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George Carlin has a great bit on euphemism where he makes the case that euphemisms are used to soften the meaning of things that are painful to the point of bei

George Carlin has a great bit on euphemism where he makes the case that euphemisms are used to soften the meaning of things that are painful to the point of being meaningless, e.g. shellshock -> ptsd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEQixrBKCc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuEQixrBKCc The author of this article pointed our some similar examples: welfare -> cash assistance -> TANF.

Dylan16807 2y ago
Post-traumatic stress disorder is a much more accurate term. You can get it with no shells, after all. And "trauma" is not a very soft word. Is the problem just shortening it because it takes too long to say?
- YurgenJurgensen 2y ago
  Initialisms in common speech are the linguistic equivalent of a code smell; people are right to react negatively towards them (and the appropriate degree of negative reaction increases with the length of the initialism in question).
  - lazyasciiart 2y ago
    No they aren't. RSVP, DIY, PhD, ASAP, BYO, TMI... there's no reason to dislike them any more than there's a reason to dislike adjectives.
    - Grustaf 2y ago
      It's a very American thing to pepper your speech with euphemistic initialisms, a lot of people outside the US find it cheesy and annoying.
      - drewcoo 2y ago
        RSVP is from French. I wish I could cleverly work in a "QED" here (from Latin) but it just doesn't fit.
        Grustaf 2y ago
        I was talking about spoken language, not the existence of initialisms per se. Though I'd wager they are a lot more prevalent in written American English than in most other languages as well. Nobody else would think of inventing an initialism-euphemism for body odour (which I guess already is a euphemism for "smell" for example. Or "significant other". By the way, QED is just a calque from Greek. (Like most things Roman...)
      - vlunkr 2y ago
        Stupid Americans and their checks notes acronyms.
        Grustaf 2y ago
        Can you find a non-American that doesn't find it cringe to use "BM" for "poo"?
        nobody9999 2y ago
        >Can you find a non-American that doesn't find it cringe to use "BM" for "poo"? As an American, I'd find it hard (at least in my circles) to find an American who doesn't find it cringe worthy. In fact, I don't think I've heard anyone use that term in at least forty years.
      - zeroonetwothree 2y ago
        They are quite prevalent in Russian as well (though I am not sure if American English is actually “peppered” as you claim).
      - lazyasciiart 2y ago
        Funny, when I was born and grew up outside the US it was very common there too. Perhaps you'd like to scope your claim down to a specific group of people who find it annoying?
- AtlasBarfed 2y ago
  PTSD is an acronym, so it hides the meaning, restricts the awareness. The name itself kind of sucks too. Horrors of War Syndrome would probably be better.
  - hungie 2y ago
    But... you can get PTSD from lots of non war scenarios. Rape, abuse, injury and accidents, loss of loved ones, etc.
  - shadowgovt 2y ago
    But how do you end up with Horrors of War Syndrome after being in a car crash?
  - labster 2y ago
    Again, that might work fine for veterans, but not for victims of peacetime rape and horrific accidents who have similar symptoms. The syndrome needs a common name, like: he has “the horrors”.
vlunkr 2y ago
That is exactly the definition of a euphemism. It’s a synonym that is less harsh or blunt. I doesn’t have to be a negative thing either. PTSD is more inclusive, since it doesn’t imply that you’ve literally had bombs dropped on you relentlessly, like shellshock does.
- jojobas 2y ago
  Any mental disorder will still be seen as bad (duh), bombs or not, euphemized or not. It's an exercise in futility.
  - Cthulhu_ 2y ago
    And that's not right, because labeling them as "bad" and calling them "disorders" stigmatizes those who suffer from it.
    - jojobas 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - burnished 2y ago
        Is this a bit? Who says this? Its hard for me to believe that you genuinely hear a statement that means, for example, that being ADHD doesn't make you bad it just makes you different but interpret it to mean that you have to ignore that you find them intolerably messy and also marry them for some reason. You're still allowed to form opinions about people and your mutual suitability based on their traits! Obviously! This isn't difficult.
        jojobas 2y ago
        That's semantics. Unmitigated ADHD severely limits one's ability to do things. Wanna call it "not bad", fine. Next up: thinking cancer is bad is bad. There's no sugarcoating that diseases are, well, negative.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
QuadmasterXLII 2y ago
I thought there was recent evidence that shellshock actually was pretty distinct from modern ptsd, where ptsd is psychological and shell shock was just nearby artillery mechanically disconnecting your brain cells
- jfoutz 2y ago
  FWIW, I dated a psychologist for a while, and we talked about this specific monologue. She primarily worked with sexual abuse victims, but spent a lot of time veterans as well. Her focus was PTSD, and talk therapy is really effective for PTSD. Her opinion was, in world war 1, They didn't really have the psychologic or physical frameworks to really distinguish. Certainly, some people had mechanical damage, like football players. Certainly, some people really had a hard time experiencing the horrors of war. They just didn't really know. Calling it shell shock, that helped some of the veterans. Helped them sorta get that they're not alone. People have dealt with this for a long time. Rape victims, shell shock isn't a great name. For a lot of reasons. It's kinda about recognizing that this trauma is a real thing, there's nothing wrong with you. This is a normal reaction, everyone goes through it. Some people need a little help finding their way back to normal.
  - guerrilla 2y ago
    In other words, she hadn't seen the new evidence that they are distinct since it wasn't available at the time.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - jfoutz 2y ago
      Ya know, this was a some time ago, and memorable for the relation to Carlin's bit. Let's place any errors in terminology on my foggy memory.
- philwelch 2y ago
  In retrospect it’s likely that a lot of the people diagnosed with “shell shock” would today have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury rather than (or possibly in addition to) PTSD.
snapplebobapple 2y ago
I prefer doug stanhopes contribution on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3-d98v9zc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3-d98v9zc

Dylan16807 2y ago

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a much more accurate term. You can get it with no shells, after all. And "trauma" is not a very soft word. Is the problem just shortening it because it takes too long to say?

