Word of the Week: Demised

Demised: Laid off, downsized, dismissed, fired, rightsized, made redundant, simplified, subjected to synergy-related headcount restructuring.

The list of synonyms for “fired” is long and growing, as corporations attempt to distance themselves from the gloomy realities of ruthless staff-slashing.

 

The Guardian (UK), April 24, 2013.

 

“Demised” is etymologically accurate—the Latin roots mean “to send away”—but its kinship with the synonym for “death” makes it more of a dysphemism than a euphemism.

I wrote about the legal meaning of demise—“to grant or transfer by will or lease”—in April 2012. The original meaning of “demise,” from the mid-15th century, was the legal one; the meaning was extended to “death” (because that’s when estate transfers usually occur) in the mid-18th century.

It’s Death Week on Fritinancy: a daily report on deathly words, names, and branding, culminating on All Hallows Eve, October 31. Read my previous “death” posts.

Comments

[Jeff Johnson]

I wonder how this led to the term "demising wall", meaning "Boundary that separates one tenant's space from that of the other, and from the common corridor."

[Nancy Friedman]

Jeff: I touched on this meaning in my previous post on the legal use of "demise": http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2012/04/word-of-the-week-demise.html