Hello peeps, I hope you can help me with a little thing... it's for a fantasy thriller I'm currently working on, set in modern day (post-2010), where a woman 'sins' enough to unleash the verbal wrath of a certain type of spirits (not ghosts in traditional sense) that knows the truth of humans' personalities and their life stories. Their purpose is ( Read more... )

( Under a cut because of strong language )

We say words like "darn" instead of "damn", or "shoot" or maybe longer phrase like "shut the front door" to skirt around actual swear words.  I'm curious of examples in other languages. For example, my co-worker's mother-in-law says "Miercoles" instead of a similar sounding word.

Do any English dialects outside the US use the word “help” to mean “servant” (as in, well, the novel and movie The Help)?

The Online Etymology Dictionary says this is an American usage, and according to the source it quotes, in the 19th century the word specifically referred to white servants ( Read more... )

Not to beat a dead horse, but while r_blackcat's post on ableist language was mostly struck through, it's prompted me to make an inquiry about something I've wondered for years. It's arguably the kind of question that belongs on a community more directly centered around issues of privilege, discrimination, etc., but since we have a bunch of etymology- ( Read more... )

Which of the euphemistic expressions for "go use the toilet" sound the least embarrassing and are acceptable in most social situations? (In any language; also, please mention the literal meaning).
Thanks.

Is the term fire-crotch for a ginger-haired individual derogatory? neutral? maybe even endearing? Is it ever used in reference to oneself?

On one of the forums I occasionally visit, the mods have declared it a "FAMILY FORUM." Does this mean they talk about kids and parenting? No, it means they specifically do *not* talk about kids and parenting, or rather, they don't talk about what causes kids and parenting ( Read more... )

I've finally started writing my novel! But enough self-promotion for now.

We all know what a metropolis is, a large city (or twin cities, or more) connected to smaller cities with continuous urbanization. A megalopolis is an even larger urban bloc made up of several metropolises...

... or should I say metropoles? Is the word inflected like " ( Read more... )

What euphemisms do exist in different languages for "to die" ?