Communication Design Quarterly Dec 2024

Between the Lines: Visual Euphemism in Technical and Professional Communication Visuals

Kevin Van Winkle

Abstract

This article explores visual euphemism in the realm of technical and professional communication (TPC) visuals. I argue that euphemism is a mostly unexplored topic in TPC scholarship and deserving of further inquiry. Due to its equal capacity to inform or deceive, visual euphemism has particular value for scholars concerned with the efficacy and ethicality of TPC visuals. To support this argument, I identify the unique features of visual euphemism, as well as outline a basic critical framework for its identification and analysis. I conclude by briefly examining prominent TPC visuals and advocating for further research of visual euphemism.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2024-12-01
DOI
10.1145/3658438.3658439
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Topics
professional writing multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (20)

  1. Winkle (2022)
    Above All Made by Themselves: The Visual Rhetoric of W. E. B. Du Bois’s Data Vi…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Amidon et al. (2021)
    Visual Risk Literacy in “Flatten the Curve” COVID-19 Visualizations
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Atherton (2021)
    “Missing/Unspecified”: Demographic Data Visualization During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Batova (2021)
    “Picturing” Xenophobia: Visual Framing of Masks During COVID-19 and Its Implica…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Carlson et al. (2021)
    Rural Health and Contextualizing Data
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Show all 20 →
  1. Doan (2021)
    Misrepresenting COVID-19: Lying With Charts During the Second Golden Age of Dat…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  2. Lindgren (2021)
    Facts Upon Delivery: What Is Rhetorical About Visualized Models?
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Verhulsdonck et al. (2021)
    Lean Data Visualization: Considering Actionable Metrics for Technical Communication
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. Wolfe (2015)
    Teaching Students to Focus on the Data in Data Visualization
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. Yu (2011)
    Visualizing Banking and Financial Products: A Comparative Study of Chinese and …
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  6. Journet (2010)
    The Resources of Ambiguity
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  7. Ward (2010)
    The Ethic of Exigence
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  8. Kimball (2006)
    London through Rose-Colored Graphics: Visual Rhetoric and Information Graphic D…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  9. Brasseur (2005)
    Florence Nightingale's Visual Rhetoric in the Rose Diagrams
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  10. Adkins (2003)
    Serpents and Sheep: The Harriman Expedition, Alaska, and the Metaphoric Reconst…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  11. Dombrowski (2003)
    Ernst Haeckel's ControversiaI Visual Rhetoric
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  12. Graves et al. (1998)
    Masters, slaves, and infant mortality: Language challenges for technical editing
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  13. Allen (1996)
    Ethics and Visual Rhetorics: Seeing's Not Believing Anymore
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  14. Bryan (1995)
    Seven Types of Distortion: A Taxonomy of Manipulative Techniques used in Charts…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  15. Beck (1991)
    Implications of Metaphors in Defining Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 9 works outside this index ↓
  1. 10.1017/CBO9780511617881
     ↗
  2. Baake K. (2003)
    Metaphor and knowledge: The challenges of writing science
     ↗
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511813085
     ↗
  4. 10.5555/526362
     ↗
  5. Kostelnick C. (2019)
    Humanizing visual design: The rhetoric of human forms in practical communication
     ↗
  6. 10.1525/9780520912045
     ↗
  7. 10.1109/TPC.2020.3032053
     ↗
  8. 10.1109/TPC.2023.3290948
     ↗
  9. Monmonier M. (2018)
    How to lie with maps
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network →

Related Articles

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    qualitative research multimodality technical communication professional writing multilingual writers
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Mar 2026
    Role of Experiential Learning Program on Business Writing Skills of Management Students ↗
    Shruti Srinivasan; Ravikumar Thangaraj; Jain Mathew
    graduate education multimodality professional writing multilingual writers
  3. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2026
    Expanding Human-in-the-Loop: Critical Sensemaking for Technical and Professional Communication With Generative AI ↗
    Gustav Verhulsdonck; Jialei Jiang
    artificial intelligence professional writing multilingual writers
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2026
    From Sensory to Narrative: A Corpus-Based Analysis of Wine-Tasting Notes in International Contexts ↗
    Suguru Ishizaki; Belén López-Arroyo
    professional writing multilingual writers
  5. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Dec 2025
    Complexity of Purpose Revisited: AI-Assisted Cognition in Professional Communication ↗
    Daniel Plung
    artificial intelligence professional writing multilingual writers