations" vs. "honoraria, campaign contributions and per-diem travel reimbursements".
There are two kinds of "X-phemisms" (euphemisms and dysphemisms):
§ Conventional X-phemisms: words whose sole purpose is to make reference to a taboo topic in a polite or impolite way: "shit" vs. "defecate", "prick" vs. "penis" etc. This category has more to do with politeness and social norms than the speaker's actual feelings. Conventional dysphemisms may have a positive social value in expressing casualness, informality, solidarity etc.
§ General X-phemisms: ways of describing a situation, event or thing which convey an attitude towards it: "terrorist" vs. "freedom fighter", "henchman" vs. "associate" etc.
Conventional Euphemism:
Sources of euphemistic expressions:
Phonological (sound):
§ Remodellings: part of the word is replaced ("shoot", "darn", "heck" etc.)
§ Clippings and abbreviations: part of the word is removed ("jeeze", "bra", "SOB", "pee").
Semantic (meaning):
§ Metaphor: "The cavalry's come" (Redcoats, menstruation), "pass on".
§ Metonymy: an associated concept stands in for the one being referred to. "Ladies room", "feminine moisture", "go to bed with", "do it".
§ Circumlocution: a roundabout way of talking (often included with metaphor/metonymy). "Terminological inaccuracy" for "lie", "little girls' room" for "toilet".
§ Hyperbole: overstatement, exaggeration. "Home" for "house", "flight to glory" for "death".
§ Understatement: "Sleep" for "die", "anatomically correct" (dolls), "this guy I'm seeing".
Conventional Dysphemism:
Dysphemisms can arise through the same processes as euphemisms, but they are less likely to involve "indirectness": metaphor/metonymy and circumlocution. They also often arise through a process called pejorization: a neutral or even euphemistic word for a "bad" thing comes to be seen as a "bad" word (which then needs to be replaced with another euphemism).
§ toilet - bathroom - restroom - powder room
This process can be very rapid: witness the change in "PC-ness" in terms for ethnic and other groups.
§ Indian - Native American
§ Negro - Colored (person) - Black - African-American
§ Jew - Jewish person
§ Cripple - Handicapped person - Disabled person - "Differently abled"
§ (Mentally) retarded - developmentally disabled / mentally handicapped -
In each case a formerly neutral term becomes dysphemistic and has to be replaced.
Another process involving dysphemism is the generalization of a dysphemistic term originally associated with a disfavored group to a more general negative meaning (not even necessarily referring to a person):
§ That TV show is so gay / lame / retarded
Cross-register synonymy:
Register: a style or way of speaking adopted by a group. Registers can be defined in terms of
§ formality ("formal" or "polite" vs. "informal" or "intimate" language)
§ profession (linguists, academics, mountain climbers)
§ channel (postcard, CB radio talk, e-mail, chatspeak)
§ or anything else that brings people into a community
The definitions of "euphemism" and "dysphemism" presuppose that there are three words for a thing in different registers: a polite word, a neutral word, and an impolite word. This accounts for sets like:
Dysphemism
Neutral
Euphemism
take a shit
go to the bathroom
defecate
stingy
careful
thrifty
terrorist
rebel
freedom fighter
pigheaded
stubborn
firm
slut, tramp
promiscuous (person)
playboy, lady-killer, Don Juan
Anarchy review:
The rebels consider themselves freedom fighters, while Omni-Tek looks upon them as nothing more than terrorists.
Some problems with the theory of cross-register synonymy:
§ these sets of terms aren't quite synonymous: especially, some say more or less than their counterparts.
§ How a word or expression is evaluated may depend on the setting. For instance, "menstruate" is neutral in an academic context but euphemistic in a casual context; "piss" might be neutral in a casual context but rude in a polite context; "dickhead" is friendly for Australians but rude for Americans. Evaluation of terms might be different for men and women, different age groups, or other sub-cultural categories.
§ Some items don't have corresponding terms in each column. For instance, "nerd" is clearly dysphemistic; is there a neutral or a euphemistic synonym?
§ Some items have characteristics of both euphemisms and dysphemisms. For instance, expressions like "beat the meat" or "drain the snake" sound euphemistic (they are metaphorical and verbose) but are not necessarily more polite than their single-word counterparts ("masturbate", "urinate/piss"). These might be classified as "euphemistic dysphemisms".
Examples and Observations:
Examples of dysphemism include "lie" for an inaccurate statement; and "dead tree edition" for the paper version of an online magazine.
Oddly, some humorous expressions can be either euphemistic or dysphemic, depending on context, because terms which can be dysphemic can also be affectionate. For example, pushing up daisies can be taken as either softer or harsher than died. Such variance can also be cultural; for instance, "twit" is a dysphemism for "idiot", but in British English is nearly always a humorous or affectionate term.
· Fascist for someone who does not believe in fascism as such yet advocates for harsher laws or more power vested in a central authority
· Junk (without real value, as in Junk food or Junk mail)
· Idiot box (Television)
· Crippled
o as in Crippleware (software with features limited or removed, also called broken)
o the free software community uses a number of dysphemic terms for liked or disliked software, such as Foistware or Ransomware.
· Dead tree edition (often original, printed version of on-line resource)
· Bullshit (for "lies" or "nonsense", or an unfair situation)
· Revenue raising (for law enforcement by monetary fines)
· Shit (anything contemptible, also slang for "stuff")
· SOS (Shit On Shingle) For any food where something creamy is poured over something hard. Usually this refers to chipped beef on toast, the dish that first got its name in military as SOS.
· Shit for Brains (commonly used to refer to someone who is/has acted stupidly)
· Meatspace (referring to physical reality, as opposed to "cyberspace")
· Snail mail
· Stupidity tax for national lottery (due to the outrageous odds).
· When applied to people, animal names are usually dysphemisms: coot, old bat, pig, chicken, snake, and bitch, for example.
· "The Holocaust (the dysphemism chosen by Jewish historians to replace the Nazis' ghastly euphemism, The Final Solution) and the Nuclear Holocaust--the one in the past, the other in the future--were to hang over the next half-century like a mushroom cloud." cripple to refer to a person with physical disabilities
· "When we think of euphemisms, we think of words that are substituted because their connotations are less distressing than the words they replace. In slang you frequently have the opposite phenomenon, dysphemism, where a relatively neutral word is replaced with a harsher, more offensive one. Such as calling a cemetery a 'boneyard.' Referring to electrocution as 'taking the hot seat' would be another, I suppose. . . . Even more dysphemistic would be 'to fry.'"
· "A jocular approach to death is only dysphemistic if the Hearer can be expected to regard it as offensive. For instance, if a doctor were to inform close family that their loved one has pegged out during the night, it would normally be inappropriate, insensitive, and unprofessional (i.e., dysphemistic). Yet given another context with quite a different set of interlocutors, the same expression could just as well be described as cheerfully euphemistic."

Bibliography:
· www.about.com
· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysphemism"
· 'Profanisaurus' published by 'Viz' magazine.
· HOUSING BOND TAKES FROM POOR by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
· The Anchor Bible Dictionary by Cunningham, Lawrence S. / Commonweal
· (Philip French, "Hollywood and the Holocaust," The Guardian, February 13, 1994)
· (An Interview With J. E. Lighter by Hugh Rawson, American Heritage, October 2003)
· (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Euphemism and Dysphemism: Language Used as a Shield and Weapon, Oxford University Press, 1991)