Brewer's: Euphemisms

Words or phrases substituted, to soften down offensive expressions.

Place never mentioned to ears polite.

In the reign of Charles II., a worthy divine of Whitehall thus concluded his sermon: “If you don't live up to the precepts of the Gospel ... you must expect to receive your reward in a certain place which 'tis not good manners to mention here” (Laconics). Pope tells us this worthy divine was a dean:

To rest the cushion and soft dean invite, Who never mentioned hell to ears polite.

Moral Essays, epist. iv. 49, 50.

“His Satanic majesty;” “light-fingered gentry;” “a gentleman on his travels” (one transported); “she has met with an accident” ( has had a child before marriage); “help” or “employé” (a servant ); “not quite correct” (a false-hood); “an obliquity of vision” (a squint); “an innocent” (a fool), “beldam” (an ugly woman), and hundreds of others.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

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