George Carlin - Euphemisms

Why HN readers recommended it

HN commenters reach for it whenever a thread involves corporate or political euphemism, using it mostly as a reference.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

poyani

Topic

euphemism and language

Format

comedy

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

4

HN mentions in dataset

20

Recommendation years in dataset

2014–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• Did anyone else notice this euphemism treadmill update? "for people experiencing homelessness" "the number of people experiencing homelessness" "of those experiencing homelessness" This softer language with more syllables is not for the benefit of the homeless, it's for everyone else so they don't feel as …

• "You can't be afraid of words that speak the truth. I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't like words that conceal reality. I don't like euphemisms or euphemistic language. And American english is loaded with euphemisms. Because Americans have a lot of …

• George Carlin had a great bit[1] about our continuous need to soften our language with euphemisms. That, combined with a kind of forced optimism: needing to hide all negativity inside robotic passive aggression, is what communication has become in a lot of corporations. I don't …