Connotations And Euphemisms

Connotations And Euphemisms

Connotations

3. Boy - Man - Gentleman - Male - Lad

Boy is a word usually used towards the youth or someone younger than yourself.  It is low register and does not show much respect.

Man is usually used towards elder, more mature people. It is still informal and does not infer respect.

Gentlemen can be directed towards anyone. It is usually associated with the politeness or formality of  a member of the male gender. It is a much more formal term.

Male is more formal but not quite in the same way as gentleman. The word male is more related to such situations as police reports or possibly scientific records.

The word Lad is colloquial  and very informal. It would only be used between friends and does not show much respect.

7. Terrorist - Guerrilla - Freedom Fighter

Terrorist would be used to categorise those that are causing mass deaths/destruction for the wrong reason or even without reason.

Guerrilla would categorise those who a fighting for a specific reason but they may not be doing it in the most peaceful way - often killing or carrying out violent acts to prove their point.

Freedom Fighter has much more peaceful connotations. One would assume that they are fighting for the right reasons and are doing it in a civilised fashion.

Euphemisms

Ethnic cleansing - This means genocide. Genocide is a very irrational and unpleasant ideology so the phrase 'ethnic cleansing' makes it sound less horrific and almost justifying it, as though saying a certain ethnicity is just 'dirt' in a society.

Senior Citizen - Meaning Old. This euphemism is used to show respect for those of age and Shows value.

To sleep with someone - Sex. Some people will find that using the word sex is inappropriate and animalistic, therefore there are many euphemisms to make it sound more civil and take away as much sexual connotation as possible.