Behind

} If the word "behind" is used instead of buttocks, do you find it } euphemistic?
Depends.
But possibly more important is which syllable to stress.

R. J. Valentine
On the behind.

masahiko (Email Removed) wrote on 15 Nov 2003:
[nq:1]If the word "behind" is used instead of buttocks, do you find it euphemistic?[/nq]
In AmE it would be a euphemism for "***" rather than "buttocks", which is a more common term for the gluteus maximus muscles and whatever else makes up the ****.

[nq:1]If the word "behind" is used instead of buttocks, do you find it euphemistic?[/nq]
I wouldn't. To be euphemistic the word it replaces has to be considered offensive. "Buttocks" may not be a proper word to use around your Great Aunt Edith, but any word describing any part of the anatomy lower than the chin would probably be offensive to Great Aunt Edith.
I do prefer "behind" to "butto

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What do we call "***"? Is that a euphemism, or a sidestepping, or a magnification-to-the-extent-that-it-is-funny? And what are the official words for these last two?
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.

So, do you mean you do not find any roundaboutness, or indirectness in the word "behind", if compared to the word " buttocks"?

[nq:1]So, do you mean you do not find any roundaboutness, or indirectness in the word "behind", if compared to the word " buttocks"?[/nq]
A good behind should have some roundaboutness. Slabby buttocks are most unattractive.

Thank you for your joke. Serious answer is also needed.

"Richard Maurer" wrote on 15 Nov 2003:
[nq:1]> << ... Is that a euphemism, or a sidestepping, or a magnification-to-the-extent-that-it-is-funny? And what are the official words for these last two?[/nq]
Offical words? That's a difficult question. I don't think there are any. It all depends upon the context, doesn't it? In a medical article, I would use "gluteus maximus", "(left/right) g

(post rearranged in chronological order)
[nq:2]A good behind should have some roundaboutness. Slabby buttocks are most unattractive.[/nq]
[nq:1]Thank you for your joke. Serious answer is also needed.[/nq]
Seriously, as far as I'm concerned, "behind" as a noun is just another word for buttocks, as it has been for the last 175 years, or so. The word "buttocks" does not need a euphemism.

masahiko (Email Removed) wrote on 15 Nov 2003:
[nq:1]So, do you mean you do not find any roundaboutness, or indirectness in the word "behind", if compared to the word " buttocks"?[/nq]
No, actually, I don't. It is much more direct than "buttocks"(1), so it's not a euphemism of that sort. "behind" is not formal English, nor does it sound any better (to me, at least) than buttocks. It may so