Why the Euphemism?
Edwin Spector
books around the house, I came across a reference to "nursing mothers".
I thought this was a strange way of saying "mothers who were nurses by
profession".
On New Year's Eve 1999, I eventually became a dad myself. There's lots
of literature around, with many people offering help and encouragement
with breast feeding. I was really surprised to see that this meaningless
euphemism is still in use, even by promoters of BF. I thought that
perhaps it was a bit of old English prudishness, but reading this
newsgroup, it seems to be in use on both sides of the water.
So - do I still not understand something? People discuss "breast
feeding" with pride and enthusiasm. Why hide it with a euphemism?
Regards
Edwin Spector
Bath, UK.
Shawna
feeding her baby by the breast (at least in the US). Children who do not
understand this use of the word are perhaps most often not breastfed
children, since most breastfeeding mothers would also refer to the act
as "nursing." If you hear of someone "nursing in public" or "getting
help with nursing her newborn," or that is having trouble "getting the
baby to nurse," it is obvious what they are speaking of.
I find that a word can have two meanings (these being "to breasteed" and
"to tend the sick") without being labeled a euphemism... it is merely
another definition. Even bottle manufacturer's use the term "nurse," as
in "the Playtex nursing system" or the "Evenflo nurser." It is obvious
that the bottle companies are not speaking of tending the ill, and also
it is known that they are not referring to direct breastfeeding. They
are merely using a word that, in one of its two VERY common definitions,
means that a baby is eating or being cared for. Look at the words
nursery, nursemaid, nursling, nursery school, and even plant nurseries.
All have to do with babies or very small children (or plants, in the
last example). These words are not all modern, and were not developed to
somehow "hide" the fact that babies are sometimes fed at the breast.
I actually like the use of "nursing" to mean breastfeeding, since it
shows that you are tenderly caring for your child. Rarely are bad
qualities instilled upon one who takes care of the sick or tends
children, and so there is a pleasant aura around the word, a tenderness
and gentle way of being. If one were only allowed to use breastfeeding
as the means of describing the feeding method, it would get dull indeed.
Also, as El's Mum pointed out, the more often the word "breast" is
used, the more perverts are attracted to legitimate sites meant to help
nursing families (sadly).
-Shawna
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Alison Tooth
Jan 1?)
I'm English too, and until I started reading this ng, no one I knew
actually used the word 'nursing' in casual conversation, although I had
seen it in literature. Most of my friends talked about feeding or
suckling their babies; generally people around me say breastfeeding.
As someone I think posted here not long ago, to nurse your baby can just
mean, especially among older British people, to cradle it close. I can
remember an aunt saying that my second daughter loved being nursed, and
I was confused because I was just cuddling her.
It seems to be much more in everyday usage in the States, and I do use
the term here myself - the same way as sometimes I write crib for cot -
but it's not my favourite way of describing bfing.
Hope you stay around here, and don't have to ask for help,
Alison
Mette Sabram
breastfeeding was the original meaning of "To Nurse"
Nursing means "taking care of with love" - and naturally that includes
breastfeeding.
Animals NURSE their cubs too.
So I don't think "nursing" is a way to hide the act of breastfeeding. But I
think "being a nurse" "adopted" the word NURSE because it is such a loving
and fruitful thing.
I think the meaning of nurse as in breastfeeding came first and then later
on it was used in the profession....
Who knows?
Alison Tooth wrote in message <38A1C976...@portico.force9.co.uk>...
Circe
>discuss "breast feeding" with pride and enthusiasm. Why hide
>it with a euphemism?
Well, I must confess to using the terms "nurse" and "nursing"
all the time. The reason I do it is simple, though, and has
nothing to do with hiding anything. It's just that the words are
shorter, and therefore easier to type and say, and I'm just
lazy, darn it!
--
Be well, Barbara (Julian's [7/22/99] and Aurora's [7/19/99] mom)
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
nancy
nursing means so if I say nursing sometimes, it's just the word that pops
into my mind at the moment. It's shorter than saying breastfeeding.
