ABSTRACT
Does the English word “unmentionables” really not mention? Are certain nether regions actually hidden by the Japanese phrase (kakushi dokoro, lit. the hidden place)? In practice, these terms do not hide and do not not-mention; rather they are the means by which private parts are publicized. They signify something that has been deemed worthy of hiding or packaging in euphemism. When the collective speakers of the words have decided something ought to be hidden or disguised, language changes to accommodate. When the language signals what ought not to be mentioned, how aware is an individual speaker of the continued hiding performed by the words? When do these euphemisms cease to function as euphemisms for something else? How does filmic language recast these terms of apophasis?
