These days, due partially to the great influence of mass media, euphemisms are a very common thing in both spoken and written Spanish. By using them, people try to minimize the bad effect that more direct words would cause in the person who’s listening. The Spanish language has a wide range of euphemisms or politically correct words. Do you want to learn some of them?
First of all, please download the document about euphemisms. Then, try to fill the gaps with the word you consider correct in each case: a euphemism or a standard word. It might seem a little hard, but just remember that the most obvious option is normally the correct one.
You can see and download the answers in this PDF: Euphemisms – Answer sheet.
The boom in the use of euphemisms or politically correct words is not exclusive of the Spanish language though. Euphemisms are commonly used in many languages, with the purpose of avoiding taboo words, or words whose meaning doesn’t sound very proper.
Here are some euphemisms very frequently used in Spanish. If you are having a conversation in Spanish and want to be politically correct, you should definitely consider using them. Below you can find the English translations.
Now you know some common euphemisms in Spanish. However, what’s your opinion about this politically correct way of talking? It is always a good idea to use euphemisms? Do these politically correct words change the reality they are describing? Or do they just make taboo topics to be even more taboo?
What do you think? You can write down your ideas and send the text to iplagarde@elinqua.com. It's a good way to practice Spanish! Besides, you’ll receive the text with the necessary corrections in less than 48 hours!
If you found this post useful, we suggest you check out our blog to find more free Spanish exercises and some tips on Spanish grammar that you may use to learn Spanish. We also recommend you try one of ELINQUA's trial lessons to find out what our Skype Spanish lessons are like!