Editing Euphemism (section)

==Controversial use==
Using a euphemism can in itself be controversial, as in the following examples:
* ''[[Affirmative action]]'', meaning a preference for minorities or the historically disadvantaged, usually in employment or academic admissions. This term is sometimes said to be a euphemism for [[reverse discrimination]], or, in the UK, positive discrimination, which suggests an intentional bias that might be legally prohibited, or otherwise unpalatable.<ref>''Affirmative action'' as euphemism:
* {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Style Guide |url= http://www.economist.com/style-guide/affirmative-action |quote=Uglier even than human-rights abuses and more obscure even than comfort station, affirmative action is a euphemism with little to be said for it. |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=10 March 2013 |access-date=10 March 2013 |archive-date=3 February 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140203132033/http://www.economist.com/style-guide/affirmative-action |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |last1=Custred |first1=Glynn |last2=Campbell |first2=Tom |name-list-style=amp |title=Affirmative Action: A Euphemism for Racial Profiling by Government |url= http://news.investors.com/052201-488507-affirmative-action-a-euphemism-for-racial-profiling-by-government.aspx |newspaper=[[Investors Business Daily]] |date=2 May 2001 |access-date=10 March 2013}}
* {{cite news |last=Bayan |first=Rick |title=Affirmative Action |url= http://newmoderate.com/the-issues/affirmative-action/ |newspaper=The New Moderate |date=December 2009 |access-date=2013-03-10 |archive-date=2013-03-06 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130306040414/http://newmoderate.com/the-issues/affirmative-action/ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-supreme-court-tangles-over-euphemisms-for-affirmative-action/2014/04/25/9bed399c-cbd1-11e3-95f7-7ecdde72d2ea_story.html |url-access=subscription |title=The Supreme Court tangles over euphemisms for affirmative action |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=25 April 2014 |first=George F. |last=Will |access-date=26 May 2015 |archive-date=26 May 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150526172148/http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-supreme-court-tangles-over-euphemisms-for-affirmative-action/2014/04/25/9bed399c-cbd1-11e3-95f7-7ecdde72d2ea_story.html |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |first1=M. Ali |last1=Raza |first2=A. |last2=Janell Anderson |first3=Harry Glynn |last3=Custred |title=The Ups and Downs of Affirmative Action Preferences |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7vIN4pDAVlIC&pg=PA75 |chapter=Chapter 4: Affirmative Action Diversity: A Euphemism for Preferences, Quotas, and Set-asides |date=1999| publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780275967130 |page=75 |access-date=27 October 2015 |archive-date=25 April 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160425233643/https://books.google.com/books?id=7vIN4pDAVlIC&pg=PA75 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |title=A Journalist's Guide to Live Direct and Unbiased News Translation |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=lziSy2QJPjYC&pg=PA195 |date=2010 |publisher=Writescope Publishers |quote=In modern times, various social and political movements have introduced euphemisms, from affirmative action to political correctness to international conflicts, which are linguistically and culturally driven. |isbn=9780957751187 |page=195 |access-date=27 October 2015 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160503231135/https://books.google.com/books?id=lziSy2QJPjYC&pg=PA195 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''[[Enhanced interrogation techniques|Enhanced interrogation]]'' is a euphemism for torture. For example, columnist [[David Brooks (journalist)|David Brooks]] called the use of this term for practices at [[Abu Ghraib prison|Abu Ghraib]], [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantanamo Bay]] and elsewhere an effort to "dull the moral sensibility".<ref>''Enhanced interrogation'' as euphemism:
