- unmentionables
- 1. obsoletetrousers or undergarments 19th-century prudery forbade the mention of anything to do with legs:She had vowed never to change her unmentionables until her husband, Archduke Albert, took the city of Ostend by siege. (Jennings, 1965 — as it held out for three years, she must have kept her vow at the expense of her friends and her marriage)Also as unexpressibles, unspeakables, unwhisperables, ineffables, indescribables, and inexpressibles:They wear all manner of pantaloons and inexpressibles. (H.James, 1816)2. haemorrhoidsA female evasion. Men seem to suffer from Farmer Giles.
How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. R. W. Holder. 2014.