Language of care: euphemism and emotional management in Jordanian healthcare

Abstract

This study explores how Jordanian physicians choose their words carefully when talking to patients about sensitive medical issues. To understand this process, a discourse completion task (DCT) was administered to 24 physicians, and responses were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches grounded in established frameworks on euphemism. The analysis revealed seven main strategies that physicians reported or produced in response to clinically plausible scenarios: synonymy, understatement, religious references, vagueness, part-for-whole substitution, overstatement, and loanwords. When discussing long-term treatment plans, their elicited responses centered on four themes: reassurance and normalization, balancing honesty with optimism, emotional and holistic support, and treatment as a manageable journey. These findings suggest that euphemism, as reflected in physicians’ pragmatic judgments and preferred formulations, is understood not merely as a politeness device but as a culturally embedded resource for managing emotional sensitivity, sustaining patient trust, and balancing accuracy with care in Jordanian healthcare communication.