除了死亡之外，年老和疾病也是人们忌讳的话题。人们会委婉地称老年人为 senior citizens/the elderly/elderly people，如果某人罹患癌症可以委婉地说：He or She is terminally ill. 而不说：He or She has cancer.
委婉语的另外一个重要功能是体现礼貌和尊敬。比如英语中有不少关于容貌和身材的委婉语。形容一个人“胖”不说fat，而是说plump；形容一个人“瘦”也不说thin，而是说slim/slender；如果要形容一个人长得丑，人们也会尽量避免使用ugly，而是用plain/homely，比如：Mrs Cookson was a rather plain woman. 或者干脆说：Mrs Cookson was not particularly good-looking.
葬礼是一个庄严的场合，悼词中出现prostitutes不合适，所以小布什用ladies of the night这一委婉语来代替。小布什在父亲葬礼上的悼词中有这样一句话：
He was a tolerant man. After all, he was kind and neighborly to the women with whom he, mom and I shared a bathroom in our small duplex – even after he learned their profession – ladies of the night.
大LY的小世界
