Covid-19 pandemic: euphemism and dysphemism in Jordanian Arabic

COVID-19 is the major health crisis worldwide nowadays. Linguistic aspects of individuals and communities, including euphemism and dysphemism, were affected by this global challenge because choosing appropriate words to express what speakers intend to say and to reflect what they value or disvalue is a basic part of communication. Euphemism is an acceptable expression used instead of an offensive one to avoid unpleasant connotations, while dysphemism is a derogatory expression with negative suggestions used instead of neutral or polite one to attack something or someone. This paper investigates the use of euphemism and dysphemism in the Jordanian society for dealing with COVID-19. The research was approached from a sociolinguistic perspective and framed mainly within the Theory of Euphemism and Dysphemism by Allan and Burridge (199