A functional-pragmatic approach to wealth-related euphemisms study in business discourse

In business discourse, euphemisms help alleviate the sensitive topic of material privilege. While previous research has extensively addressed euphemisms denoting various financial phenomena, such as corporate downsizing and recession, the linguistic treatment of wealth has remained comparatively underexplored. The aim of the study is to identify the key pragmatic functions of euphemisms referring to wealth and the wealthy in contemporary English-language business discourse, and to establish how these euphemisms mediate the social perception of affluence. The data comprises publications from prominent English-language business media sampled from a five-year period. Through continuous sampling, a total of 134 occurrences of euphemistic framing were extracted and analysed contextually. The article delineates four primary pragmatic functions of euphemisms denoting wealth: mitigating social sensitivity, strategic reframing, positive image construction, and abstraction. The results demonstrate that these functions are systemic and fulfil distinct pragmatic roles in business discourse. Mitigation strategies soften references to affluence, reframing aligns wealth with meritocratic achievement, positive construction associates affluence with prestige and expertise, and abstraction depersonalises wealth through technical language. The findings suggest that euphemisms denoting wealth and the wealthy in business discourse operate to justify the idea that economic privilege is legitimate. Euphemistic framing contributes to the rhetorical normalization of affluence and configures public perceptions of wealth in business discourse. The study adds to the body of knowledge on euphemism and business discourse and demonstrates the usefulness of the functional-pragmatic approach in identifying the rhetorical devices used in high-stakes arguments.