Also, I feel it is appropriate in the sense that breastmilk is not only
food, but it is preventative medicine so in a sense, we are literally
nursing our babies to health:)
Nancy
On Wed, 9 Feb 2000, Edwin Spector wrote:
> Long ago, I was a youngster with a baby sister. Reading some of the
> books around the house, I came across a reference to "nursing mothers".
> I thought this was a strange way of saying "mothers who were nurses by
> profession".
>
> On New Year's Eve 1999, I eventually became a dad myself. There's lots
> of literature around, with many people offering help and encouragement
> with breast feeding. I was really surprised to see that this meaningless
> euphemism is still in use, even by promoters of BF. I thought that
> perhaps it was a bit of old English prudishness, but reading this
> newsgroup, it seems to be in use on both sides of the water.
>
> So - do I still not understand something? People discuss "breast
> feeding" with pride and enthusiasm. Why hide it with a euphemism?
>
El's Mum.
The word "nurse" means 'to nourish'. Originally, the word was used
for people who BF babies (e.g. wet nurses). I think Florence Nightingale
was the first professional (i.e. medical) nurse. I don't know why,
but, after her, the word 'nurse' came to be applied to people who
care for the sick and who assist doctors (of medicine). So, it's
not a euphemism at all.
I use both terms partly depending on which term sounds better
in a sentence and partly because the word "breast" tends to attract
Internet users seeking sexual material.
El's Mum.
Australia.
Edwin Spector
associated 'nursing' to mean 'tending the sick'. I think it was maybe
two decades before I realised what people were talking about when they
referred to 'nursing' their babies. Admittedly, I hadn't made the
connection with 'nourishing' or 'nursery'.
'Breastfeeding' is the title of this newsgroup, and, as I'd hoped, it's
full of proud, caring and helpful people. That's why I was particulary
surprised to find use of (what I considered) a euphemism for 'what we're
all here for'. Anyway, I'm not out to change the world, rather to
understand.
As some have mentioned, use of the 'B' word does attract some
undesirables. There's even a chance that my employer's monitoring
software may deny me access to web sites containing BF information. I
hope not to lose my job over this.
In the meanwhile, I'll continue to refer to 'breastfeeding', 'suckling'
or maybe 'BF', as others do here.
elizabeth
Edwin Spector wrote:
>
> Many thanks to those who offered opinions on this. I had previously only
> associated 'nursing' to mean 'tending the sick'. I think it was maybe
> two decades before I realised what people were talking about when they
> referred to 'nursing' their babies. Admittedly, I hadn't made the
> connection with 'nourishing' or 'nursery'.
>
> 'Breastfeeding' is the title of this newsgroup, and, as I'd hoped, it's
> full of proud, caring and helpful people. That's why I was particulary
> surprised to find use of (what I considered) a euphemism for 'what we're
> all here for'. Anyway, I'm not out to change the world, rather to
> understand.
I don't regard 'nursing' for 'breastfeeding' as a euphemism - a little
old
fashioned maybe, that's all. Think of 'wet-nurse'... a neater word
than
'breastfeeding surrogate'. Remember the Nurse character in Romeo and
Juliet (and Blackadder 2)?
Liz
Naomi Lynne Pardue
> 'Breastfeeding' is the title of this newsgroup, and, as I'd hoped, it's
> full of proud, caring and helpful people. That's why I was particulary
> surprised to find use of (what I considered) a euphemism for 'what we're
> all here for'. Anyway, I'm not out to change the world, rather to
> understand.
And don't forget, 'nursing' has 7 letters, 'breastfeeding' has 13. It's
faster to type the shorter word.
Naomi
Mette Sabram
Edwin Spector wrote in message <38A2B16C...@lucent.com>...
>Many thanks to those who offered opinions on this. I had previously only
>associated 'nursing' to mean 'tending the sick'. I think it was maybe
>two decades before I realised what people were talking about when they
>referred to 'nursing' their babies. Admittedly, I hadn't made the
>connection with 'nourishing' or 'nursery'.
>
>'Breastfeeding' is the title of this newsgroup, and, as I'd hoped, it's
>full of proud, caring and helpful people. That's why I was particulary
>surprised to find use of (what I considered) a euphemism for 'what we're
>all here for'. Anyway, I'm not out to change the world, rather to
>understand.
