--- 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: Some illnesses used to be a secret or a shame, so people invented soft words to talk about them quietly: d --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/) [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 5 of the euphemisms course of Mova's primary school: 23 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/5-drink-mind-and-body/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/0/) — Some illnesses used to be a secret or a shame, so people invented soft words to talk about them quietly: drinking too much, illness of the mind, and growths that might be cancer. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/1/) — Old-fashioned phrases hid a lot: "nervous exhaustion" meant a breakdown, and "went away for a rest" could mean months in a mental hospital. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/2/) — Hospitals still use calm words: "in a comfortable condition" can describe a patient who is badly hurt but steady, not one who feels cosy. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/3/) — Small, embarrassing things about the body get soft or fancy names too: "body odour" for sweaty smell, "halitosis" for bad breath, "unmentionables" for underwear. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/4/) — Vivid example: "Uncle Bill is rather fond of a drink" sounds sweet, but it usually means Uncle Bill drinks too much alcohol. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/6/) — "Self-medicating" means using alcohol or drugs to cope with problems instead of getting proper help. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/7/) — "In recovery" means recovering from an addiction, such as to alcohol or drugs, and staying off it. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/8/) — "Lost his marbles" means became mentally confused or went mad; it is humorous and can be unkind. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/9/) — "Confused", said of an old person by carers, often means suffering from dementia. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/10/) — "Memory problems" is a polite way of saying dementia, an illness of the brain that makes people forget. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/11/) — "Learning difficulties" is the British official term for an intellectual disability. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/13/) — "Tummy bug" means a stomach infection with being sick or diarrhoea; it is everyday British English. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/14/) — "Under the knife" means having surgery. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/15/) — "Laid up" means ill or injured and stuck in bed. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/16/) — "A growth" means a tumour, a lump that may or may not be cancer. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/17/) — "A shadow on the lung" means a mark on an X-ray that may be a tumour in the lung. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/18/) — "In a comfortable condition" in a hospital statement means seriously ill but stable. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/19/) — "A touch of the sun" means mild sunstroke (feeling ill from too much hot sun); it is old-fashioned and British. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/20/) — "Nervous exhaustion" is an old-fashioned phrase for a mental breakdown. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/21/) — "Went away for a rest" is an old-fashioned phrase for spending time in a psychiatric hospital, a hospital for illnesses of the mind. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/22/) — "Unmentionables" is a humorous word for underwear. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/23/) — "Body odour" (BO) is the polite name for the smell of sweat. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/5-drink-mind-and-body/24/) — "Halitosis" is the medical-sounding name for bad breath. - ← previous: [Soft words for hard things: illness, disability and the body](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/4-illness-disability-and-babies/) - next →: [Soft words for hard things: the toilet and bodily functions](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/6-toilet-words/) - ↑ back to [Euphemisms](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/)