Euphemisms

Landmark Advanced Unit 14

Without looking below, listen to your teacher listing some things which are all euphemisms for the same thing. How soon can you guess what they all refer to?

throw up/ a Technicolor yawn/ bring something back up/ hurl/ a pavement pizza

powder your nose/ water the flowers/ have a slash/ have a tinkle/ have a pee/ spend a penny/ take a leak/ take a pit stop/ answer the call of nature/ relieve yourself

the smallest room/ the restroom/ the little boys’ room/ the ladies’

breaking wind/ a blow off/ bottom burp/ parp

pushing up daisies/ gone to meet their maker/ RIP/ kick the bucket/ six feet under/ in a better place/ no longer with us/ breathe one’s last/ cash in your chips/ croak/ check out/ eternal rest/

sleep with/ sleep together/ going at it like rabbits/ get laid/ go all the way/ slap and tickle/ the birds and the bees/ come up for a coffee/ have intimate relations

adult entertainment/ X rated/ blue movie

chemical dependency/ weed/ a line/ acid

merry/ intoxicated/ hammered/ legless/ sozzled/ tipsy

big boned/ ample proportions/ full figured/ likes his food

mature/ been around the block

heck/ what the Dickens/ gosh/ gee/ sugar

a bun in the oven/ expecting/ with child/

between jobs/ gardening leave/ out of work

fall off the back of a lorry

streetwalker/ lady of the night/ on the job/ a professional/ a madam

Look at the lists and try to label them, e.g. “death”

After checking your answers with your teacher, test each other in pairs, starting with the most difficult ones in the category and then getting easier until your partner guesses what you are talking about

Euphemism roleplays

Tell your child that their pet has died

Tell your friend why you are splitting up with your boyfriend or girlfriend who is related to them, so being careful saying anything too directly negative

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PDF version for easy printing: LandmarkAdvancedEuphemisms