Hey, guys.
Let me ask you something. What's A-B-C?
It's the alphabet. Everyone knows that!
Yeah, that's right, but if I said, "Those two have ABCed," then what would that mean? ("ABC" = "sex" in Vietnam.)
Well, then, that's something entirely different.
I know. In Vietnamese, ABC is an example of a euphemism, that is, an indirect way of speaking,
to keep other people from being offended or feeling uncomfortable.
Let's learn about euphemisms in English, and begin with the most interesting subject of all.
The same way Vietnamese talk about "doing it," native English speakers also rarely speak directly about . . .
doing it.
We've got lots of different ways of talking about it. For example, "do it."
Do it . . . Do what?
Sheesh . . . do IT, of course.
Yeah, it means so busy that you can't let ANYONE bother you.
What does "deed" mean?
It's like "job."
Aah . . . doing THAT job.
Oh, like "get close."
Exactly. As close as you can possibly get.
And English also has some euphemisms that are the same as euphemisms in Vietnamese.
For example:
Yeah, but in reality, they ain't sleepin'.
I feel kind of hot. Let's talk about something colder.
Just like Vietnamese people, English-speakers are pretty scared of talking about death directly,
so we've created a bunch of more pleasant ways to talk about it.
For example:
"Pass away" . . . but pass away to where?
No one knows.
When someone dies, a lot of people say,
Only people who believe in heaven say that.
Everyone else knows that that "better place" . . .
is just a hole full of worms.
A more realistic phrase is . . .
"Not with us anymore . . . "
and never going to return.
Exactly.
And if someone isn't with us anymore, because he took his own life, then what does that mean?
It means he committed suicide.
I feel sad now. Let's talk about something happier.
If you ask me, going to bathroom is a completely natural thing,
but a lot of people in America consider it so distasteful that they almost never use the word "toilet."
Just look at the words they use to talk about the bathroom. (And yes, I'm aware that in this sentence, "bathroom" itself is also a euphemism.)
Even when that room doesn't actually have a bath?
And a really strange one . . .
Yep. I don't know why.
And when talking about the act of going to the bathroom itself, there are a bunch of other funny words.
You guys know that "business" means business, but that's not the only meaning of that word.
What, you've got to go run a business?
Aah . . . you have to do "personal business."
Riiiight!
And we can also talk about it using numbers. For example:
Number one . . . number two . . . what?
Number one is the one we can do pretty quickly, and number two is the one that takes more time.
Can you guess?
Aah, number one is . . .
and number two is . . .
And there are a few other ways of talking about it, such as . . .
"Answer nature's call?"
Yeah, it's a call you can't refuse!
Yeah, that one is again number two, but there's one other thing that's kind of like number three.
It means "fart."
Ok, no more about this dirty stuff. Let's talk about something more polite.
When I first came to Vietnam, I was really shocked,
because Vietnamese people call others "fat" with basically no hesitation.
Wow, that Western dude's really fat, huh?
Oh, that old American lady is just TERRIBLY fat.
All Americans are fat, though. What are you so surprised about?
But where I come from, calling someone fat is really, really offensive,
so there are quite a few euphemisms for that situation.
When talking about a woman, you can say:
Or when talking about either sex:
Ah! Speaking of fat people, let's move on to the next topic!
Vietnamese people also talk about pregnancy very naturally.
Yeah, she's pregnant for, like, the fifth time now.
Native English speakers aren't like that, though.
We'd say something like:
"She's expecting?"
What, expecting the release of Son Tung's new song?
But where did this "one" come from?
Or a really funny one:
Right.
But it's a very, very special type of oven,
and a type of bun that you absolutely mustn't eat.
And now, to finish, a few miscellaneous leftovers.
"old person"
"vomit"
"prison"
"drug addiction"
And last of all, something related to me:
"bald"
And you guys'll see my bald head again in two weeks.
This video was sponsored by Capstone Vietnam, Vietnam's leading study abroad consultancy.
Capstone provides full study abroad services,
helping high school and university students choose the college or university
best suited to their goals and abilities.
This April, Capstone is organizing two exhibitions for international boarding and day schools.
You can meet and interview with recruitment representatives
from American and Canadian boarding and day schools at the secondary and high-school levels.
The exhibition takes place from 16:00 to 19:30 on 2/4 in HCMC and on 4/4 in Hanoi.
Check out capstonevietnam.com/dan for details, and to register for the exhibition free of charge.
There's a link in the description, too.
Thanks to you for watching, and thanks to Capstone Vietnam for supporting me.