Etiquetas
euphemisms, gender, language, lenguaje sexista, monty python, politically correct, sarcasm, sarcasmo, sexism, sexist
Si en el último post veíamos eufemismos españoles, hoy damos un repaso a los ingleses. Seguro que os los habéis encontrado en algún momento e incluso os ha tocado traducir alguno que otro.
Por ejemplo, una persona ciega no es blind sino visually challenged, una persona entrada en carnes (otro eufemismo) no es fat sino full-figured y los políticos no mienten, lie, pero sí son economical with the truth. Si estás a dos velas, en lugar de broke es más bonito decir que tienes a temporary negative cash flow. Y si a causa de esto tienes que vivir en una barriada pobre, no le llames slum, llámale substandard housing, economically depressed neighbourhood o culturally-deprived environment.
El mundo laboral es terreno abonado para el eufemismo también, sobre todo en tema de despidos, que es lo más delicado. Como en la viñeta anterior, let go es una manera muy fina de referirse al despido, ¡como si la gente quisiera marcharse! Ocurre con make redundant, que a mí siempre me ha sonado a «eres redundante, sobras» y también es eufemístico el verbo dehire, como en la viñeta siguiente.
Sin embargo, un concepto recurrente en los eufemismos es la muerte. Si no lo habéis visto ya, os recomiendo este sketch de Monty Python en el que se enumeran las varias formas de hablar de la Parca. Alguna vez lo he utilizado en mis clases como actividad.
«E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible!! This is an ex parrot!»
Como en español, en las relaciones humanas suelen usarse los eufemismos para ocultar o no herir con una verdad incómoda:
|
Reality |
Sarcastic euphemism |
| A bleached blond | Peroxide dependant |
| A great butt | A superior posterior |
| A great tan | Pigmentally enhanced |
| A perfect body | Anatomically gifted |
| An airhead | Reality impaired |
| Bald | Follicularly challenged |
| Blind | Visually challanged |
| Body odour | Nondiscretionary fragrance |
| Conceited | Humbly challenged |
| Dishonest | Ethically disoriented |
| Drunk or tipsy | Chemically inconvencienced |
| Fat | Horizontally challenged; person of substance; full-figured |
| Half naked | Wardrobe impaired |
| Homeless | Residentially flexible |
| Married or hitched | Domestic incarceration |
| Perverted | Sexually dysfunctional |
| Pissed off | Satisfaction deprived |
| Por | Financially inept |
| Pregnant | Parasitically oppressed |
| Redneck | Rustically inclined; person of region |
| Rich | Economically maximized |
| Sexist | Gender biased with niceness deprived overtones |
| Small or short | Vertically challenged |
| Tall | Vertically gifted; altitudinally endowed |
| Ugly | Under-attractive |
| Unemployed | Non-waged |
(Ahora ya lo sabéis, cuidado con cómo se describe alguien en un chat…)
En esta línea eufemística pero en un tono mucho más serio, una corriente muy actual en el mundo anglosajón es deshacerse también del lenguaje sexista. Para esto se propone cambiar las palabras terminadas con -man/-woman por -person, encontrar otro sustituto (policeman/woman – police officer) o emplear genéricos ( man – people, human beings).
En cuanto a los sujetos, se tiende a evitar el masculino «he» de diversas formas:
- Usar la forma plural de sustantivos y pronombres: All the students brought their own dictionaries.
- Cambiar la expresión para evitar el uso de un pronombre: Each student brought a dictionary.
- Usar la expresión his or her: Each student brought his or her own dictionary.
- Usar s/he: Each student brought the dictionary that s/he preferred.
- Usar el pronombre del plural their después de un pronombre indefinido: Everyone brought their own dictionary.
Además del sexo, otras preocupaciones lingüísticas a suavizar son las razas (no digamos «black», digamos «African-American»), las enfermedades y minusvalías (mejor «people with disabilities» que «handicapped»), la edad (no diremos «old people», es mejor «senior citizens») o la orientación sexual (en lugar del adjetivo «gay/lesbian», es más aceptable hablar de «same-sex»).
