, in so far as they
try to say ugly and unpleasant things in a way which will make them
sound pleasant. This tendency in speech is called "euphemism," a word
which is made from two Greek words meaning "to speak well." It is a
true description of what the word means if by "well" we understand "as
pleasantly as possible." The word _euphemeite_, "speak fair," was
used as a warning to worshippers in Greek temples, in the belief that
the speaking of an unfortunate word might bring disaster instead of
blessing from the sacrifice.

Every day, and often in a day, we use euphemisms. How often do we hear
people say, "if anything should happen to him," meaning "if he died;"
and on tombstones the plain fact of a person's death is nearly always
stated in phrases such as "he passed away," "fell asleep," or
"departed this life." People often refer to a dead person as the
"deceased" or the "departed," or as the "_late_ so-and-so." The fact
is that, death being to most people the unpleasantest thing in the
world, there is a general tendency to mention it as little as
possible, and, when the subject cannot be avoided, to use vague and
less realistic phrases than the words _death_, _dead_, or _die_.

One reason for this avoidance of an unpleasant subject is the
superstitious feeling that mentioning a thing will bring it to pass.
Or, again, if a misfortune has happened, many people feel that it only
makes it worse to talk about it. While everybody avoids speaking on
the subject, we can half pretend to ourselves that it is not true.

We might imagine that this kind of "refinement of speech" (which when
carried to excess really becomes vulgar) was the result of modern
people being so "nervous." But this is not the case. Complete savages
have the same custom. If civilized people have a superstitious feeling
that to mention a misfortune may bring it to pass, savages firmly
believe that this is the case. Not only will they not mention the
subject of death in plain words, but some will not even mention the
name of a dead person or give that name to a new-born child, so that
in some tribes names die out in this way. Many civilized people have
this same idea that it is unlucky for a new-born child to be called by
the name of a brother or sister who has already died.

The subject of death has gathered more euphemisms around it than
almost any other. Some of them are ugly and almost vulgar, while
others, from the way in which they have been used