浅谈委婉语（英文版）.doc

A Brief Discussion on
Euphemism
浅谈委婉语
Ⅰ. What is Euphemism

1. The word “euphemism” derives from ancient Greek. “Eu” in ancient Greek means well or sounding well. “Pheme” means speech. So the meaning of the whole word is “words of good omen” or “good speech.” When conducting the social communications, according to the polite principle, people always use some implicit, elegant and mild expressions to replace those that are harsh, vulgar and violent to help them overcome the psychological obstacles and get rid of the unpleasant imaginary associations. - -Donglin Feng, Euphemism --- A Mirror of Social Life

2. A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener. --Wikipedia

3. Euphemism means the use of a mild or vague or periphrastic(转弯抹角的) expression as a substitute for blunt(直言不讳的) precision or disagreeable use. --Modern English Usage, 1957

Ⅱ.Major Functioning--Replacing taboo

Every language has its own linguistic taboo and avoiding using taboo on certain occasions is regarded as a symbol of social development.

1. Appearance
In English, “homely (不好看)”or“plain一般)”is used instead of“ugly (丑)”to describe a person who is not good looking. In the age when everyone is in pursuit of being slender(苗条的), “plumy (丰满的)”, “stout (壮实的)”, “ heavyset (富态)” are used to substitute “fat (胖)”. For lame person, we usually call them“physically handicapped”.

2. Age
In the west, people seldom talk about age, and it is especially the case for women. The main reason is that being old means the decay of vigor and decline of economic and political status. In the west, there are no “ old people (老人)” but “ senior citizen” or “ the longer-lived” . In China, old people are respected because of their rich experience and accumulated wits whereas in the west when one becomes old, one will be kicked out of the mainstream of society and become useless.

3. Disease
It is common for people all over the world to yearn for being healthy. For diseases, especially the serious ones, there are always euphemisms such as the “big C (大写的C)” for cancer and “heart condition (心脏状况有异)” for “heart attack disease (心脏病)” .

4. Death
Although it is a natural law, everybody tries not to use the word “death”. There are over a hundred euphemisms for death in English such as “to go to sleep for ever (长眠)”; “to pass away (去世;与世长辞)”; “to close one' s eyes (闭眼)”; “to go to heaven (上天堂去了)”; “to be called to god (被上帝召唤去了)”; “to rest in peace (安息了)”; “safe in the arms of Jesus (在耶酥怀里得到平安)”; and“to go to one's last home (回老家)”. Shakespeare ever used“shuffle off the mortal coil(摆脱人世的纷扰)”to replace“death”; Mark Twain in his The Adventures of Tom Sawyer used“release (解脱)” for“death”(It seemed to him that life was but a trouble, at best and he more than half envied Jimmy Hodges, lately released. (在他看来，人活着至多不过是一件麻烦事，他非常羡慕刚刚去世的吉姆霍克斯。).

Ⅲ. Conclusion

Euphemism is a linguistic phenomenon with a long history. It also has many other functions that reflect people’s life vividly, including daily life, political life, economic life, etc.