The list could go on. Nor is the euphemizing confined to this city or this country. One of my favorites was a phrase used by Emperor Hirohito of Japan to describe his country’s brutal occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. The emperor referred to it 25 years ago as “an unfortunate past.” Quite.
In much the same way, the efforts under way now to rename swine flu and the others amount to little more than trying to put lipstick on a pig.
Oops. After the uproar over that phrase in the last presidential election, are we allowed to use it?
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