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1、English Euphemism Definition Euphemism is a pleasant replacement for an objectionable word that has pejorative connotations.The word“euphemism”comes from ancient Greek.three morphemes：So euphemism means“speaking well of”.“eu-”“being good or well”,“pheme-”“speech”,“-ism”an act or the result of an act
2、.Social background of the emergence of euphemismThe emergence and development of euphemism was caused mainly by the people of middle class.People of upper class didnt choose their work with great care any longer because their social status has been stabilized.People of lower-class didnt have the abi
3、lity to weigh their words because of their knowledge limitation.People of middle class want to improve their present condition and social status,so they try to prettify themselves in language.During the past decades,in some English speaking countries,a lot of euphemism emerged and was developing qui
4、ckly because of the increase of the people of middle class.Formation devicesMost euphemisms are formed by morphological devices,phonetic devices,spelling devices,lexical devices,and rhetorical devices.Morphological devices include word-forming methods such as compounding,back formation,acronymy and
5、clipping.For instance,the acronym BM is formed from bowel movement(大便);the word lav is the clipped form of lavatory(洗手间).Lexical devices are often employed to attain euphemistic objective.That is,to substitute a taboo word with pejorative in meaning.For instance,agent for spy,speculator for gambler,
6、silencer for murderer.Borrowing is a favorite method for students,especially in the Victorian Age.Figures of speech are also effective means to serve euphemistic function.These are metaphorical transfer(as in meat technologist for butcher),negation(as in unwise for stupid),understatement(as in the n
7、eedy for the poor)and periphrasis(as in visually retarded for blind).The euphemisms for deathDeathisoneofexpressions.Theeuphemismsfor deathareawidelyuseditem,especiallywhenitconcernsonesownfamiliesandfriends.e.g.passaway（过世）、togowest（归西天）、tickthebucket（翘辫子）、togotosleep（长眠）、tocloseoneseyes（闭眼）、toexpi
8、re（逝世）、toendonesday（寿终）、tolaydownoneslife（牺牲）、tobreatheoneslast（咽气）、topaythedebtofnature（了结尘缘）、tocrossovertotheotherside（去世）等等The euphemisms for povertyandunemploymentThetopicofpovertyandunemploymentmightcausesomeembarrassment,sopeopleoftenuseeuphemismwhentheirtalksconcernsuchthings.Forexample,badly
9、off（短缺的）、lesswelloff（不太宽 裕 的）、downononesluck（时 运 不 济）、hardupformoney（缺钱）、indifficulty（处于困境）；have-nots（不富有的人）unemployment:“tobedevelopinganewproject”.InAmerica“unemployedmen”arecalled“claimants”,while,inBritain,theyarecalled“tobeonpublicassistance”or“thelessfortunate”.Theeuphemismsfortheage andweight
10、Theage,especiallyawomansageisregardedasasensitive privacy.Andmostofthewesternpeopleareafraidofgetting old,so“oldpeople”or”oldage”caneasilycausethefearofthe oldpeople.Someeuphemisticexpressionstakeplaceofthem,suchas“gettingon(inyears),secondchildhood,adistinguishedgentleman,agrandedame,thirdage”.They
11、arenot“old”but“long-lived”.Inwesterncountry,itisveryimpoliteifyoutalkabout someonesfigureandweightwithoutreservation.Ifsomeoneis“fat”,“overweight”isoftenusedtoreplaceit.Tomale,“fat”is called“stout”;tofemale,“afatgirl”iscalled“afullerfigureorplump”;tochild,itiscalled“chubby”.Onthecontrary,ifsomeoneis
12、toothin,euphemismisalsoused.Tomale,itiscalled“lean”,andtofemale,itiscalled“slim,slender orsvelte”.King Size&Queen Size When women go to buy pentyhose(连连裤袜裤袜)in English,they can often see“Queen size”just likeKing Size,its for fat people.This is also a kind of euphemism.Forexample,“mentalhospitalormen
13、tal healthcenter”isaeuphemismfor“madhouse”;“mortuaryorfuneral”isaeuphemismofdeadhouse.Somesmallcompaniesorsmallenterprisesliketousetheword“industry”,suchashotelindustry,tourist industry,garageindustry,womensbeautyindustry etc.Theeuphemismfortheoffice andtradeConclusion As an important language pheno
14、menon,euphemism will surely have an influence on the human language.Yet it still needs further study,not only from lexicon level,but also from the level of grammatical and phonetic.Besides,we also need to study the fundamental principles governing the building of euphemisms and the basic characteristics of euphemistic expressions.THX