Euphemism and exaggeration are indispensable parts of the armoury of creative literary expressions employed to lend

colour and cadence to language, whether spoken or written. However, a vocal minority throughout history has eschewed
these two fecund tools, believing that they are corrupting language. This writing will judge the aforementioned
viewpoint from multiple perspectives and deliver a final verdict.

The means through which euphemism and exaggeration bastardise language are myriad. The issue with euphemism is
that it is can kickstart a deleterious cycle of mutating new words and abandoning old ones. Euphemism is used to
mention inappropriate and unsavoury subjects through another, entirely unrelated word. However, overuse will not only
make the original, insensitive word lost its meaning but also rob the euphemistic word of its power. For instance, the
word “death” was often avoided in favour of “pass away”, “sacrifice” and the like to lessen its bluntness and directness.
But, over time, such replacements then become synonymous with death, thereby becoming useless as euphemisms and
the current generation, in need of more suitable words, have co-opted phrases like “self-checkout” and “adios”. The
danger of exaggeration, on the other hands, is more insidious and damaging, as it directly impacts the cognitive and logic
ability of its users. It has been proven that languages have a measurable influence on their speakers’ though processes,
thus a language must be capable of nuances, details and highly descriptive language in order to facilitate the creation of
thoughtful ideas. However, an overreliance on exaggeration will radicalise the speakers and engender black-and-white
thinking, making them mindless husks incapable of nuanced discussions. These less capable speakers cannot make
worthwhile contributions to languages and cause a decline in literature and linguistic developments.

However, euphemism and exaggeration are not without their merits, as they are the key ingredients that make our use
of language so diverse and fascinating. All languages serve to communicate ideas, knowledge and opinions of their
speakers, and the two abovementioned tools are needed to achieve that goal. Euphemism must be employed to
effectively evoke the solemnity of mortality, whether through an emotive speech or lifeless typed paragraphs, whether
for the people immediately present or for our descendants far into the future. Complex human emotions such as grief,
regret and guilt, due to their nature being intimately intertwined with highly sensitive affairs, can never be fully
expressed without euphemism both tempering offensive aspects highlight the mental vulnerability that demand such
literary tools. Writers in all cultures and eras have used euphemism to great effects, most notable among them are
England’s Shakespeare and Vietnam’s Nguyen Du, whose excellent prose and rhymes has beautifully illustrated the
tempestuous inner minds of their characters, Macbeth and Thuy Kieu respectively, for centuries and lay the foundation
for their language’s modern inception. Exaggeration also has similar usage, but it has garnered a new role in
communicating the urgency and severity of issues plaguing humankind at present. Neutral words, devoid of emotions
cannot convey how existentially threatening some crises are and failed to spur actionable thoughts from the audience.
Exaggerations, in this context, does not necessary distort the truth, but only serve to deliver the writer’s intention along
with facts, thereby enhancing the quality of communication. Case in point, The Guardian, a well-regarded British news
agency, has announced that they will replace “climate change” with “climate crisis”, “global heating” to better describe
our ongoing struggle with climate.

In conclusion, both euphemism and exaggeration have the potential to harmfully distort language when overused, but
they are also responsible for the beauty and diversity of expressions used in modern society. Therefore, we must strike a
balance in our use of these two incredible literary tools in order to mitigate its dangers while reaping the benefits of
language enrichment.