bolic use. There is the word "urination" itself, which lies just on the border between euphemistic and technical speech. This is a fertile ground for euphemism, for often people attempt to talk about uncomfortable subjects by trying to sterilize those subjects, wrapping them in the jargon of medicine or the law or some field of study. The effect of this is to distance the subject emotionally and so to make it easier to talk about.
There is also the word "pee," which sounds as if it ought to be a euphemism perhaps because the word is so diminutive and sounds as if it originated in the innocence of early childhood speech. In fact the word probably is a euphemism taken from the first letter of the word "piss," which sounds rather more vulgar.
Moving beyond "pee" (which as noted itself has come to lie on the border between euphemism and what might be termed common speech) are words that are clearly recognized as euphemistic: "wee-wee," "pee-pee," "whittle," and the like. These tend to be the words that parents use with children during those years when the subject of bodily excretion is a fairly common topic of conversation. This is an interesting point, for it ensures that at the same time that they are making the shift from diapers to toilets, children are also being taught that it is not proper to call bodily functions by their proper names (Hirsch, Kett, & Trefil, 1988).
So what are the consequences of this sort of euphemism? After all, such words as "wee-wee" seems harmless enough. They seem merely polite, if somewhat silly, attempts to talk about something that sometimes does in fact have to be talked about but in a way that cannot bring embarrassment to the person involved. As such they are perfect examples of euphemism.
There are both good and bad consequences to such euphemisms (which makes sense, for if the consequences to euphemisms were only bad then people would not continue to use them, and if the con...