As every reader knows, whenever powers that be come up with a new euphemism for something, this works, and the previous meanings and associations are quickly forgotten. That's why we... oh right: Linguists are familiar with the phenomenon, which may be called the euphemism treadmill. People invent new words for emotionally charged referents, but soon the euphemism becomes tainted by association, and a new word must be found, which soon acquires its own connotations, and so on.
Polygenic euphemisms
Polygenic euphemisms
Polygenic euphemisms
As every reader knows, whenever powers that be come up with a new euphemism for something, this works, and the previous meanings and associations are quickly forgotten. That's why we... oh right: Linguists are familiar with the phenomenon, which may be called the euphemism treadmill. People invent new words for emotionally charged referents, but soon the euphemism becomes tainted by association, and a new word must be found, which soon acquires its own connotations, and so on.