Freud specifically relates an aspect of the Uncanny derived from German etymology. By contrasting the German adjective unheimlich with its base word heimlich ("concealed, hidden, in
secret"), he proposes that social taboo often yields an aura not only of pious reverence but
even moreso of horror and
even disgust, as the taboo state of an item gives rise to the commonplace assumption that that which is hidden from public eye (
cf. the eye or sight metaphor) must be a dangerous threat and
even an abomination - especially if the concealed item is obviously or presumingly sexual in
nature. Basically, the Uncanny is what unconsciously reminds us of our own Id, our forbidden and thus repressed impulses perceived as a threatening
force by our super-
ego ridden with oedipal guilt as it fears symbolic castration by punishment for deviating from societal norms. Thus, the items and individuals that we project our own repressed impulses upon become a most uncanny threat to us, uncanny monsters and freaks akin to
fairy-tale folk-devils, and subsequently often become scapegoats we blame for all sorts of perceived miseries, calamities, and maladies.