YurgenJurgensen 2y ago
Initialisms in common speech are the linguistic equivalent of a code smell; people are right to react negatively towards them (and the appropriate degree of negative reaction increases with the length of the initialism in question).
- lazyasciiart 2y ago
  No they aren't. RSVP, DIY, PhD, ASAP, BYO, TMI... there's no reason to dislike them any more than there's a reason to dislike adjectives.
  - Grustaf 2y ago
    It's a very American thing to pepper your speech with euphemistic initialisms, a lot of people outside the US find it cheesy and annoying.
    - drewcoo 2y ago
      RSVP is from French. I wish I could cleverly work in a "QED" here (from Latin) but it just doesn't fit.
      - Grustaf 2y ago
        I was talking about spoken language, not the existence of initialisms per se. Though I'd wager they are a lot more prevalent in written American English than in most other languages as well. Nobody else would think of inventing an initialism-euphemism for body odour (which I guess already is a euphemism for "smell" for example. Or "significant other". By the way, QED is just a calque from Greek. (Like most things Roman...)
    - vlunkr 2y ago
      Stupid Americans and their checks notes acronyms.
      - Grustaf 2y ago
        Can you find a non-American that doesn't find it cringe to use "BM" for "poo"?
        nobody9999 2y ago
        >Can you find a non-American that doesn't find it cringe to use "BM" for "poo"? As an American, I'd find it hard (at least in my circles) to find an American who doesn't find it cringe worthy. In fact, I don't think I've heard anyone use that term in at least forty years.
    - zeroonetwothree 2y ago
      They are quite prevalent in Russian as well (though I am not sure if American English is actually “peppered” as you claim).
    - lazyasciiart 2y ago
      Funny, when I was born and grew up outside the US it was very common there too. Perhaps you'd like to scope your claim down to a specific group of people who find it annoying?
AtlasBarfed 2y ago
PTSD is an acronym, so it hides the meaning, restricts the awareness. The name itself kind of sucks too. Horrors of War Syndrome would probably be better.
- hungie 2y ago
  But... you can get PTSD from lots of non war scenarios. Rape, abuse, injury and accidents, loss of loved ones, etc.
- shadowgovt 2y ago
  But how do you end up with Horrors of War Syndrome after being in a car crash?
- labster 2y ago
  Again, that might work fine for veterans, but not for victims of peacetime rape and horrific accidents who have similar symptoms. The syndrome needs a common name, like: he has “the horrors”.

vlunkr 2y ago

That is exactly the definition of a euphemism. It’s a synonym that is less harsh or blunt. I doesn’t have to be a negative thing either. PTSD is more inclusive, since it doesn’t imply that you’ve literally had bombs dropped on you relentlessly, like shellshock does.

jojobas 2y ago
Any mental disorder will still be seen as bad (duh), bombs or not, euphemized or not. It's an exercise in futility.
- Cthulhu_ 2y ago
  And that's not right, because labeling them as "bad" and calling them "disorders" stigmatizes those who suffer from it.
  - jojobas 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - burnished 2y ago
      Is this a bit? Who says this? Its hard for me to believe that you genuinely hear a statement that means, for example, that being ADHD doesn't make you bad it just makes you different but interpret it to mean that you have to ignore that you find them intolerably messy and also marry them for some reason. You're still allowed to form opinions about people and your mutual suitability based on their traits! Obviously! This isn't difficult.
      - jojobas 2y ago
        That's semantics. Unmitigated ADHD severely limits one's ability to do things. Wanna call it "not bad", fine. Next up: thinking cancer is bad is bad. There's no sugarcoating that diseases are, well, negative.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

QuadmasterXLII 2y ago

I thought there was recent evidence that shellshock actually was pretty distinct from modern ptsd, where ptsd is psychological and shell shock was just nearby artillery mechanically disconnecting your brain cells

jfoutz 2y ago
FWIW, I dated a psychologist for a while, and we talked about this specific monologue. She primarily worked with sexual abuse victims, but spent a lot of time veterans as well. Her focus was PTSD, and talk therapy is really effective for PTSD. Her opinion was, in world war 1, They didn't really have the psychologic or physical frameworks to really distinguish. Certainly, some people had mechanical damage, like football players. Certainly, some people really had a hard time experiencing the horrors of war. They just didn't really know. Calling it shell shock, that helped some of the veterans. Helped them sorta get that they're not alone. People have dealt with this for a long time. Rape victims, shell shock isn't a great name. For a lot of reasons. It's kinda about recognizing that this trauma is a real thing, there's nothing wrong with you. This is a normal reaction, everyone goes through it. Some people need a little help finding their way back to normal.
- guerrilla 2y ago
  In other words, she hadn't seen the new evidence that they are distinct since it wasn't available at the time.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - jfoutz 2y ago
    Ya know, this was a some time ago, and memorable for the relation to Carlin's bit. Let's place any errors in terminology on my foggy memory.
philwelch 2y ago
In retrospect it’s likely that a lot of the people diagnosed with “shell shock” would today have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury rather than (or possibly in addition to) PTSD.

snapplebobapple 2y ago

I prefer doug stanhopes contribution on the subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3-d98v9zc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv3-d98v9zc