---
title: "Euphemism"
sousTitre: "Those who stand between power and the people are not mediators, but alchemists of meaning. Their craft? Twisting words to better conceal manipulation. The map that follows reveals how this gesture spans languages, turning every idiom into a semantic battleground."
description: "The Spanish word *intermediarios* originally denotes mediators, but Álex Grijelmo exposes its hijacking: a reversal of meaning to mask those who manipulate language. This gesture (nature: inversion) applied to this object (object: control of words) is attested in French (*euphémisme*, Éric Hazan) and Russian (*подменятели смысла*, Ilya Zemtsov). An ethno-politico-linguistic intersection sourced in each language."
date: 2026-08-06
lang: en
tradition: transversal
auteurs: ["Ilya Zemtsov", "Álex Grijelmo", "Éric Hazan"]
---
# Euphemism

I
Intermediarios: the word rings like a promise of connection, of passage. Yet in the shadow of its Latin root, it harbors betrayal. Those who call themselves *intermediaries* no longer merely transmit—they transform, they filter, they corrupt. Spanish, here, is no exception: it reveals a universal mechanism, where language becomes the privileged tool of manipulators. The map that emerges shows this hijacking is not a local accident, but a shared strategy.

## Meaning beneath the word
*Intermediarios* draws from the Latin *intermedius*, composed of *inter* (between) and *medius* (middle). Originally, it designates those who occupy a central position to facilitate exchanges—merchants, diplomats, translators. The word carries within it the idea of neutrality, of passage without alteration. But this very neutrality is what enables its slippage: when the intermediary ceases to be a bridge and becomes a filter, the word takes on a deadly ambiguity.

## The genealogy of slippage
The reversal operates through a subtle inversion. *Intermediarios* are no longer those who connect, but those who divide—not by their position, but by their action on language. They no longer transmit words: they shape them, soften them, make them acceptable. Álex Grijelmo’s quote captures its essence:

> The intermediaries have thus been seduced by words, and society can hardly defend itself against these manipulations when those who channel the language of power become its catalysts.
>
> — **Álex Grijelmo**, *La seducción de las palabras*. éd. after the French translation, Taurus, 2000.

What Grijelmo uncovers is the seduction of language as a weapon. Words are no longer tools of communication, but decoys. The intermediary, by donning the guise of mediation, becomes the invisible accomplice of power. It is no longer about facilitating exchange, but controlling it—and making that control seem natural, even benevolent.

## The same veil, from one language to another
This gesture—reversing meaning to mask manipulation—is not unique to Spanish. It traverses languages like a shadow, taking on different forms yet remaining recognizable. The table below maps it:

For French, *euphémisme* embodies this same logic. Éric Hazan reveals its mechanics:

> Everyone knows they are entirely chronic, yet invoking a crisis—a term that still carries, despite everything, the notion of brief temporality—helps soothe impatience, which is precisely one of the aims of LQR’s euphemisms.
>
> — **Éric Hazan**, *LQR. La propagande du quotidien*. éd. after the French edition, Raisons d'agir, 2006.

Euphemism is not merely a figure of speech: it is a strategy of power. By softening words, it softens the reality they denote. What is said is no longer what is, and what is silenced becomes the essence. French, like Spanish, reveals how language can be hijacked to serve those who control it.

For Russian, the term *подменятели смысла* (podmenyateli smysla, literally “those who replace meaning”) goes even further. Ilya Zemtsov exposes its radicality:

> The mystification of words’ true meaning—the substitution of their real sense with an illusory one, the deliberate narrowing of that sense, the rupture of traditional meanings to serve communist propaganda—all this leads to the death of language.
>
> — **Ilya Zemtsov**, *Советский политический язык*. éd. after the Russian edition, Overseas Publications, 1985.

Here, the slippage is no longer a matter of nuance, but of outright substitution. Meaning is not softened: it is stolen, replaced by another. The Russian word speaks not of seduction, but of violence—a violence wielded not through force, but through language. The intermediary, in this light, is no longer a seducer, but a thief.

## Who still speaks?
*Intermediarios* are not a Spanish exception. They are a translinguistic figure, an archetype of power hiding behind words. Whether through the seduction of euphemism, the brutality of substitution, or the cunning of inversion, the gesture remains the same: to make us believe language is neutral, when it is the most effective weapon of domination. The question is no longer who manipulates, but who still listens—and who, among us, agrees to see words for what they are.

## Sources

- Álex Grijelmo, *La seducción de las palabras* — Taurus, 2000
- Éric Hazan, *LQR. La propagande du quotidien* — Raisons d'agir, 2006
- Ilya Zemtsov, *Советский политический язык* — Overseas Publications, 1985


Canonical source : https://viasophia.org/en/devoiler/2026-08-06-intermediarios/