What do you call this animal in your language?

If you speak a Romance language, you probably thought of a word that sounds like the Romanian word, urs. If you speak a Slavic language, you probably thought of something like the Serbian word, medved. And if you speak a Germanic language, you probably thought of a word that sounds like “bear.”

Surprisingly, only urs actually means “bear.” Medved literally means “the honey-eater” and bear “the brown one”! Why did the Germanic and Slavic peoples come up with these indirect names for the animal?

If you’re reminded of how characters in Harry Potter usually called Voldemort, “You Know Who,” you’re on the right track! Unlike Romance language-speakers, the Germanic and Slavic people lived closer to bears and therefore had more reason to fear them.

So instead of calling bears by their name (and, god forbid, seeing one appear before their eyes!), they referred to them with these nicer-sounding names or “euphemisms.” With time, bears stopped being a constant threat to our existence, so the word “bear” also lost its euphemistic nature.

But we’re still surrounded by euphemisms like this in everyday life!

Euphemisms For Food

Have you ever wondered why we call the chicken and turkey thighs, “drumsticks,” instead of just “thighs”?

It turns out that words like “thigh” and “leg” were considered inappropriate in the 19th century, so they were called “drumsticks” instead.

Luckily, we no longer need to worry about offending someone when we ask for “chicken thighs,” but there are still foods that are referred to euphemistically. For example, a friend from the U.S. state of Montana once told me that people there eat something called “Rocky Mountain Oysters.” This seems like an oxymoron; after all, there can’t be oysters on a mountain.

Apparently, this is a euphemism for deep-fried bull testicles:

Euphemisms For Bodily Functions

We all know that there are many euphemisms for things we do in a bathroom: “take a leak,” “take a dump,” “do your business,” “nature’s calling,” and “go to the bathroom” are just a few examples.

But did you know that “bathroom” is, itself, a euphemism? After all, most things we do in a bathroom don’t involve bathing. The word bathroom came about in the U.S. in the 20th century, when the words “toilet” and “lavatory” went out of fashion.

Interestingly, “toilet” and “lavatory” had been euphemisms too. Before the mid-1800s, a “toilet” was a room where people got dressed and “lavatory” was where people washed themselves.

However, in the U.S., “toilet” and “lavatory” were soon replaced with even nicer-sounding words like “bathroom,” “restroom,” “ladies’ room” and “men’s room.” (British English-speakers still use toilet though! And you’ll still see the term “lavatory” used to refer to airplane bathrooms.)

I’ve always wondered if people would stop being uncomfortable talking about normal body functions. I guess 500+ years of history shows that that’s not going to happen. We'll just have more and more words for toilet in the future! 🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽🚽

But enough on toilets. Did you know that the word “shit” was originally a euphemism? It comes from an ancient word meaning “to cut or split,” referring to the idea that something separates from the body. And this isn’t the only word for poop that means separation.

Now, it’s time for the most depressing part of this post: euphemisms for death.

Euphemisms for Death

As most of us probably know, English-speakers prefer to use phrases like “pass away,” “kick the bucket,” or (in the case of war or disaster) “perish” instead of “die.”

But did you know that “cemetery” is a euphemism? It comes from the Greek word for “sleeping place.”

This comparison of death to sleep is similar to how we put our pets “to sleep” when we want to release them from suffering.

👋 That’s it for now!

Which euphemisms were you most surprised by? Which do you think you’ll share with your students? At any rate, hope you enjoyed learning about this and keep an eye out for any more euphemisms in your everyday life!