Salmon enrobed with Miso, Turmeric, Garlic, and Rosemary served on a bed of Lemon Rice Pilaf and Stir-fried Broccoli

Assembly:  Cook the broccoli first, then the rice pilaf, then the salmon.  Put rice and broccoli an a plate, then top with salmon.



Salmon recipe from

Ingredients

1/4 cup white miso (also known as shiro miso)
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1 large garlic clove
4 thick salmon fillets (with or without skin), 6 ounces each
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the broiler.  Mix together the miso, rosemary, garlic clove pushed through a press, and 2 tablespoons water.  Rub the paste onto the salmon fillets, then rub in the turmeric until golden.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with the oil.  Broil 5 inches from the heat for 2 minutes.  Remove the baking sheet.  Turn off the broiler and heat the oven to 500°F.  Roast the salmon 5 minutes, until just firm.


Lemon Rice Pilaf recipe from

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
3 cups (24 fl oz) vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
sea salt and cracked black pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes or until soft.  Add the rice and cook for 1 minute.  Add the stock and cook for 10-12 minutes or until tunnels have formed in the rice and almost all the stock has been absorbed.  Stir through the lemon juice, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Stir-fried Broccoli recipe from

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
1 1/4 lb. broccoli
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon thin soy sauce
1/3 cup chicken stock

Peel off tough outer covering of broccoli stems.  Cut stems and flowerets into thin slices on the diagonal.  Heat wok and add the oil.  Add broccoli and stir-fry for 2 minutes over high heat.  Add salt, sugar, soy sauce, and chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes.  Remove from wok and set aside.

How to Make Strawberry Fool

Ingredients

• 1 pint strawberries
• 2 ounces vanilla meingues
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup confectioners sugar (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

Method

• 1. Wash and hull strawberries, then cut into small pieces.
• 2. Cut the meringues into small pieces.
• 3. Whip the cream until it holds its shape softly. (At this point, you can fold in the sugar and the vanilla into the cream if you like.)
• 4. Alternate layers of berries, meringues, and cream , and serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to two hours.

       

Pear Walnut Spice Cake Recipe, courtesy of Gale Gand

Pear Walnut Spice Cake

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand

Prep Time:

20 min

Cook Time:

1 hr

Level:

Easy

Serves:

12 servings

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1 cup raisins (dark or golden)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (1 cup is all I use - it's still plenty sweet)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and ground allspice
• 2 cups peeled pear chunks (from about 3 pears)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the raisins in a bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of the flour until lightly coated (this will prevent them from sinking in the cake batter during baking). 

To make the cake: Beat the eggs and sugar in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer) until fluffy. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the vanilla and the oil. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Mix into the egg mixture. Mix in the pears and nuts, then stir in the raisins by hand, distributing them evenly in the batter. Spoon into a 10-inch tube pan and bake about 45 to 60 minutes, until springy and dry in the center. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack, then turn it out. Freeze until ready to use or just wrap and store for up to 2 days.

To make the glaze: Stir the maple syrup and sugar together in a bowl. Glaze the cooled cake by spooning the glaze around the top of the cake and letting it drip down the sides.

Why drinking coffee helps reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. By Jef Akst

The Benefits of Coffee

Researchers finally nail down why drinking coffee helps reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

By Jef Akst | January 17, 2012

Wikimedia Commons, Takkk

 

Researchers have known for some time that regular coffee drinkers have a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes: people who drink four or more cups of coffee each day have a 50 percent lower risk of the disease, with each additional cup associated with a further 7 percent drop in risk. But the cause of this bizarre connection has been a source of speculation.

Now, researchers in China have found evidence that coffee influences the misfolding of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), a protein implicated in causing Type 2 diabetes. According to their paper published in the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, certain compounds in coffee significantly inhibited the formation of toxic hIAPP amyloids, which likely explains the lowered risk of Type 2 diabetes in coffee lovers.

“These findings suggest that the beneficial effects of coffee consumption on [Type 2 diabetes] may be partly due to the ability of the major coffee components and metabolites to inhibit the toxic aggregation of hIAPP,” the authors wrote. “A beneficial effect may thus be expected for a regular coffee drinker.”

from Nationsonline.org

Food Symbolism during Chinese New Year Celebrations

Chinese like playing with words and symbols. Often homonyms (words that share the same pronunciation but have different meanings) are used. Names of dishes and/or their ingrediets which will be served sound similar to words and phrases refering to wishes expressed during the Chinese New Year, while other foods hold a symbolic meaning. 

