Question

Instructions:Select the correct text in the passage.

Which line in this excerpt from “The Gun” by Philip K. is an example of euphemism?

The Captain peered into the eyepiece of the telescope. [He adjusted the focus quickly.]

"It was an atomic fission we saw, all right," he said presently. He sighed and pushed the eyepiece away. "Any of you who wants to look may do so.[ But it's not a pretty sight."]

"Let me look," Tance the archeologist said. He bent down to look, squinting. "Good Lord!" [He leaped violently back], knocking against Dorle, the Chief Navigator.

"Why did we come all this way, then?" Dorle asked, looking around at the other men. "There's no point even in landing. Let's go back at once."

"Perhaps he's right," the biologist murmured. ["But I'd like to look for myself, if I may.]" He pushed past Tance and peered into the sight.

Answer 1

"It was an atomic fission we saw, all right," he said presently. He sighed and pushed the eyepiece away. "Any of you who wants to look may do so. [But it's not a pretty sight."


The euphemism is in the phrase "not a pretty sight". This is an understatement, as in the beginning, it was describing an atomic fission. To say that it is "not a pretty sight" is downplaying and sugarcoating the statement.

Answer 2

Which line in this excerpt from “The Gun” by Philip K. is an example of euphemism?

"It was atomic fission we saw, all right," he said presently. He sighed and pushed the eyepiece away. "Any of you who wants to look may do so.[ But it's not a pretty sight."]

Step-by-step explanation:

Euphemism is an indirect expression or word used in substitution for something very harsh and unpleasant. It is used in the place of the offensive or embarrassing moment to make it less unpleasant. In the above excerpt, the euphemism is used to denote the sight of the atomic fission.