There are words in every language which people instinctively avoid because they are considered indecent, indelicate, rude, too direct or impolite. Euphemism is a word phrase used to replace an unpleasant word expression by a more acceptable one. They are synonyms which aim at producing the deliberately mild effect. e.g.: to die = to pass away; to join the silent majority; to be pregnant = in an interesting condition, in a delicate condition, in the family way, with a baby coming etc. Superstitious taboos gave rise to the use of other type of euphemisms. Superstitious taboos have their roots in the distant past of mankind when people believed that there was a supernatural link between a name and the object or creature it represented. Superstitions which cause real fear call for the creation of euphemisms to describe things in their various aspects. e.g.: Lord Voldemort = He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The sphere of application of euphemism is rather wide: religious, moral, medical, parliamentary etc. Euphemisms are probably the oldest type of synonyms.
Paronyms. Different authors suggest various definitions. Some define paronyms as words of the same root, others as words having the same sound form, thus equalising them with word-families or homonyms. Paronyms are words similar though not identical in sound, but different in meaning. This is the case with the adjectives ingenious and ingenuous. The first of these means clever and may be used both of man and of his inventions and doings, e. g. an ingenious craftsman, an ingenious device. Ingenuous means frank, artless, as an ingenuous smile. Co-occurrence of paronyms is called paronomasia. Phonetically, paronomasia produces stylistic effects analogous to those of alliteration and assonance. e.g. raven — never; poultry — politics.
