Euphemism in English comes from Greek. The prefix "eu-" means "good, good", the stem "pheme" means "speaking", and the whole literal meaning means "auspicious words" or (good words). Generally speaking, euphemism is a gentle, subtle, elegant and pleasant expression, not a vulgar, harsh, outspoken, mean and even harmful expression. The emergence of English euphemism has its specific cultural background, which reflects the social psychology, social values and corresponding cultural traditions of English-speaking countries. Euphemism is widely used in English. Common euphemisms can be divided into the following categories:
1. Euphemism related to unfortunate events?
The most unfortunate thing for human beings is death, so what people are most afraid of should be "death". Therefore, there are many euphemisms related to death, some of which are related to religion, such as: go to the next world, rest in peace, join the immortal, answer the last call, join the vast majority, leave this world forever and return to the earth; Others have nothing to do with religion, such as kicking a bucket, jumping the last hurdle, laying down one's life, shooting the last shot, sailing for the last time, paying debts to the society, one foot in the grave, curtain call and so on. The use of these euphemisms may reduce people's pain and pin their grief on them. ?
Diseases and disabilities often bring great pain to people, so when people have to mention diseases and disabilities, they often use euphemisms to avoid bringing unhappiness to themselves and others. Such as: replacing sexually transmitted diseases with social diseases; Replacing syphilis or AIDS with preventable diseases; Replace cancer with growth; Replace heart attack with heart condition; Replace disability with physical disability or limb disability; Replace the deaf with hard of hearing or defective hearing; Replace the blind with the visually impaired; Replace mental retardation with mental retardation. ?
To some extent, poverty is also something that brings people pain and misfortune. Poverty-related topics often bring some harm to people living in poverty, so people often use euphemisms to refer to poverty-related words, such as: the poor are euphemistically called vulnerable groups (people who enjoy fewer rights than most people), less fortunate people (low-income people) and low-income people (people with little property); Widows, with children, are called "widow mothers"; Men in debt are described as "people in dissaving"; Describe slums as "substandard housing"; Call poor areas "poor areas", and so on. ?
Second, euphemisms related to privacy. ?
In English, words related to marriage and sex belong to personal privacy, and euphemisms are often used instead. For example, sexual relations without marriage are called trial marriage and free love; Call adultery "close to someone"; Making love is called having sex. Asking unmarried children to get into trouble or have an accident; An illegitimate child is called Aiko (the son of love, the crystallization of extramarital affairs). ?
In the west, age belongs to personal privacy, because many people, especially women, dare not talk about the age of others directly, and older people don't like the word "old", so there are many euphemistic expressions about "old" and "age". For example, "old man" is euphemistically called "senior citizen" or experienced old man. Call the "old politician" a distinguished gentleman; "Old age" is called "golden years". ?
Secretion and excretion are natural physiological phenomena of human beings, but they are also a kind of personal privacy, so it is not appropriate to say it directly, so fart is euphemistically called fart and fart. Call for urine and water (excretion (water production), be careful (caught off guard) and get some fresh air.
(Breathe fresh air), relax yourself, relieve yourself, do the first thing, and so on. The stool is called the second stool. ?
3. Euphemism related to occupation?
Social division of labor is very different, and people engaged in low-level occupations have a sense of status anxiety. By means of proximity principle and metonymy or metaphor, its semantics can be enhanced, so that occupations with low social status can look decent and elegant, thus greatly satisfying people's psychological needs. For example, gardeners engaged in manual labor become high-tech "landscape designers"; Pruners and tree pruners became "tree surgeons"; The barber became a "makeup artist"; The office typist became an enviable "secretary". ?
4. Euphemism related to state affairs?
Economy, politics and diplomacy are all state affairs. In order to alleviate contradictions, promote development and strengthen communication, there are also many euphemisms in these fields. For example, "economic crisis" is called "economic depression"; Call "economic recession" a period of economic adjustment; (economic adjustment period); Industrial disputes called "conflicts between employers and employees"; