What are the "old euphemisms" in The Great Gatsby?

Question

In chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby, Nick describes Daisy's reaction to the people of West Egg:

But the rest offended her—and inarguably, because it wasn’t a gesture but an emotion. She was appalled by West Egg, this unprecedented “place.” that Broadway had begotten upon a Long Island fishing village—appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing. She saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.

I'm interested in the part in bold, which says that Daisy was "appalled by its raw vigor that chafed under the old euphemisms". What are the "old euphemisms" being referred to? I've wondered about this for years.

A euphemism is where you use one word as a substitute for a more offensive word. But I don't think Fitzgerald is referring to literal euphemism here. I have one theory: perhaps he means that rich people have upper-class families have a way of masking their hedonistic tendencies. The new-money people of West Egg, on the other hand, are more ostentatious about their hedonism. Is this what Fitzgerald is talking about?

Answer 1

The new-money people of West Egg, on the other hand, are more ostentatious about their hedonism.

In essence, yes, you have caught the gist of the phrase.

Daisy is aware, as is Nick, of the fact that the more conservative cultural mores are in play in West Egg, but the people there are closer to openly breaking free of them, of shrugging them off.

There's a very slight, but very real, admiration in that phrase "raw vigor"; on at least one level, probably visceral, Daisy appreciates the vitality and energy of the people, but she's also aware that their freedom is limited, that they haven't quite escaped society's conservative strictures yet.

Classic Fitzgerald phrasing - almost a throwaway, but it tells you about a central internal conflict within the character using what, barely ten words?

Answer 2

It was about the mixing of the "old money" and "new money" crowds in West Egg.

The "old money" crowd set the manners, the ways of speech, the ostensible behaviors, etc., or what Daisy called the "old euphemisms," which she actually approved of.

What she disapproved of, was the "raw vigor" exhibited by the "new money people" that adopted "the old euphemisms, and by the too obtrusive fate that herded its inhabitants along a short-cut from nothing to nothing." In her mind, such people were imposters, who would go from "nothing to nothing," where they belonged.

Answer 3

We may consider the offensiveness of the "raw energy" of children, and the way children don't understand or accept social pretenses and, specifically, euphemisms:

"Why must I be polite to my Aunt?" "Why must I say 'toilet' instead of 'shitter'?"

or "Why can't I just say that I want to get drunk and get laid?"

The new rich are chafing under the old rules. The euphemisms are (only) an example of the old rules, but often, language is the most important or all the old rules, and of course, language is always the most important to F Scott Fitzgerald - an author for whom language is always important.