Download or read book How Not to Say what You Mean written by R. W. Holder and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2007 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brand new edition celebrating 20 years of R. W. Holder's popular and successful dictionary of euphemisms is packed full of traditional favourites, such as 'Dutch uncle' or 'push up the daisies', as well as euphemisms from the contemporary world such as 'restructuring' and 'extrajudicial killing'. Definitions include examples from real authors, along with entertaining explanations of their origins. To prove that the use of euphemisms is not just a British speciality, there is widespread coverage of American euphemisms, too: for example, 'English' (pertaining to sexual deviance) and 'watermelon' (an indication of pregnancy). The A-Z organization of the text is complemented by a thematic index with short introductory articles on fruitful areas of euphemistic language such as business, sex, death, and the human body. How Not To Say What You Mean remains the most lively and authoritative guide to the language of evasion, hyprocrisy, prudery, and deceit.