The english language military euphemisms
The authors examine the notion of euphemism alongside with pragmatic characteristics of the English language military euphemisms. The purpose of the study is to determine the reasons why such euphemisms appear both from synchronic and diachronic points. The authors also come up with the classification of the English language military euphemisms. The main methods include semantic analysis of the dictionary definitions as well as the study of the related contextual information. The English language military euphemisms fall into 11 lexical sets: “War in General, Conquest or Occupation of Territories”, “Mistakes and Failures”, “Death and Wounding”, “Military Operations”, “Weapons, Other Means of Killing and Maiming”, “Soldiers' Mindset and Personal Traits”, “Former Foes and Secret Allies”, “Terrorist Warfare”, “War Crimes”, “Diminishing Enemy's Strength and Opportunities”, and “Defecting to Enemy's Side.” The most common ways of military euphemism formation are widening and metaphorical transfer. Borrowings, polarizations, epithets, and allusions are not that common. All the military euphemisms are supposed to smooth negative consequences of wars in people's minds.