Word! The Language Column  Cover-up Tactics

Linguistically smoothing over and glossing over unpleasant facts – this is achieved with the use of euphemism. Bettina Wilpert lifts the veil and asks what could be behind the euphemisms. Her advice is to look closely at the words. Especially with politically sensitive topics.

I travelled to Berlin for the first time when I was 13. My mum and I took a regional train from Upper Bavaria to the capital. The planned ten hours turned into twelve when the train came to a standstill somewhere between Landshut and Hof. On the packed, non-air-conditioned train, the conductor told us that there had been a “personal injury” and that our onward journey would be delayed indefinitely. It was the first time I had heard this term. I remember how disbelieving I was when my mum blurted out that “someone had thrown themselves in front of the train”.

Death is Not Named

“Personal injury”: such a euphemism can be found again and again in our language. The Duden dictionary defines this stylistic device as follows: It is a “whitewashing, disguising, mitigating euphemism for an offensive or unpleasant word”. Euphemisms are mainly used for socially taboo topics that are associated with shame. For example, the word “passing away” is used to avoid having to say “dying”.

I have noticed that euphemisms are often used to propagate a certain world view. Instead of saying that a soldier has been killed, they say that he has been “fallen”. Human victims who die in acts of war are also objectified using cover words: if, for example, civilians die unintentionally in a military attack, the term “collateral damage” is used.

To some extent, the term “euthanasia” has persisted in German historiography to this day. This is particularly problematic in this country, as more than 200,000 people were murdered in killing centres set up for this purpose during the Nazi dictatorship under the heading of euthanasia. The term was clearly a euphemistic expression for the planned and systematic killing of physically and mentally ill people in particular.

Structural Instead of Individual

Murders that occur due to patriarchal violence are also often euphemistically described. When men kill women (often close to them) because they are women, even in the year 2025 some media still refer to this as a “relationship crime” or “family tragedy”. However, an accurate term for this killing of women and girls as an extreme form of gender-based violence would be femicide. Only the correct term can make it clear that this is a structural and not an individual problem: According to research by the weekly magazine Die Zeit, 104 women were killed by husbands, partners or ex-partners in 2024. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there was even a femicide almost every day of the year.

Even when it comes to animals, it is not explicit. In hunting terminology, for example, it is said that wild animals are “taken”. This does not mean that you catch a bear and release it somewhere else. It means that you kill it, presumably by shooting it.

The Methods of the Far Right

Far-right circles also use whitewashing to effectively spread their political opinions. Demonstrations took place across Germany in early 2024. Research by the media organisation Correctiv revealed that the deportation of millions of people from Germany had been planned at a secret meeting of right-wing extremists, which was also attended by AfD members. The far right trivialised this plan by calling it “remigration”. The term originally comes from migration research and describes the voluntary return of people to their home region.

The so-called pro-life movement is close to the extreme right - strictly speaking, it should be called the anti-abortion movement. “Protection of life” conveys the impression that only those who rally under this banner are interested in protecting life. This implies that feminists who are in favour of the right to abortion are, for example, in favour of the death of disabled children.

Look Closely!

According to an authoritarian politician such as US President Donald Trump, something becomes true if you say and reinforce it often enough – this is also how his concept of constant false claims works. And right-wing extremists, for example, have a great interest in ensuring that their “alternative facts” prevail in the public debate. It is therefore worth taking a closer look at some words that often seem harmless at first glance – especially when it comes to politically controversial and contested topics.
 

June 2025