Dysphemism

In language, both dysphemism (from the Greek dys δύς "mis-" and pheme φήμη "reputation") and cacophemism (in Greek kakos κακός "bad") refer to the usage of an intentionally harsh word or expression instead of a polite one; they are rough opposites of euphemism. “Dysphemism” may be either offensive or merely humorously deprecating, while “cacophemism” is usually deliberately offensive. (More recently, the linguist Kate Burridge has coined the term "orthophemism," to refer to a neutral name or expression.) Dysphemism is related to "blasphemy," but is less focused in scope, and therefore not directly synonymous.

Examples of dysphemism include “dead tree edition” for the paper version of an online magazine, or American military personnel’s use of “shit on a shingle” for their common breakfast of creamed chipped beef on toast.

Oddly, some humorous expressions can be either euphemistic or dysphemic, depending on context, because terms which can be dysphemic can also be affectionate. For example, pushing up daisies can be taken as either softer or harsher than died. Such variance can also be cultural; for instance, "twit" is a dysphemism for "idiot", but in British English is nearly always a humorous or affectionate term.

Examples

• Fascist for someone who advocates for harsher laws or power vested in a central authority
• To "beat someone up" merely meaning to tickle mercilessly, instead of kicking, punching, etc.
• Junk (without real value, as in Junk food or Junk mail)
• Idiot box (Television)
• Crippled (Intentionally limited so as to be almost unusable)
• as in Crippleware (software with features limited or removed, also called broken)
• the free software community uses a number of dysphemic terms for liked or disliked software,
  such as Beerware, Foistware, Ransomware.
• Dead tree edition (often original, printed version of on-line resource)
• Bullshit (for "lies" or "nonsense", or an unfair situation)
• Shit (anything contemptible, also slang for "stuff")
• SOS (Shit On Shingle) For any food where something creamy is poured over something hard. Usually this refers to chipped beef on toast, the dish that first got its name in military as SOS.
• Shit for Brains (commonly used to refer to someone who is/has acted stupidly)
• Meatspace (referring to physical reality, as opposed to "cyberspace")
• Snail mail

Many further examples can be found in a 'profanisaurus' published by 'Viz' magazine -

See also

• Hyperbole
• Metaphor
• Euphemism
• Power word

References