G. Rover Cripes, that’s a euphemism!

Or, gems of the reference shelf, part 4

Before the internet decimated the reference shelf, there were jewels to be found! Happily, I kept a few books safe from the pillaging bot armies, and I’m celebrating them each week in this space.

A dictionary of euphemisms has a bit of an I’ll-show-them flavour to it: The reference book as rejoinder to the swindlers, phonies, charlatans, shysters, and advertising executives who dump their effluent into the rivers and lakes of the English language. To do it properly, though, you need to create a system by which to strain all their bafflegab.