VINDICATING NORMALITY. ON ‘COUNTRY’ EUPHEMISMS IN POLISH DIALECTS Cover Image

Uniewinniająca zwyczajność. O „wiejskich” eufemizmach w dialektach polskich
VINDICATING NORMALITY. ON ‘COUNTRY’ EUPHEMISMS IN POLISH DIALECTS

Author(s): Anna Krawczyk-Tyrpa
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: euphemism; ‘country’ euphemisms; the names of animals; the names of birds; the names of plants; Polish dialects

Summary/Abstract: In Polish dialects, there exist a certain type of euphemisms which consists in making references to elements of everyday life in the country, of the home, the interior of the house, garden, fields and the woods in order to camouflage frightening, shameful or repulsive ideas.In order to talk in a gentle manner about sexual life, pregnancy, delivery, excretion, vomiting, lice, death and the devil, references are made to farm buildings (stodoła się rozwaliła, lit. ‘the barn has collapsed’, meaning ‘the woman had a delivery’), to the backyard or a fence. The category of ‘country’ euphemisms contains also the names of domesticated animals and livestock (a horse, ram, goat, dog and cat) or wild animals (a hare, mole, mice). Bird names are also frequent (a cock and a hen, an owl, stork, crow or gull). Another group is that of plant names (kwiat ‘a flower’ for menstruation, an onion, peas, thistle or nestle). Some euphemisms refer to the work of the farmer {orać na cudzym polu, lit’ ‘to plough someone else’s field’, meaning ‘to commit adultery’).The choice of certain lexemes to function as euphemisms is dictated by the similarity of form of the euphemism and the word to be replaced: jezoro ‘lake’ — Jezus ‘Jesus’, grabie ‘rake’ — diable ‘devil’, etc.

  • Issue Year: 13/2001
  • Issue No: 13
  • Page Range: 63-75
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Polish