 Food offerings are a prayer or a wish and can be addressed to ancestors and other beings such as the Jade Emperor and The Kitchen God. The offering of food serves to bring ancestors and other beings in the other world closer to oneself.
The food offerings serve as a bonding tool to bring both worlds together.

Below a brief list of the food's symbolic meaning:

Abalone (sea snail; 鳆; fù) - definite good fortune
Apple (苹果; píngguǒ) - wisdom, peace
Apricot, dried (杏脯; xìngfǔ) - gold, wealth
Arrowhead (bot.: Sagittaria sagittifolia; 慈菇; cí gū) - benevolence
Arrowroot (bot.: Maranta arundinacea; 竹芋) - good life

Bamboo fungus (stinkhorn fungus; bot.: Phallus indusiatus; 竹笙, zhúshēng), also called bamboo pith (竹荪; zhúsūn) - meaning: long life
Bamboo shoots (竹笋尖; zhú sǔn jiān) - wealth (term sounds like "wishing that everything would be well" - xǔyuànchí), new start
Banana (香蕉; xiāngjiāo), on altar, offering - wish for education, brilliance at work/ school
Bean curd, dried/ tofu, dried (豆腐, dòu fǔ)- fulfillment of wealth and happiness (note: dried tofu is not of white colour)
Bean curd sticks (腐竹; fǔ zhú) - blessing the house
Bean sprouts (豆芽; dòu yá, literally "bean sprout/germ" 芽菜; yá cài, literally "sprout vegetable" or 银芽; yín yá, literally "silver sprouts") - 'to your heart's content', positive start into the new year
Black moss (hair moss, hair weed), fat choy (髮菜; fàcài; a black hair-like cyanobacteria) - wealth

Cabbage, Chinese (pak choy, 白菜) - 100 types of prosperity luck
Cabbage, stuffed packages - wealth (the shape symbolises an ingot)
Calms (scallops; 扇贝; shànbèi) - opening of new horizons
calm roll (干贝; gānbèi) - gold, wealth
Carrots (胡蘿蔔; hú luóbo; or 紅蘿蔔; hóng luóbo), red colour- good luck
Cashew nut (腰果, yāoguǒ)- gold, money (the nut's shape symbolises the gold bar of ancient times)
Chicken (whole) (鸡肉; jīròu) - prosperity, togetherness of the family, joy (note: chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness)
Chinese garlic chives (韭菜, jiǔcài) - everlasting, eternity, long life
Coconut, nut (椰子; yēzi), flesh (椰肉; yēròu), juice/milk (椰汁; yēzhī) - promoting togetherness

Daylily buds, golden lily buds (金针; jīnzhēn; also called "golden needles") - wealth
Duck (鸭肉, yāròu) - fertility
Dumplings - dumplings exist in various kind, see: jiaozi dumplings, yuanxiao/ tangyuan/ tangtuan dumplings

Egg (蛋, dàn) - fertility
egg roll (蛋皮春卷, dàn pí chūn juǎn) - money, wealth, gold

Fa Gao (发糕; fāgāo) the steamed "Prosperity Cake"; the sound "fa" means either "to raise/generate" or "be prosperous"
Fish (whole) - The word 魚 (yú), meaning "fish", has the same pronunciation as the word 餘, which is "remain or surplus", 'having leftovers of money', an increase in prosperity
fish ball (鱼蛋; yúdàn) - reunion

Golden lilly buds, Daylily (bot.: Hemerocallis; 金针; jīnzhēn) - wealth
Gingko nuts ( 銀杏; yín xìng; or 白果, bái guǒ)- hope for silver, wealth (the nut's shape represents a silver yuanbao/ ingot)

Dried unbroken glass noodles symbolise long life. Photo: © Valeska Gehrmann

Glass noodles, Chinese vermicelli, cellophane noodle, noodle threads (粉絲; fěn sī; also called "bean threads ", mung bean thread) - silver chain
Grapes (葡萄, pútaó) - wealth, abundance, fertility, many descendants, family harmony

Jiaozi- Dumplings (jiǎozi, 饺子) - wealth (the shape of the jiaozi dumplings is that of a yuanbao ingot, also the word jiǎozi shares the same pronunciation with 角子 (jiǎozi) that is a small jiao coin used in old times. Other meanings: togetherness, heavenly blessing