* {{cite news |first1=David |last1=Brooks |first2=Mark |last2=Shields |first3=Judy |last3=Woodruff |title=Shields and Brooks on the CIA interrogation report, spending bill sticking point |url= https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/shields-brooks-cia-interrogation-report-spending-bill-sticking-points/ |quote=[T]he report ... cuts through the ocean of euphemism, the EITs, enhanced interrogation techniques, and all that. It gets to straight language. Torture – it's obviously torture. ... the metaphor and the euphemism is designed to dull the moral sensibility. |work=[[PBS Newshour]] |date=12 December 2014 |access-date=14 December 2014 |archive-date=16 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170916002826/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/shields-brooks-cia-interrogation-report-spending-bill-sticking-points/ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |url= https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42887700 |first1=Brian |last1=Williams |first2=Leon |last2=Panetta |title=Transcript of interview with CIA director Panetta |work=NBC News |date=3 May 2011 |quote=Enhanced interrogation has always been a kind of handy euphemism (for torture) |access-date=21 August 2011 |archive-date=15 April 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220415140227/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42887700 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |last=Pickering |first=Thomas |title=America must atone for the torture it inflicted |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/thomas-r-pickering-torture-runs-counter-to-americas-values/2013/04/16/1c4488f0-a15a-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html |quote=Let's stop resorting to euphemisms and call "enhanced interrogation techniques" — including but not limited to waterboarding — what they actually are: torture. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=22 April 2013 |archive-date=19 April 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130419144738/http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/thomas-r-pickering-torture-runs-counter-to-americas-values/2013/04/16/1c4488f0-a15a-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Online===
The use of euphemism online is known as "[[algospeak]]" when used to evade automated online moderation techniques used on Meta and TikTok's platforms.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lorenz |first=Taylor |title=Internet 'algospeak' is changing our language in real time, from 'nip nops' to 'le dollar bean' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=8 April 2022 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 October 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220223103/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/08/algospeak-tiktok-le-dollar-bean/ |archive-date= Dec 20, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kreuz |first=Roger J. |date=2023-04-13 |title=What is 'algospeak'? Inside the newest version of linguistic subterfuge |url=https://theconversation.com/what-is-algospeak-inside-the-newest-version-of-linguistic-subterfuge-203460 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206020407/https://theconversation.com/what-is-algospeak-inside-the-newest-version-of-linguistic-subterfuge-203460 |archive-date= Feb 6, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tellez |first=Anthony |title='Mascara,' 'Unalive,' 'Corn': What Common Social Media Algospeak Words Actually Mean |date=Jan 31, 2023 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/01/31/mascara-unalive-corn-what-common-social-media-algospeak-words-actually-mean/ |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231101142728/https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/01/31/mascara-unalive-corn-what-common-social-media-algospeak-words-actually-mean/?sh=5f84a902a085 |archive-date= Nov 1, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/09/16/algospeak-social-media-survey/ |url-access=subscription |date=Sep 19, 2022 |first1=Alexandra S. |last1=Levine |title=From Camping to Cheese Pizza, 'Algospeak' is Taking over Social Media |website=[[Forbes]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031173232/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2022/09/16/algospeak-social-media-survey/?sh=41eb61ae55e1 |archive-date= Oct 31, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url= https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3543873.3587355 |doi=10.1145/3543873.3587355 |chapter=How Algorithm Awareness Impacts Algospeak Use on TikTok |title=Companion Proceedings of the ACM Web Conference 2023 |date=2023 |last1=Klug |first1=Daniel |last2=Steen |first2=Ella |last3=Yurechko |first3=Kathryn |pages=234–237 |isbn=9781450394192 |s2cid=258377709}}</ref> Algospeak has been used in debate about the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Nix |first=Naomi |title=Pro-Palestinian creators use secret spellings, code words to evade social media algorithms |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=20 October 2023 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/20/palestinian-tiktok-instagram-algospeak-israel-hamas/ |access-date=26 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.foxnews.com/tech/how-pro-palestinians-using-algospeak-dodge-social-media-scrutiny-disseminate-hateful-rhetoric |title=How pro-Palestinians are using 'Algospeak' to dodge social media scrutiny and disseminate hateful rhetoric |website=[[Fox News]] |date=23 October 2023}}</ref>