"Put down" or "put to sleep"? and Scantrons (Was; wifebeaters)

[Carol]

Carol earlier:
<snip>
> > (I was once criticized by a twenty-something for saying that an
animal was put to sleep; the "correct" term--IOW, the new term used by
her generation--is "put down." No understanding whatever of the
concept of linguistic change, not to mention respect for her elders,
but, oh, well!) 
> 
> Magpie:
> I'm a bit suspicious that there is really a "correct" term amongst
20-somethings for this. "Put down" has always sounded a lot harsher to
me than "put to sleep" or "euthanize" (all of which have always been
in use for my whole life, at least). I wonder if that particular woman
didn't just have some private feelings about the terms or happens to
have only heard one, because I'd guess that "put down" was the older 
term. I mean, "put to sleep" implies the use of tranquilizers (it's
exactly what happens to the animal if you do it at the vet's) while
"put down" I associated with potentially shooting it. Which is why I
use "put to sleep," myself. If somebody said "put down" in this 
context I'd picture going out behind the barn with a shotgun!

Carol responds:

My impression was that this particular young woman, who also believed
that prostitution was a perfectly acceptable way to earn a living and
refused to hear my "1970s" view that it was degrading and limited the
prostitute's future career prospects, considered "put to sleep" to be
a euphemism that concealed what she viewed as the harsh reality of
"putting down" an animal. Or maybe she thought my preferred term was
inaccurate because the animal that was "put to sleep" would never wake
up. However, since, in her view, I knew nothing and she knew
everything (I confess to having similar feelings at twenty but I'd
never have *expressed* them to the ostensibly ignorant older person,
it was impossible to talk to her to find out why she felt as she did.)

BTW, my young client is now writing about students taking tests using
Scantrons. She seems to be using the term to refer to the test form. I
thought the Scantron was the machine used to score the test. Or can
the term be used to refer to both?

Carol, feeling more and more like a fossil but agreeing that "put to
sleep" is a perfectly acceptable term, if somewhat euphemistic