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People from different countries have perse living habits, customs and cultural backgrounds which all lead to using wrong euphemism that causes misunderstanding and displeasure. Consequently, to cognize the use of euphemism in different situations and cultural backgrounds well is the best way to suit for every level of politeness. The successful social intercourse is reached, when the hurt given to the other decreases to the minimum. Learning the use of euphemism would promote English language skills and provide much support to bridge up the inter-cultural communication. Nowadays, in the highly civilized human society, euphemism plays a vital role in people’s daily lives.
2 A General Review of the Studies on Euphemism
Euphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon in different cultures. Many scholars at home and abroad have made studies of euphemisms from different perspectives for a long time. In the west, the appearance of euphemism could be traced back to the 16th century, the British writer George Blunt advanced the term “euphemism” defining it as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word” in the early 1580s, and much ink had been poured in this field. The study of Chinese euphemism dates back to Zhou Dynasty, but the breakthrough in euphemism is the book Introduction to Rhetoric written by Chen Wangdao in 1932.
This chapter first gives the definition of euphemism by explaining literal meaning and quoting linguist’s words and sentences. It then discusses the principles of euphemism: formation, distance and correlation, being polite and self-defense. The formation of Chinese and English euphemism is very different. But the principles of distance and correlation, being polite and self-defense share the same psychological factor of the English and the Chinese.
2.1 Definition of Euphemism
The word “euphemism” originates from Greek and the prefix “eu-” refers to being good. “Phemism” means saying, talking and speech. Therefore, all together, euphemism implicates good speech and pleasant words. Neaman(1990:1) defined euphemism as “substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words.” Generally speaking, euphemism is characterized by elusive language and evasive expression, so euphemisms are also called as “glided words”, “cosmetic words” and “comfortable words”. In the Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, euphemism is defined as “use of pleasant, mild or indirect words or phrases in place of more accurate or direct ones.” The characteristics of euphemism can be seen from this definition.
Chinese taboos are as many as western countries’. There are two kinds of rhetoric of euphemism in Chinese. One is the periphrastic which means using indirect or reserved words to imply one’s feeling of sorrow or annoyance. The other figure of speech is elusive rule which refers to avoiding being outspoken or use cosmetic words when comes to taboos. (陈望道,1976:69)
In the actual use of euphemism, euphemisms are all closely related to each nation’s psychology, moral codes, value orientation and traditional cultures and so on, but not the periphrastic or elusive rules.
2.2 The Three Principles of Euphemism
This section mainly discusses three principles of euphemism. First, formation which is mainly about how to form a euphemism is different from Chinese to English. Second, distance and correlation principle of euphemism refers to use ambiguity words substitute taboos and change bad words for good words with same effects. The last, politeness and self-defense principle points out the same psychology of Chinese and western cultures that using euphemisms to show politeness and minimize the hurt to the hearer.
2.2.1 The Principles of the Formation of Euphemism