Editing Euphemism (section)

==Purpose==
===Avoidance===
Reasons for using euphemisms vary by context and intent. Commonly, euphemisms are used to avoid directly addressing subjects that might be deemed negative or embarrassing, such as [[death]], [[sexual intercourse|sex]], and excretory bodily functions. They may be created for innocent, well-intentioned purposes or nefariously and cynically, intentionally to deceive, confuse or [[Denialism|deny]]. Euphemisms which emerge as dominant social euphemisms are often created to serve progressive causes.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/how-strategic-lingo-swallowed-progressive-thought#google_vignette |title=How strategic lingo swallowed progressive thought |newspaper=Washington Examiner |date=19 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2023/04/equity-language-guides-sierra-club-banned-words/673085/ |title=THE MORAL CASE AGAINST EQUITY LANGUAGE |newspaper=The Atlantic |date=2 March 2023}}</ref>  The [[Oxford University Press]]'s ''Dictionary of Euphemisms'' identifies "late" as an occasionally ambiguous term, whose nature as a euphemism for dead and an adjective meaning overdue, can cause confusion in listeners.<ref name=euphemisms>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Euphemisms|last=Holder|first=R. W.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-19-9235179|page=242}}</ref>

===Mitigation===
Euphemisms are also used to mitigate, soften or downplay the gravity of large-scale injustices, [[War crime|war crimes]], or other events that warrant a pattern of avoidance in official statements or documents. For instance, one reason for the comparative scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at [[Auschwitz]], relative to their sheer number, is "directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms".<ref name="MyUser_Newyorker.com_December_1_2015c">{{cite magazine |url= https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/11/15/evidence-of-evil |title=Evidence of Evil |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=15 November 1993 |first=Timothy |last=Ryback |access-date=1 December 2015 |archive-date=18 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180618175241/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/11/15/evidence-of-evil |url-status=live}}</ref> Another example of this is during the 2022 [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]], where Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]], in his speech starting the invasion, called the invasion a "[[special military operation]]".<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.ft.com/content/3677c63a-107f-41cd-96e0-7b131b4bd150 |title=Year in a word: 'Special operation' |newspaper=Financial Times |date=29 December 2022}}</ref>

Euphemisms are sometimes used to lessen the opposition to a political move. For example, according to linguist [[Ghil'ad Zuckermann]], Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] used the neutral Hebrew lexical item {{lang|he|פעימות}} {{lang|he-Latn|peimót}} (literally 'beatings (of the heart)'), rather than {{lang|he|נסיגה}} {{lang|he-Latn|nesigá}} ('withdrawal'), to refer to the stages in the Israeli withdrawal from the [[West Bank]] {{crossreference|(see [[Wye River Memorandum]])}}, in order to lessen the opposition of right-wing Israelis to such a move.<ref name="language">{{Cite book |title=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew |work= SpringerLink |url= http://www.palgrave.com/br/book/9781403917232 |url-access=subscription |page=181}}</ref> {{lang|he-Latn|Peimót}} was thus used as a euphemism for 'withdrawal'.<ref name="language" />{{rp|181}}

===Rhetoric===
Euphemism may be used as a [[Rhetorical strategies|rhetorical strategy]], in which case its goal is to change the [[Valence (psychology)|valence]] of a description.{{clarify|date=March 2020|Example needed to prove this}}