Jujube symbolise wealth, prosperity, as well as fertility Photo: © nationsonline.org

Jujube (kind of date, red colour; 枣; zǎo, candied jujube: 蜜枣; mìzǎo) - wealth, prosperity, fertility
Kumquat (金橘; jīn jú) - gold, hence fortune, wealth

Lettuce (生菜; shēngcài) - prosperity
lettuce roll, food being rolled into lettuce - having a child soon
Longan (龙眼) - many good son
Lotus seeds/ -nuts/ -beans (蓮子; lián zĭ) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring
lotus seeds,crystallized (蓮子糖; lián zĭ táng) - a full wallet, many (male) offspring
Lychee (荔枝; lìzhī) - close family ties

Maize (玉米; yùmǐ) - growth
Mandarin (瓯柑; ōugān) - gold, wealth
Meat ball (肉丸; ròuwán)- reunion
Melon (瓜; guā) - family unity
melon, candied - growth, good health
Mixed vegetable (什锦蔬菜; shíjǐn shūcài) - family harmony
Muer mushroom, Black fungus, Three ear fungus, Wood ear (木耳; mù ěr) - longevity

Noodles (面条; miàntiáo) uncut - long life

Onion (洋葱; yángcōng) - cleverness
Orange (柑橘; gānjú) - wealth, good fortune, gold
Oyster (牡蠣; mǔlì) - receptivity to good fortune, good business
Oyster, dried (ho xi) - all good things, good luck

Peach - immortality
Peach, pair of (桃; táo) - wealth, abundance, long healthy life, great fortune for many generations
Peanuts (花生; huāshēng) - health, long life, birth of prosperity, continuous growth, multiplication in wealth and good fortune, stability
Pineapple (凤梨; fènglí) - wealth, luck, excellent fortune, gambling luck

Pomegranate symbolises many offsprings Photo: © Valeska Gehrmann

Pomegranate (石榴; shíliu) - many offsprings
Pomelo (柚子; yòuzi) - abundance, prosperity, having children, good health, family unity
Pork (猪肉; zhūròu) - strength, wealth, abundant blessing
Prawn (大虾; dàxiā) - liveliness
Pumpkin (南瓜; nánguā) - prosperity, abundance, descendant's luck, illustrious children, enchantment, fruit draws earth energy to manifest gold

Rice (米饭; mǐfàn) - fertility, luck, wealth, rice symbolizes a link between Heaven (Gods) and Earth (Men)
Nian gao, (Chinese: 年糕; pinyin: nián'gāo) Sticky (Rice) cake, Chinese new year's cake. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao because it has the symbolism of increasing prosperity every year. The New Year greeting 'Nian Nian Gao Sheng' (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng) is to wish people "advance toward higher positions and prosperity step by step."
Sticky rice - cohering of family
Rice is one of the Twelve Symbols of Sovereignty
Roseapple (Syzygium jambos; 蒲桃; pú táo) - calmness, peace of mind, no fighting

Seaweed, especially black moss, Fat Choy, (in Chinese: 髮菜; pinyin: fàcài; literal meaning: hair vegetable). The two syllables of Fat Choy in Cantonese sound the same as a Cantonese Chinese New Year greeting "Gung1 hei2 faat3 choi4" (恭喜发财) meaning "congratulations and be prosperous"; additional meanings: - good luck, exceeding wealth.
Seeds - lotus seeds, watermelon seeds, etc. - having a large number of children 籽 [zǐ]

Shitake mushrooms, since long a symbol of longevity in Asia, they also symbolise sizing opportunities Photo: © nationsonline.org

Shitake, Black mushroom (冬菇; dōnggū) - longevity, sizing opportunities
Shrimp (小虾; xiǎoxiā) - happiness and good fortune
Slender Noodle (細粉; xì fě) - see glass noodle
Snowpeas (荷蘭豆; hélándòu) - unity
Spring roll (春卷; chūnjuǎn) - wealth (the shape represents a gold bar)
Sweet corn (甜玉米; tián yùmǐ) - growth, increase
Sweets, (糖食; tángshí, 糖果;tángguǒ) rice cake (年糕; nián'gāo) - safety, good fortune and 'sweeten' the new year

