Euphemism as a Core Feature of Patientese: A Comparative Study Between English and French

The study, conducted by Pascaline Faure, focused on the typology of patients' euphemizing lay denominations of medical terms in English and French. The euphemisms were classified into three semantic processes: widening (e.g., "down below" for "genitals"), reduction (e.g., "miss" for "miscarriage"), and analogy (e.g., "engine" for "heart"). The same structural metaphors were identified in both languages: vaguer is better (widening), less of form is less of content (reduction), and the body is a machine/organs are containers (analogy). The study concluded that these categories are not fully exclusive and that lay terms used by patients can cause misunderstandings for healthcare professionals who are not native speakers of their patients' language. The study also hypothesized a probable evolution of patients' terminology towards enhanced technicality due to the influence of medical TV series and the Internet, and the plausible use of technical terms as new euphemisms.