Words

BBC News has published this amusing article about the use of euphemisms in politics.

I am fascinated by language. My day job involves technical writing. And of course I'm now doing political writing in this forum. Politicians' use of language is a subject that has been thoroughly analyzed.

They cite one American example, but mostly address British cases. We certainly use euphemisms in America, but I suppose the British have always been better at it than we have.

The article makes a passing mention of Churchill. I had thought that Churchill had coined the phrase "the late unpleasantness", to refer to World War II after it was over. But when I googled the phrase, several references came up, including a few regarding the American Civil War.

Here is a speech in which one of Churchill's successors, Margaret Thatcher, used the phrase to refer to what we on this side of the water call the Revolutionary War. Thatcher, known for her candor, was euphemistic in this case, saying that "it was from this place [Williamsburg, Virginia] that the late unpleasantness of your separation from my native land began".