single word requests - Is there a term for a euphemistic term being used literally?


Is there a term for using a word that's often a euphemism to mean exactly what the word means?


For example, in Terry Pratchett's Discworld, what would the act of using the word "seamstress" to refer to someone who actually mends clothes, rather than someone who is a prostitute?



Answer



Perhaps literalism? Although it's perhaps most frequently used in religious contexts (e.g., interpretation of sacred texts), it seems to apply here:



The disposition or tendency to accept a text, statement, etc., literally; the result of this, the interpretation of words in their literal sense. Occas. also: an instance of this.



or



Literal translation; this as a principle; (also) a peculiarity of expression due to this.



(both from the OED).


I think the second use applies particularly in this case: words that might typically register as euphemisms but are intended literally could be considered a "peculiarity of expression."


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