Tangerine (橘; jú) - luck
Tangtuan (湯團, tāngtuán,"round dumplings in soup"), sweet dumplings - togetherness, reunion
Tangyuan ( 湯圓 ,tāngyuán, "round balls in soup"), sweet dumplings - togetherness, reunion
Tofu, dried (豆腐干; dòufǔgān) - fulfillment of wealth and happiness, blessing the houses (note: dried tofu is not of white colour)
Tofu, fried (炸豆腐; zhá dòufǔ) - gold, hence wealth
Turnip cake (萝卜糕; luóbo gāo) - good omen

Vegetable, green (绿叶菜; lǜyècài) - close family ties
vegetable/ tofu (dried) - harmony, happiness and prosperity

Walnut (核桃仁; hétàorén) - happiness of the entire family
Water chestnut (荸薺; bíqí) - unity
Winter noodel (冬粉, dōng fěn) - see glass noodle
Yuanxiao, sweet dumpling (元宵; yuánxiāo) - togetherness, reunion

NOTE:
Presenting a ‘whole’ chicken with its head, tail and feet symbolizes completeness.
Fresh bean curd / tofu is not included as it is white and unlucky for New Year as the colour signifies death and misfortune.
Fresh fruits symbolise life and new beginnings.
Sugared fruits are supposed to sweeten one’s upcoming year.
Sweets and fruits are served on a round tray, the form resembling togetherness, hence the tray is called the 'Tray of Togetherness'. Sweets offered on the tray add up to the number 8, because eight is a lucky number and symbolises fortune.
A coin might be hidden in one dumpling, and the person who will find it is supposed to be showered with good fortune and wealth.

How to Make Roasted-Beet Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette

ROASTED-BEET SALAD WITH SHERRY VINAIGRETTE
(adapted fron a recipe by Sang Yoon of Father's Office)

2 bunches baby beets (about 8)
Baby lettuces (mache or red oak or mesclun)
Fresh goat-cheese crumbles

Heat oven to 375. Rinse beets, removing the greens (don't cut the root tip and leave 2 inches of the leaves attached). Wrap each in foil and place in a shallow pan or sheet. (You may add half a star anise to each foil packet if you like.) Roast 45 minutes to 1 hour, until easily pierced with a knife. When cool enough to handle, peel beets and either slice or cut into half-inch cubes.

Vinaigrette

3 ounces sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chopped shallots
4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil


Whisk all ingredients. Marinate roasted beets with vinaigrette at least 3 hours, then remove beets and set aside. Toss baby lettuces with vinaigrette to taste and spoon prepared beets atop greens. Garnish with goat cheese. (Add chopped walnuts if you like.)

Variation (topped with sliced grilled steak:

Stuff I Bought on Amazon.com from January 1, 2011 to January 11, 2012

Phoney politeness and muddled messages: a guide to euphemisms - from The Economist magazine

Making murder respectable

Phoney politeness and muddled messages: a guide to euphemisms

Dec 17th 2011 | from the print edition

 

SHORT sharp terms make big points clear. But people often prefer to soften their speech with euphemism: a mixture of abstraction, metaphor, slang and understatement that offers protection against the offensive, harsh or blunt. In 1945, in one of history’s greatest euphemisms, Emperor Hirohito informed his subjects of their country’s unconditional surrender (after two atomic bombs, the loss of 3m people and with invasion looming) with the words, “The war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage.”

Euphemisms range promiscuously, from diplomacy (“the minister is indisposed”, meaning he won’t be coming) to the bedroom (a grande horizontale in France is a notable courtesan). But it is possible to attempt a euphemistic taxonomy. One way to categorise them is ethical. In “Politics and the English Language”, George Orwell wrote that obfuscatory political language is designed “to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable”. Some euphemisms do distort and mislead; but some are motivated by kindness.

Another way to typify them is by theme. A third—and a useful way to begin—is by nationality. A euphemism is a kind of lie, and the lies peoples and countries tell themselves are revealing.

American euphemisms are in a class of their own, principally because they seem to involve words that few would find offensive to start with, replaced by phrases that are meaninglessly ambiguous: bathroom tissue for lavatory paper, dental appliances for false teeth, previously owned rather than used, wellness centres for hospitals, which conduct procedures not operations. As the late George Carlin, an American comedian, noted, people used to get old and die. Now they become first preelderly, then senior citizens and pass away in a terminal episode or (if doctors botch their treatment) after a therapeutic misadventure. These bespeak a national yearning for perfection, bodily and otherwise.

