What's in a Name?

At the checkout counter at Wal-Mart this morning I noticed the cashier's name tag. It read "Receiving Advocate."

Curious, I asked what that meant. I thought maybe it was some new position at the store. Maybe it was someone who advocated on behalf of those who were returning merchandise?

            "Oh," she replied. "I'm really a stock clerk. I'm not sure why they gave me that nametag."

Then she pointed out that store security personal no longer have “Security” on their shirts. The shirt now reads “Asset Protection.”

Now I'm not the language police, but I find it amusing how we sometimes use euphemisms for ordinary things. I've never quite figured out exactly where this comes from. I think it’s an effort to make the mundane seem more palatable.  And it might be a way for us to soften reality.

For example, the other day someone described a man who was coming to apply for a job as a "big person." So while waiting for the applicant to show up I mentally prepared for a six foot eight football player. Instead, a very obese man of average height entered my office.

Later I asked my employee why he didn't just say that the person was overweight or fat. He told me that he didn't think it was nice to say describe someone that way.  And indeed, it seems to have become endemic in our society to describe overweight or fat people as "big."

Other common euphemisms:

Correctional officer = prison guard.

 Correctional facility = prison.

            Substance abuser = drug addict.

            Passed away = died

            Put down = killed my pet

            Between jobs = unemployed

The list goes on.  While most of these might be harmless efforts to put a gloss on our lives, the name doesn’t change reality.

For example, no matter how nice substance abuser may sound, I’m still a drug addict. And I didn’t come from a disadvantaged background, we were just poor people. And my family wasn’t dysfunctional – they were a collection of angry drunks and dope fiends.