Euphemismen im Dienste der Persuasion. Zur Form und Funktion euphemistischer Ausdrücke in der politischen Sprache

In the article, the author presents the role and the function of euphemisms in the language of politics as well as describes their significance as an important means of persuasion. These expressions are used in order either to create a more positive reading of certain facts or to suppress the facts that may appear negative. As a way of illustration, we exemplify euphemisms as they feature in given linguistic forms (mainly nominal and adjectival ones). These we derive from written and oral statements by German politicians of various political affiliations.