A Dictionary of Euphemisms: How Not To Say What You Mean (Oxford Quick Reference)

A Dictionary of Euphemisms: How Not To Say What You Mean (Oxford Quick Reference) by Holder, R. W.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780198607625.

Now in paperback, this brand new edition of A Dictionary of Euphemisms: How Not To Say What You Mean is still as lively a guide to the language of evasion, hypocrisy, prudery, and deceit as you could wish for. Packed full of the old favourites, such as early bath or push up the daisies, as well as euphemisms from modern times, like human sacrifice, coffee-housing, and tuft-hunter. Definitions include examples from literature and the press, along with historical explanations of origins, and now obsolete euphemisms like leaping house, nightingale are signposted as such. And to prove that the use of euphemisms is not just a British speciality, there is widespread coverage of American euphemisms too: English (pertaining to sexual deviance), watermelon (an indication of pregnancy).