>
Suzanne Dallapè
Circe wrote in message <13b447c0.9a7cfe58@usw-
>Well, I must confess to using the terms "nurse" and "nursing"
>all the time. The reason I do it is simple, though, and has
>nothing to do with hiding anything. It's just that the words are
>shorter, and therefore easier to type and say, and I'm just
>lazy, darn it!
HA! You beat me to it! I was about to say the same thing!
Also, when you mention breastfeeding three or four times in one
paragraph, it is nice to switch terms a bit, so one might talk about
breastfeeding, nursing, suckling, and feeding in the same post.
--S.
JDal...@att.net
Kanga C.
>>or maybe 'BF', as others do here.
>>
And I'm sure we're all fine with it=) It's funny you bring that up, because an
Australian web pal just brought it to my attention a week or two ago.
In the U.S. nurse and breastfeed are synomynous- used equally and without
embarrassment. The slight preference for nursing is no doubt, as others have
mentioned, simply U.S.American laziness=) It's shorter to type, and one
syllable less to say.
My Australian friend's husband had asked her to say nursing in her posts to
another ng I frequent because he'd noticed U.S.Americans all said nursing
instead of breastfeeding. I hadn't noticed until he pointed that out how true
it was.
Just habit, I guess. I know there are other linguistic differences between
England and here- nappies and cot for diapers and crib, for instance. I like
to hear the different terms used, so please, don't change to suit us- unless,
perhaps, it's something truly vulgar over here. I did learn a while ago that
we have a common, old-fashioned, even grandmotherish (to us) term for bottom
that makes many British readers blush because it's quite crude over there.
I've never felt comfortable using it since then=)
Blessings,
Kanga
If one child takes up all your time, then seven can't take anymore. Adapted
from Elizabeth Eliot's mother
H Schinske
>we have a common, old-fashioned, even grandmotherish (to us) term for bottom
>that makes many British readers blush because it's quite crude over there.
>I've never felt comfortable using it since then=)
>Blessings,
>
>Kanga
One of my college professors had a story about renting a flat in London and
talking to the milkman on their first morning. He told the milkman that he
didn't know how much milk to order, that his wife (who was out) would have a
better idea, and the milkman said "Right, I'll just pop by tomorrow and knock
up your wife."
!!!
--Helen
Tine Andersen
Tine
Kanga C. wrote in message <20000210200643...@ng-ca1.aol.com>...
H Schinske
>
>Tine
Fanny. I don't know if this slang was around in the 19th century and before,
but if it was, it wasn't common to all classes, because Fanny was an extremely
popular nickname for Frances (in both England and the U.S.).
In the U.S. it used to be quite a common, and not at all obscene, word for the
buttocks. (In the U.K. I think it means women's privates?) I can remember my
father playing games with us -- letting us slide back and forth on the edge of
the bathtub singing "Who's got the slipperiest fanny?" This was no more a
problem than an earlier generation saying "Everybody put your rubbers on"
(meaning rubber covers for your shoes to protect them from puddles, not
condoms!).
--Helen
Alison Tooth
> In the U.S. it used to be quite a common, and not at all obscene, word for the
> buttocks. (In the U.K. I think it means women's privates?) I can remember my
> father playing games with us -- letting us slide back and forth on the edge of
> the bathtub singing "Who's got the slipperiest fanny?"
Sorry, very childish, but ROFLMA(rse)O!
My father used to travel to the States loads, and once went with a
friend who got VERY strange looks when he announced that he was dying
for a fag ...
Alison
Kanga C.
>friend who got VERY strange looks when he announced that he was dying
>for a fag ...
Ohmigosh! Sputtering over my keyboard. I knew there was a linguistic
difference there, but this picture just cracks me up.
And old boss of mine came to the U.S. as a child. Her first day in her new
school she asked a boy in the next row if she could use his rubber (eraser
here).
She said it was years before she overcame that rough beginning.
H Schinske
>Sorry, very childish, but ROFLMA(rse)O!
>
I knew you would :) Oh, and a friend of my sister's made the mistake of going
to a store that sold hiking equipment in London and asking "do you have any
knickers?" Over here, that means pants that button below the knee ...
