taboo avoidance

English

Noun

taboo avoidance (countable and uncountable, plural taboo avoidances)

  1. (linguistics) The replacement of a word or phrase with another by way of euphemism to avoid a cultural taboo (e.g. because the older word has become vulgar, or due to the belief that mentioning a dangerous creature's name may cause that creature to appear).
    It is believed that Slavic *medvědь (“bear”, literally “honey-eater”) replaced an earlier word because of taboo avoidance.

See also

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