--- title: Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body», a lesson of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: People use euphemisms about the body and illness to be polite, to protect someone's feelings, or because a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/) / Soft words for hard things: illness, d… # Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body Lesson 4 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school: 24 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/0/) — People use euphemisms about the body and illness to be polite, to protect someone's feelings, or because a subject felt embarrassing. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/1/) — Some soft words are respectful, such as "hard of hearing" or "visually impaired", which describe a person without a rude label. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/2/) — Doctors and hospitals use calm jargon: you may feel "discomfort" (pain) during "a procedure" (an operation), and a mistake that harms a patient is called "an adverse event". - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/3/) — Pregnancy has many soft and funny names, from the polite "expecting" to the joking "a bun in the oven". - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/4/) — Vivid example: when a nurse says "you may feel some discomfort", get ready, because it will probably hurt. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/5/) — "A long illness" in a death notice usually means cancer or another slow disease that killed the person. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/6/) — "Differently abled" means disabled; it is a polite, positive-sounding phrase. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/7/) — "Physically challenged" means physically disabled; it is mostly American. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/8/) — "Special needs" means learning or physical disabilities that need extra help, especially at school. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/10/) — "Visually impaired" means partly or fully blind; it is the official term. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/11/) — "A funny turn" means a sudden faint, fit or small stroke (when blood stops reaching part of the brain for a short time); it is British and everyday. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/12/) — "Going through a rough patch" can mean being depressed or in a mental health crisis, or simply having a hard time. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/13/) — "Trouble with her nerves" is an old-fashioned way of saying anxiety or mental illness. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/14/) — "A procedure" in hospital talk means an operation or surgery. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/15/) — "Discomfort" in a doctor's mouth means pain. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/16/) — "Adverse event" is medical jargon for harm or injury caused by medical treatment. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/17/) — "Women's problems" is an old-fashioned phrase for illness or pain of a woman's body, such as bad period pains. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/18/) — "Expecting" means pregnant; it is polite. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/19/) — "In the family way" means pregnant; it is old-fashioned. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/20/) — "A bun in the oven" means pregnant; it is a joking phrase. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/21/) — "Eating for two" means pregnant; it is a joking phrase. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/22/) — "In a delicate condition" means pregnant; it is old-fashioned. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/23/) — "The change" means the menopause, the time in middle age when a woman stops being able to have babies; it is old-fashioned. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/24/) — "Has a drinking problem" means is an alcoholic, a person who cannot stop drinking alcohol. - ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: death and dying, illness and the body](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/3-death-and-feeling-poorly/) - next →: [Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/) - ↑ back to [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/)