In the following extracts from p. G. Wodehouse we find slang substitutes for two other "unpleasant" words: prison and to imprison.

"Oh, no, he isn't ill," I said, "and as regards acci­dents, it depends on what you call an accident. He's in chokey."

"In what?"

"In prison."

"... And now Mr. Sipperley is in the jug... He couldn't come himself, because he was jugged for biffing a cop on Boat-Race Night."

(Ibid.)

Euphemisms may, of course, be used due to genuine concern not to hurt someone's feelings. For instance, a liar can be described as a person who does not always strictly tell the truth and a stupid man can be said to be not exactly brilliant.

All the euphemisms that have been described so far are used to avoid the so-called social taboos. Their use, as has already been said, is inspired by social conven­tion.

Superstitious taboos gave rise to the use of other type of euphemisms. The reluctance to call things by their proper names is also typical of this type of euphe­misms, but this time it is based on a deeply-rooted sub­conscious fear.

Superstitious taboos have their roots in the distant past of mankind when people believed that there was a supernatural link between a name and the object or creature it represented. Therefore, all the words denot­ing evil spirits, dangerous animals, or the powers of na­ture were taboo. If uttered, it was believed that un­speakable disasters would result not only for the speak­er but also for those near him. That is why all creatures, objects and phenomena threatening danger were re­ferred to in a round-about descriptive way. So, a dan­gerous animal might be described as the one-lurking-in-Ihe-wood and a mortal disease as the black death. Eu­phemisms are probably the oldest type of synonyms, for it is reasonable to assume that superstitions which caused real fear called for the creation of euphemisms long before the need to describe things in their various aspects or subtle shades caused the appearance of other synonyms.

The Christian religion also made certain words ta­boo. The proverb Speak of the devil and he will appear must have been used and taken quite literally when it was first used, and the fear of calling the devil by name was certainly inherited from ancient superstitious be­liefs. So, the word devil became taboo, and a number of euphemisms were substitutes for it: the Prince of Dark­ness, the black one, the evil one, dickens (coll.), deuce (coll.), (Old) Nick (coll.).

The word God, due to other considerations, also had a great number of substitutes which can still be traced in such phrases as Good Lord!, By Heavens!, Good Heavens!, (My) goodness!, (My) goodness gracious!, Gracious me!

Even in our modern emancipated times, old supersti­tious fears still lurk behind words associated with death and fatal diseases. People are not superstitious nowadays and yet they are surprisingly reluctant to use the verb to die which has a long chain of both solemn and humorous substitutes. E. g. to pass away, to be taken, to breathe one's last, to depart this life, to close one's eyes, to yield (give) up the ghost, to go the way of all flesh, to go West (si.), to kick of'f (si.), to check out (si.), to kick the bucket (si.), to take a ride (si.), to hop the twig (si.), to join the majority (si.).

The slang substitutes seem to lack any proper re­spect, but the joke is a sort of cover for the same old fear: speak of death and who knows what may happen.

Mental diseases also cause the frequent use of euphe­misms.

A mad person may be described as insane, mentally unstable, unbalanced, unhinged, not (quite) right

(coll.). not alt there (coll.), off one's head (coll.), off one's rocker (coll.), wrong in the upper storey (coll.), having bats in one's belfry (coll.), crazy as a bedbug (coll.), cuckoo (si.), nutty (si.), off one's nut (si.), loony (si.), a mental case, a mental defective, etc.

A clinic for such patients can also be discreetly re­ferred to as, for instance, an asylum, sanitarium, san­atorium, (mental) institution, and, less discreetly, as a xtut house (si.), booby hatch (si.), loony bin (si.), etc.

In the story by Evelyn Waugh "Mr. Loveday's Little Outing" a clinic of this kind, treating only very rich patients, is described as large private grounds suitable for the charge of nervous or difficult cases. This is certainly the peak of euphemistic "delicacy".

The great number of humorous substitutes found in such groups of words prove particularly tempting for writers who use them for comical purposes. The fol­lowing extracts from a children's book by R. Dahl are, probably, not in the best of taste, but they demonstrate the range of colloquial and slang substitutes for the word mad.

"He's gone off his rockerl" shouted one of the fa­thers, aghast, and the other parents joined in the chorus of frightened shouting.

"He's crazy!" they shouted.

"He's balmy!"

"He's nuttyl"

"He's screwy!"

"He's batty!"

"He's dippyl"

"He's dotty!"

"He's daffy!"

"He's goofy!"

"He's beany!"

"He's buggy!"

"He's wacky!"

"He's loony!"

"No, he is not!" said Grandpa Joe.

(From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by R. Dahl)

... "What did I tell you!" — cried Grandma Geor-gina. "He's round the twist! He's bogged as a beetle! He's dotty as a dingbat! He's got rats in the roofl..."

(Ibid.)

ft a a

All the above examples show that euphemisms are substitutes for their synonyms. Their use and very ex­istence are caused either by social conventions or by certain psychological factors. Most of them have stylis­tic connotations in their semantic structures. One can also assume that there is a special euphemistic connota­tion that can be singled out in the semantic structure of each such word. Let us point out, too, that euphemistic connotations in formal euphemisms are different in "flavour" from those in slang euphemistic substitutes. In the first case they are solemn and delicately evasive, and in the second rough and somewhat cynical, reflect­ing an attempt to laugh off an unpleasant fact.