Euphemisms in the Big City

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Carlo is an unmotivated (lazy), self-centered (rude) boy who ran away from home one day because he thought he was too mature (old) to be living with his parents. He was an underachiever (poor student) at school who had strong opinions about everything and was not afraid to voice them (he was loud and arrogant).

Carlo was only sixteen years old and he soon realized he had many challenges (problems) to overcome if he planned to live alone in the big city. For example, his income was modest (he was poor). He could only afford to stay in a low cost (cheap) hotel for a few days and he feared he would soon become one of those homeless people (beggars) he saw on the street. His neighborhood wasn’t very nice either because there was a massage parlor (brothel) and an adult movie theater (porn cinema) near his hotel. Unfortunately, his wallet was lifted (stolen) on the second day of his new life.

Since he was between jobs (unemployed), Carlo was in a desperate situation (had a problem) because he had no income (no money), and he was very hungry and scared. He didn’t want to become a juvenile delinquent (young criminal) nor a vagrant (beggar) so he approached a peace officer (police office) and asked him to call his mommy to come bring him home.

A euphemism is a word or expression that is used when people want to find a polite or less direct way of talking about unpleasant or embarrassing topics. They make something negative sound more positive. Can you find the euphemisms in Carlo's story?

1 comment:

Tomas said...

Very good and informative, thanks!

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