Sensitive China, perfidious Albion

Some Chinese euphemisms also stem from squeamishness. Rather than inquire about a patient’s sex life, doctors may ask if you have much time for fang shi (room business). Online sites sell qingqu yongpin, literally “interesting love products”.

But Chinese circumlocution is often a form of polite opacity. Chinese people don’t like being too direct in turning down invitations or (as many journalists find) requests for interviews. So they will frequently reply that something is bu fangbian (not convenient). This does not mean reapply in a few weeks’ time. It means they don’t want to do it, ever. If they don’t want to tell you what is going on they will say vaguely they are bu qingchu: literally “I’m not clear.”

One feature of Chinese euphemisms comes from the tonal nature of the language. Yan is slang for cigarettes; jiu means alcohol. But, with different tones, the two syllables together can also mean “to research”. So a corrupt official being asked to do something might suggest, “Let’s research (yanjiu) this issue together”, by which he would probably mean, “Give me some cigarettes and some alcohol and I’ll make it happen.”

The British are probably the world champions of euphemism. The best of these are widely understood (at least among natives), creating a pleasant sense of complicity between the euphemist and his audience. British newspaper obituaries are a rich seam: nobody likes to speak ill of the dead, yet many enjoy a hint of the truth about the person who has “passed away”. A drunkard will be described as “convivial” or “cheery”. Unbearably garrulous is “sociable” or the dread “ebullient”; “lively wit” means a penchant for telling cruel and unfunny stories. “Austere” and “reserved” mean joyless and depressed. Someone with a foul temper “did not suffer fools gladly”. The priapic will have “enjoyed female company”; nymphomania is “notable vivacity”. Uncontrollable appetites of all sorts may earn the ultimate accolade: “He lived life to the full.”

Such euphemisms are a pleasant echo of an age when private lives enjoyed a degree of protective discretion that now seems unimaginable in Britain. That left room for “a confirmed bachelor” (a homosexual) or someone “burdened by occasional irregularities in his private life” (leaving the reader guessing whether the problem was indecent exposure, adultery or cross-dressing).

Writing about dead people is a question only of taste, because they can’t sue. Describing the living (especially in libel-happy jurisdictions such as England) requires prudence. “Thirsty” applied to a British public figure usually means heavy drinking; “tired and emotional” (a term that has moved from the pages of Private Eye, a satirical magazine, into general parlance) means visibly drunk. “Hands-on mentoring” of a junior colleague can be code for an affair, hopefully not coupled with a “volatile” personality, which means terrifying eruptions of temper. References to “rumbustious” business practices or “controversial”, “murky” and “questionable” conduct usually mean the journalist believes something illegal is going on, but couldn’t stand it up in court if sued.

In the upper reaches of the British establishment, euphemism is a fine art, one that new arrivals need to master quickly. “Other Whitehall agencies” or “our friends over the river” means the intelligence services (American spooks often say they “work for the government”). A civil servant warning a minister that a decision would be “courageous” is saying that it will be career-cripplingly unpopular. “Adventurous” is even worse: it means mad and unworkable. A “frank discussion” is a row, while a “robust exchange of views” is a full-scale shouting match. (These kind of euphemisms are also common in Japanese, where the reply maemuki ni kento sasete itadakimasu—I will examine it in a forward-looking manner—means something on the lines of “This idea is so stupid that I am cross you are even asking me and will certainly ignore it.”)

Euphemism is so ingrained in British speech that foreigners, even those who speak fluent English, may miss the signals contained in such bland remarks as “incidentally” (which means, “I am now telling you the purpose of this discussion”); and “with the greatest respect” (“You are mistaken and silly”). This sort of code allows the speaker to express anger, contempt or outright disagreement without making the emotional investment needed to do so directly. Some find that cowardly.

Boardroom, bathroom, bedroom

A thematic taxonomy of euphemism should have a category devoted to commerce. Business euphemisms are epitomised by the lexicon of property salesmen. A “bijou” residence is tiny (it may also be “charming”, “cosy” or “compact”). A “vibrant” neighbourhood is deafeningly noisy; if it is “up and coming” it is terrifyingly crime-ridden, whereas a “stone’s throw from” means in reach of a powerful catapult. Conversely, “convenient for” means “unpleasantly close to”. “Characterful” means the previous owner was mad or squalid. “Scope for renovation” means decrepit; “would suit an enthusiast” means a ruin fit only for a madman.

