Reader question:

Please explain “between jobs” and the word euphemism in the following: Between jobs is a well-known euphemism for unemployment.

My comments:

If one is between jobs, one’s currently unemployed, out of work, or on public assistance, or what you please.

Look at it this way. There’s a “job” one was doing for some time and he or she lost it. There’s a new “job” they’re going to take again, hopefully, some time into the future. Of these two jobs, he or she currently has none – because their current position is in between, or in the middle.

Sound awkward?

You bet. That’s the characteristic of euphemisms, or indirect ways of putting things in order that they sound better, so as not to be rude, unpleasant or downright shocking. Mostly speakers are trying to avoid offense. For instance, in obituaries, the recently deceased (dead) is often described as “a confirmed bachelor”, that’s an established euphemism in the West for being a homosexual. Or “he lived life to the full” often means that the man was a drunkard.

Sometimes people use euphemisms just to be humorous.

For instance, when addressing a friend who’s recently lost his job, you might say: “I hear you’re your own boss now.”

The friend, put at ease, may reply: “Yes, I’m enjoying life again.”

Euphemism is originally from the Greek word euphēmismos, “from euphēmos auspicious, sounding good, from eu- + phēmē speech, from phanai to speak” (Merriam-Webster Online).

“Eu” suggests “praise”; to eulogize, for instance, is to praise profusely.

Like I said, euphemisms are most often used to make certain facts more pleasant. This article (Word Games, PropagandaCritic.com, September 29, 2002) describes how the American military speak around the subject of “peace” (war) and “liquidation” (murder):

Since war is particularly unpleasant, military discourse is full of euphemisms. In the 1940’s, America changed the name of the War Department to the Department of Defense. Under the Reagan Administration, the MX-Missile was renamed “The Peacekeeper.” During war-time, civilian casualties are referred to as “collateral damage,” and the word “liquidation” is used as a synonym for “murder.”

The comedian George Carlin notes that, in the wake of the first world war, traumatized veterans were said to be suffering from “shell shock.” The short, vivid phrase conveys the horrors of battle -- one can practically hear the shells exploding overhead. After the second world war, people began to use the term “combat fatigue” to characterize the same condition. The phrase is a bit more pleasant, but it still acknowledges combat as the source of discomfort. In the wake of the Vietnam War, people referred to “post-traumatic stress disorder”: a phrase that is completely disconnected from the reality of war altogether.

You think being one’s own boss is the pleasanter topic here.

Agreed (^_^). Let’s, therefore, return to the state of joblessness and savor a few other euphemisms for losing one’s job. Oops, for getting laid off, I mean.

Or, indeed, enjoying life again.

* I’m freelancing now.

* I’m developing a new project.

* I’m on an extended vacation.

* I’m working for myself now.

* I’m going back to school.

* I’m in the process of making a career change.

* I’m living with my parents again.

* I’m living off the government.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

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（作者張欣 中國日報網英語點津 編輯陳丹妮）