War is hell. Or so the maxim goes. However, our governments and soldiers often find creative linguistic euphemisms for making war seem less like hell and more like a football game. Did you know that during WWII we had a branch of government called the “War Department”? That same department is now called “The Department of Defense.”

Euphemisms make terrible ideas sound tolerable or even pleasant.

Check out this link to learn more about the euphemisms of war.

For more about the language of the Vietnam War, click this link.

Which euphemisms are most striking?

Which terms related to the Vietnam War have you seen in O’Brien’s The Things They Carried?