History Main / LessEmbarrassingTerm

* ''Film/ClerksII'' One character insists that something is not bestiality porn, it's "inter-species erotica"

ActionFigureJustification is related, for when toys are insistently referred to as action figures rather than dolls (despite the actual difference being the two being rather superficial and along gender lines). For instances where an evildoer insists on a more 'civil' description of his rank villainy, see BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'': Gangstalicious starts a new line of "Gangsta" clothing and accessories, which includes a purse...er...gangsta man bag, a tank top...er...bulletproof vest, a skirt...er...shorts for thugs, [[UpToEleven and a dress with the back cut out, advertised as a "long tee"]]. The joke being that the most [[TestosteronePoisoning hyper-masculine aspects of hip-hop culture]] are themselves extremely effeminate and homoerotic, and that kids who buy into it will essentially wear a skirt and purse if they're told it it's "gangsta." Gangstalicious, of course, turns out to be "On the Down Low", as it were, and the entire episode is spent deconstructing his ArmoredClosetGay persona.

* TAGTeach is essentially the animal training technique clicker training rebranded and ''slightly'' modified for use in humans.

For instances where an evildoer insists on a more 'civil' description of his rank villainy, see BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord.

The former trope-namer was ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', as "The European Carry-All" (for a purse to be carried by a man). For instances where an evildoer insists on a more 'civil' description of his rank villainy, see BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord.

* Former trope namer: In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry buys a "European men's carry-all" from the J. Peterman catalogue -- but essentially, it's a purse.

* A more serious example: some people decide that the politically correct term is the more embarrassing one (due to [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad a certain trope]]), and the older, more offensive one is the less embarrassing version. Hence "corrections" like "You're not handicapped, you're crippled," which some people prefer because "crippled" simply implies physical damage while "handicapped" implies disability. Different people have different things that they want to emphasize when they use one label and eschew another, so really the only safe thing to do is refer to someone how they prefer that you do.

* The Blackpool FC kit is tangerine, not the luminous orange that it appears.Similarly, from their inception in 1966 to 2012, the secondary color for the Miami Dolphins was coral, not orange. They've since dropped that pretense.

* The main character of the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' books insists that it's not a diary, it's a journal. Though this is OlderThanTheyThink (see the ''Doug'' example in Western Animation).
** And in the first book, Greg says that he doesn't want to take Home Ec. 2, even if he was good at Home Ec. 1, because he had to keep telling everyone his purse was an "embroidered bookbag." A student's response? "Okay, pursie."

* [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=318:real-men-wear-pink&catid=32:seduction-index&Itemid=36 This]] example on superdickery.com shows how Robin doesn't even want to think about Batman wearing pink. (Be careful going to Superdickery: the site has a lot of viruses.)

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8786130/2/Scooby-Kratt Scooby Kratt]]'', which is a crossover between ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' and ''WesternAnimation/WildKratt'', Velma insists her disease is not a cold, but rather a "viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract which affects primarily the nose".

* An ad for Creator/{{ESPN}}'s ''College Gameday'' (aired during the 2011 football season) opens with Erin Andrews signing off the 9:00 ESPNU hour and the regular ESPN team taking the set. Chris Fowler finds what seems to be a white purse and yells, "Hey Erin, you left your purse!", prompting Desmond Howard to snatch it away and say something to the effect of, "That's not a purse, it's a satchel. These are big in Europe right now, but you wouldn't know about that." Cue incredulous looks from Fowler (who also says, "No, I would not"), Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso. (Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPmMhc_Eyzc here]].)

* Hot Topic peddled a denim skirt to teenage male {{emo}} kids as a "one-legged pant." It's still listed at [[http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/product.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302028382&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442165228&bmUID=1190984678217 the web site,]] but may or may not be sold anymore.

* A more serious example: some people decide that the politically correct term is the more embarrasing one (due to [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad a certain trope]]), and the older, more offensive one is the less embarassing version. Hence "corrections" like "You're not handicapped, you're crippled," which some people prefer because "crippled" simply implies physical damage while "handicapped" implies disability. Different people have different things that they want to emphasize when they use one label and eschew another, so really the only safe thing to do is refer to someone how they prefer that you do.

* ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} has been known to defend the tiara he wore back in the 70s by saying it's a ''headband''.

* In an ''Comicbook/XMen'' comic Jean Grey asks ComicBook/{{Jubilee}} if she still has nightmares. Jubilee responds that nightmares are for babies; she has "traumatic evening episodes".

** Sunrise, the company responsible for the Gundam franchise, ''may'' have been having some fun with this in their latest effort, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. When one of the show's aces (in this case a female) receives their own "[[SuperPrototype Ace Custom]]" mech, it's very blatantly pink, and it is called the "Tieren Taozi". Taozi is, for the uninformed, Chinese for "peach". Later on, all of the lead Gundams become capable of going into Trans-Am mode where they become sparkly, pink and, of course, three times faster.

* Played perfectly straight in a conversation between two bison (yes, bison) in a Manitoba Telecommunications Services commercial a few years back for camera phone support:

** In these cases, they may be borrowing the terms from heraldic language, where there indeed exist no colors white or yellow. There are metals, silver and gold, but no white or yellow. The reason for this is down to heraldic rules [[note]]written to help increase visibility on the battlefield back when being able to discern heraldic insignia was a matter of life-and-death[[/note]] which generally (but not universally) forbid a combination of two colors being placed side by side or on top of one another. To get around this, white and yellow are considered ''[[InsistentTerminology metals]]''. [[note]]And, yes, the two metals can't be used side-by side either, with one exception -- ThePope is allowed to use it in the church's heraldry, hence the white and yellow (technically flag of UsefulNotes/VaticanCity.[[/note]] That said, this trope probably still explains why white is referred to as "silver" with far less frequency than yellow is referred to as "gold".

* If you call that copy of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' a Comic Book, you throw yourself into the AnimationAgeGhetto. If you call it a Graphic Novel, you are seen as needlessly pretentious. There's really no way to win. And it gets really complicated if you point out that ''Watchmen'' was published as a limited series of comic books with no intention on the creators' part to have it packaged in the familiar collection.Occasionally inverted when serious comics are treated as the only kind: Those ones in the [[NewspaperComics newspapers]] and [[{{Webcomics}} on the web]] are "the funnies", "strips" maybe, but never "comics".