euphemism treadmill

English
Examples

Etymology

Coined by Steven Pinker in 1994, but preceded by Sharon Henderson Taylor's 1974 "euphemism cycle." [1]

Noun

euphemism treadmill

  1. (lexicography) The process by which euphemisms fall into disuse and are replaced by new ones, as the old ones become socially unacceptable over time.
    Coordinate term: pejoration
    • 1994 April 5, Steven Pinker, “The Game of the Name”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, page A21:
      The euphemism treadmill shows that concepts, not words, are in charge: give a concept a new name, and the name becomes colored by the concept; the concept does not become freshened by the name. (We will know we have achieved equality and mutual respect when names for minorities stay put.)
    • 2003, Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate‎:
      Linguists are familiar with the phenomenon, which may be called the euphemism treadmill. People invent new words for emotionally charged referents, but soon the euphemism becomes tainted by association, and a new word must be found, which soon acquires its own connotations, and so on.
    • 2011, Gary Hardcastle, George Reisch, Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time:
      Euphemism, if successful, exemplifies case m: the new term has a new tone, but preserves sense and reference. The sort of backfire characteristic of the 'euphemism treadmill' is a shift to case i: the tone reverts to that of the old term.
    • 2014, Trevor Patrick, Sooner Or Later, They'll Turn on You!:
      Next in line was the Euphemism Treadmill, / gaining its power from the perpetually offended; / and once we take enough steps, it starts to run by itself, / its gears turned and greased by political correctness.
    • 2017, Angelika Zirker, Matthias Bauer, Olga Fischer, Dimensions of Iconicity, page 33:
      Whereas there is a certain degree of clarity as to why the euphemism treadmill comes to exist (since people keep inventing new, often more vague names for uncomfortable things), it is not so clear why there is a constant and steady influx of new iconic coinages in the language.

References
  1. Sharon Henderson Taylor (1994) “Terms for Low Intelligence”, in American Speech vol 49 issue 3, pages 197-207:
    Slang expressions may undergo a similar cycle, because with use they too lose their impact and must be replaced. And since faded euphemisms often seem more vivid or insulting than a new slang term would be (at least until the shock value has worn off and the insult becomes commonplace), the output of the euphemism cycle sometimes becomes the input of the slang cycle.

Further reading
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