Entiendo que haya cosas que puedan y deban modificarse pero hay otras, como cambiar blackboard por chalkboard que rozan el ridículo, ¿no creéis? Más que nada porque la misma superficie de la pizarra es negruzca. En fin, veamos algunos ejemplos de estos eufemismos (que también podéis descargar aquí):
|
Insensitive Words & Phrases |
Possible Alternatives / Euphemisms |
| Acting like wild Indians | Out of control |
| AIDS sufferer | A person living with AIDS |
| Bitchy or «PMSing» | Assertive |
| Black sheep | Outcast |
| Black/nigger/negro/coloured/Afro-American | African American |
| Blackboard | Chalkboard, board |
| Blacklisted | Banned |
| Blind | Visually challenged |
| Bums | Homeless people |
| Businessman | Business person, executive |
| Chairman | Chairperson, chair |
| Deaf | People with hearing impairments |
| Decrepit/senile/aged/ old/elderly | Chronologically gifted/older person/senior citizen/seniors |
| Die | Pass away, pushing daisies |
| Emotional cripple | Difficult to express somebody’s emotions |
| Fat | Overweight/Person of size/Differently sized person/Individual with an eating disorder/full-figured |
| Fireman | Firefighter |
| Flip chart | Easel (Flip is a derogatory word referring to Filipinos) |
| Gifted children | Advanced learners |
| Guys (when referring to a mixed group) | Friends; folks; group |
| Half-breed | Multi-ethnic |
| Handicapped | People with special needs; people who are physically/mentally challenged; people with disabilities |
| He | He/she, s/he, everybody |
| His | His/her, their |
| Indians | Native Americans/’First Nations’ people |
| Insane/idiot/crazy/mad | Mentally challenged or ill |
| Invalid/the handicapped/cripple | Disabled/people with disabilities/physically disabled or challenged/differently abled |
| Jew down | Negotiate |
| Job seeker’s allowance | Unemployment benefit |
| Jungle | Rainforest |
| Manhole | Utility hole |
| Mankind | Humankind |
| Man-made | Artificial |
| Manning the project | Staffing the project |
| Mentally retarded | Developmentally challenged |
| Minority groups | People of colour/Emergent groups/Traditionally underrepresented groups |
| No culture (when referring to parts of the U.S. where the opera and the theater are scarce or nonexistent) | Lacking European culture |
| Old people | Seniors; «Chronologically Advantaged» |
| Oriental (when referring to people) | Asian (using the specific nationality, i.e. Korean is even better, when possible) |
| Oriental/Asiatic | Asian (Pacific Islander, Chinese American, Korean, Indian ) |
| Pet | Companion animal |
| Policeman | Police officer |
| Policemen/postman | Police officer/mail carrier |
| Poor | Lower income bracket |
| Prostitute | Sex worker |
| Race | Ethnicity or nationality (There is only one race–human) |
| Retarded | Developmentally challenged |
| Salesman /woman | Sales person |
| Steward /stewardess | Flight attendant |
| Swamp | Wet land |
| The little woman; the wife | Your wife; his wife |
| Ugly | Esthetically challenged |
| Uneducated (when referring to adults) | Lacking a formal education |
| Wheel-chair bound | A person who uses a wheel-chair |
| White lie | Lie (Calling it white does not make it okay) |
Para terminar, os dejo un artículo muy interesante sobre los eufemismos más habituales en inglés:
Stop being coy
I will die, not pass away.
I am an old cripple, drawing an old-age pension, working hard to raise vast quantities of vegetables on an allotment, and well aware that, one of these days, I shall die. All this is fact.
If, however, I listen to the voice of officialdom, it turns out that I am a disadvantaged senior citizen, registered as disabled, drawing a retirement pension, renting a leisure garden, and presumably immortal, because I shall never die, I shall merely pass away.
The euphemisms which pour from the lips of politicians and trade union leaders are endless. Taking industrial action equals going on strike, and working to rule equals being bloody minded.
and let us please do away with the following:
- lower income bracket (poor)
- under the weather (ill)
- low IQ (stupid)
- jobseeker’s allowance (unemployment benefit)
- Ministry of Defence (Ministry of War)
- have a dialogue (talk)
- companion animal (pet)
All this effort to avoid unpleasantness is certain to fail, because the euphemism quickly acquires the stigma of the word it replaced. I, and probably others, do not feel younger because I am called a senior citizen.
Bryan Heath (retired vet)
¡Hasta la próxima!
En la luna de Babel 