Euphemism : A Short Story

“The Metaphor,” by Budge Wilson tells the story of a shy and embarrassed middle-schooler, turned beautiful and confident high-schooler. As Charlotte reflects on her time as an adolescent, she remembers one of her favorite English teacher who was tragically killed. Miss Hancock inspired Charlotte in more ways than one, which is why it is understandable that she felt a great deal of guilt after she was killed. Although the story does not clarify, it is quite clear that Miss Hancock’s death was not a coincidence. The school bus that takes her life was symbolic of her failures as a teacher, which affected her deeply towards the end of her life. In Miss Hancock’s case, it was what she loved the most that ended up taking the most from her.

“OK, calm down,” she attempted using mom voice, but her upturned lips and her laughing eyes

I was given the name Chase Andrew Miner. My mom had liked the name Chase and Chance, but she finally decided on Chase. While that decision wasn’t too hard for her to make, (at least she said it wasn’t) my last name, Miner, was an even easier decision. My mom was married to my dad and she took his last name, so the obvious last name would be Miner. My mom told me she had a really difficult time figuring out a middle name for me. She couldn’t find a name that fit in well. One day my aunt, Lori, called my mom and asked about the name Andrew. My mom had thought about it and she decided that that name fit. So from that day I was Chase Andrew Miner. The joke my mom says now is if she knew she’d have to chase me so much, she would have named me Slow. But word got around of what

“Son don’t think so negative. We never know what could happen.” Mom said encouraging me.

Maybe you don't realize it but I do. I won't pronounce the name of my brother in front of

“Oh gosh I didn’t realize how nervous I was going to get before tonight,” I told her while taking my script out of my bag. She laughed and scurried to the boys’ dressing room.

“I said we weren’t going.” Our mom said gently “But, I didn’t say that you weren’t going. We can’t go because your brother is too

“Yeah boo hoo it’s not like my mom is gonna do anything about it,” she said.

The first time I remember feeling embarrassed because of my last name was when I was in elementary school. We would always line up in alphabetical order, which meant I would always be in the very back of the line. This put me at a disadvantage, because we used this system for everything we ever did. I would be the last in line for lunch everyday, I would be last to pick out something to play with when recess time came, I would be the last to go for show and tell.

other children at the school had a 'second' name, and the teacher asked him his,

My parents were set on girl names; if I was a girl, my name would be Lauren, after my Grandpa Loren. Thinking of a middle name became a little difficult. My mom’s mom name was MariLee, and my parents wanted to take something from her name. Finally making a decision, they chose to take the “Lee” out as my middle name. Naming a boy would be a little different; my parents wanted the name Dalton. The only reason behind that is because my mom liked the name; I beg to differ.

At first I wasn’t sure if she meant for me to hear that but before I could stop myself I heard my own voice. “I know.” Honestly, I hated her too and I didn’t know what I was thinking when I decided to come with her. I guess I just thought she needed protection. That’s a brother’s job right? To protect his little sister. I don’t know how else to explain it.

Kelsey's phone went off, indicating she had a text, and for a moment she just stared at her phone. It wasn't her parents, they didn't text. The friends from highschool she was still in contact with she mostly emailed or skyped. She eventually reached for her phone, and was surprised when she saw it was from her brother, "How about a party?"

A euphemism is a word used in the place of another to take away the harshness or crudeness. The beginning of the word euphemism is (eu-) which means good in Greek. Euphemisms are usually used to cover up the unpleasantness of situations; instead of saying something is terrible you can say it is not the best. However, euphemisms can also be used to elevate an occupation and make it sound more important and desirable. Certain occupations are frowned upon because they require little to no education. Jobs that include a lot of physical labor are not very popular in contemporary society. To combat the decline in popularity f physical labor jobs companies have started using euphemisms. Growing up we all had one day out the week that the garbage truck came and the