Why do people use euphemisms when refering to anything sexual?

Question

p***s = d**k

b*****s = b***s

v****a = P*ssy

Intercourse = Sleep/"slept with", or f***

Masturbation = Jack off/whack off

Oral s*x = Bl*wjob

o****m = "Came" or climax

Those are just a few of the absurd euphemisms that people use for all things sexual. Why?

Here's an example of what a wife might say to her girl friends when talking about her s*x life:

David is alright in bed, but sometimes he can't get it up so it kind of ruins it. But last night, when I slept with him, he did a great job. It's too bad that today I saw him sleeping with another woman, he doesn't know that I saw him, but I did.

Can you count the number of euphemisms in that paragraph? Neither can I.

So, I ask again, why do people purposely create confusion by using phrases that don't make sense? After all, you cannot "sleep with" someone. You had s*x with them, you did not sleep with them. So why the unnecessary derivation of words?

Oh and if this is inappropriate, I apologize, I'm not sure if it's okay or not.

Answer 1

Politeness is the over-riding reason behind using euphemisms. If I use crude words, it might offend you.

Using "softer" words isn't wrong, absurd, or confusing. All communication, all language, has a target and there are considerations for the target -- "Is this word  ok for this time/ place/occasion?"

Answer 2

Because there is a time and place for s*x, and it isn't ALWAYS!

It's like grooming, to some extent...it's a private experience, and people as well as some animals feel a certain modesty...

Slang words protect these moments from becoming too public!

Answer 3

Because there is something that is called---s*x

education--and just few people have it.  That includes proper names. But there is a lack of "school" in some areas in this world.

Answer 4

i dont know why people do that it really bugs me to i think that it might be because they dont like saying the real term and they would rather sound like uneducated idiots instead

Answer 5

Our western society has grown a profound terror of s*x. Other countries and cultures still treat s*x as a normal and healthy part of life, but in the U.S. we tend to see exposure of a body part, like Janet Jacksons's gold capped breast as something shocking and unforgivable.

This trend scares the tar out of me because I believe it has been created and promoted as a distraction to violence. We can watch people being shot and beaten for real in news reports, for theater in movies and for pseudo activity/entertainment in video games. It is OK for our 10 year olds to blow the guts out of women and cops many, many times a day on a video game, but he is not supposed to see a human breast that naturally represents love and nourishment.

What is going on here? When did the acts that people engage in in love become so shameful to this screwed up society? When did it become shameful to have a p***s or a v****a?  And to cal them by their actual names? And when did it become so acceptable to allow and encourage (purchase of video games is encouragement and reward) violent behavior in our children?

Anyone with a solution, please run for President. I will vote for you.

Answer 6

My p***s is called Frank.Not d**k.Its because s*x shouldn't be so impersonal.so we make up fun names for sexual things.That would Have to be the reason.what else could it be?

Answer 7

The human universal seen among all human societies is that s*x is treated as a private matter. One that is alluded too, rather than faced directly. Even baboons go into the bushes for sexual intercourse.