"NUMBER TWO" AND EUPHEMISMS

 

Today I was refreshing my quotes from William Shakespeare, and I came to “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By Any Other Name would smell as sweet,” (Act-II, Scene-II Romeo and Juliet) which I find interesting. Allow me:  The act of voiding excrements from the bowel through the anus is called to defecate. The hoi polio says “take a dump or a crapper”, or “go to the can, or to the john.” Enter the euphemism carrying a banner with more “sophisticated” possibilities: “Go to the bathroom,” “go to the toilet” (“How often do you go to the toilet”, the doctor will ask), “a bowel movement,” and “empty your bowels, “do poo” or even “do poops.” “Number two” is also in current use. My point is that “S..T” by any other name will smell as foul. Then, why the euphemism? Words are but sounds, and we react to them according to culture, upbringing, social status, and the like, and language is not to blame.