But the richest categories would centre on cross-cultural taboos such as death and bodily functions. The latter seem to embarrass Americans especially: one can ask for the “loo” in a British restaurant without budging an eyebrow; don’t try that in New York. Lavatory and toilet were once euphemisms themselves; they in turn were replaced by water closet (WC) and the absurd “rest room”. British English encourages lively scatological synonyms: foreigners told that someone is “taking a slash” or “on the bog” may be mystified.

Sex outstrips even excretion as a source of euphemism. The Bible is full of them: “foot” for penis, “know” for intercourse, with “other flesh” if transgressive. Masturbation was self-abuse or the sin of Onan to the Victorians; oral sex is “playing the bamboo flute” in Japanese. A prostitute accosting a client on the streets of Cairo will ask Fi hadd bitaghsal hudoumak ? (Literally, “Do you have someone to wash your clothes?”)

Even the most straight-talking obfuscate that line of work. Swedes, like many others, refer to världens äldsta yrke (the world’s oldest profession). A brothel in Russian is a publichny dom—literally a “public house”, which causes problems when British visitors with rudimentary Russian try to explain the delights of their village hostelry. In China many hair salons, massage parlours and karaoke bars double as brothels. Hence anmo (massage), falang (hair salon) or a zuyu zhongxin (foot-massage parlour) can lead to knowing nods and winks. For obscure reasons, Germans call the same institution a Puff. In Japan, such places are called sopurando, (a corrupted version of “soapland”) or a pin-saro (pink salon).

Euphemisms for the act itself may be prim (carnal knowledge), poetic (make love) or crude (shagging). Over time such expressions lose their suggestive power and may even become off limits themselves. To engage in sexual intercourse in German is b umsen (to thump), along the lines of the English “bonk”. To masturbate is wichsen (to polish). In both cases the slang sexual connotation has overtaken the original one.

Personal ads provide an entire subgenre of euphemism. “Cuddly” means “fat”. “Romantic” means needy and clingy. “Old-fashioned” means inconsiderate sex (if male) or infrequent (for females). “Outgoing and fun-loving” mean annoyingly talkative, promiscuous or both. “Open-minded” means desperate.

Little white lies

Orwell was right: euphemisms can be sneaky and coercive. They cloak a decision’s unpleasant results, as in “let go” for “fire”, or “right-sizing” for “mass sackings”. They make consequences sound less horrid—as, chillingly, in “collateral damage” for “dead civilians”.

Such jargony, polysyllabic euphemisms, often using long Latinate words instead of short Anglo-Saxon ones, can quickly become an argot used by slippery-tongued, well-educated insiders to defend their privileges. With luck, the real word may fall into disuse and the humble outsider will feel intimidated by the floppy, opaque language that masks wrongdoing or shortcoming. How do you begin to complain if you don’t know the lingo?

Politically correct euphemisms are among the most pernicious. Good and bad become “appropriate” or “inappropriate”. A ghastly problem becomes a less alarming “challenging issue”. Spending is investment; cuts are savings. “Affected by material error” (in European Union parlance) means money stolen from the budget.

But euphemisms can also be benign, even necessary. Sometimes the need to prevent hurt feelings justifiably takes precedence over clarity. Saying that dim or disruptive children have “special needs”, or that they exhibit “challenging behaviour”, does not make them easier to teach—but it may prevent them being teased or disheartened. “Frail” (of an old person) is nicer than doddery or senile. Euphemisms may be a species of lie, but some of them are white.

A culture without euphemism would be more honest, but rougher. Here’s a New Year’s resolution: scrub your conversation of euphemism for a day. The results will startle you.

from the print edition | International

• Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2012. All rights reserved.

Koyaanisqatsi - a movie by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass

MGMDigitalMedia on 10 Dec 2008:

An art-house circuit sensation, this feature-length documentary is visually arresting and possesses a clear, pro-environmental stance. Koyaanisqatsi is composed of nature imagery, manipulated in slow motion, double exposure or time lapse, juxtaposed with footage of humans' devastating environmental impact on the planet. The message of director Godfrey Reggio is clear: humans are destroying the planet, and all of human progress is pointlessly foolish.