And I remember being very puzzled why an English acquaintance of mine said
she'd been so grateful she was Julia Taylor rather than Jenny Taylor. Jenny
Taylor sounded like the world's most ordinary name to me. She had to say it
three or four times before I got that it sounded to her like "genitalia."
--Helen
Circe
<20000211132510...@ng-cr1.aol.com>...
>>I'm Danish and very curious - what is the term????
>>
>>Tine
>
>Fanny. I don't know if this slang was around in the 19th century and
before,
>but if it was, it wasn't common to all classes, because Fanny was an
extremely
>popular nickname for Frances (in both England and the U.S.).
>
the
>buttocks. (In the U.K. I think it means women's privates?) I can remember
my
>father playing games with us -- letting us slide back and forth on the edge
of
>problem than an earlier generation saying "Everybody put your rubbers on"
>(meaning rubber covers for your shoes to protect them from puddles, not
>condoms!).
>
an eraser. When I was an exchange student in Dublin, my Irish friends used
to tell me a (no doubt apocryphal) story about an American whose Irish chum
said she needed a rubber. The American friend asked where she'd get it (this
was in the days when *any* sort of birth control was pretty difficult to get
in Ireland -- don't know if that's still the case), the Irish friend said,
"At the stationers, of course." The American nearly fell down at the
thought.
Another (definitely true) story I was told amid great roars of laughter from
my Irish friends was about the American girls who were hitchhiking. When my
friend picked them up, they gushed their thanks and how they were just dying
for a "ride", a word always accompanied by nudges and winks amongst people
who would say the needed a lift.
--
Be well, Barbara (Julian [7/22/97] and Aurora's [7/19/99] mom)
"The hardest thing about raising children is that they're not stupid." -- Me
nancy
> we have a common, old-fashioned, even grandmotherish (to us) term for bottom
> that makes many British readers blush because it's quite crude over there.
> I've never felt comfortable using it since then=)
>
> Kanga
I am curious to know what that term is so I don"t accidentally use it in
front of any British people.
Nancy
nancy
Nancy
On 11 Feb 2000, H Schinske wrote:
> >I'm Danish and very curious - what is the term????
> >
> >Tine
>
> Fanny. I don't know if this slang was around in the 19th century and before,
> but if it was, it wasn't common to all classes, because Fanny was an extremely
> popular nickname for Frances (in both England and the U.S.).
>
> In the U.S. it used to be quite a common, and not at all obscene, word for the
> buttocks. (In the U.K. I think it means women's privates?) I can remember my
> father playing games with us -- letting us slide back and forth on the edge of
> the bathtub singing "Who's got the slipperiest fanny?" This was no more a
> problem than an earlier generation saying "Everybody put your rubbers on"
> (meaning rubber covers for your shoes to protect them from puddles, not
> condoms!).
>
> --Helen
> >
> >Kanga C. wrote in message <20000210200643...@ng-ca1.aol.com>...
Lee
Brits!! My curiosity is killing me, I have a rather snooty friend from
England I would LOVE to shock!!
Lee
Personal quotes:
" Nothing is fool-proof for a talented fool. "
" Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."
Come and read my pregnancy journal, new entries every week! Click the
link below!
http://community.webtv.net/louisal/main
Meg
One of my favorite stories was about Americans who offered to babysit for a
British baby. Its parents left a note w/ instructions and one was:
Don't forget to wind the baby.
The Americans spent most of the evening puzzling over how one "winds" a baby
(makes us think of winding a watch -- we just burp babies.)
On nursing v. bf, I like the acronym NIP better than BFIP.
-- Meg & Abby b. 1/21/99
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
BSmiz
took me a bit to figure out that "NIP sightings" was nursing in public
sightings and not some troll talking about nipples!!!
blame it on my postpartum fog brain?
Beth
mom to Rachel,Grace,Will and Leah 11/15
Shawna
confounded by the BM abbreviation. Ofcourse now I know it to be breast
milk, but as the daughter of a woman who was once a nurse, I
automatically think "bowel movement!" When you put it in certain
contexts, it is either very gross or really fun... such as "my DD
prefers the taste of BM to formula" and so on.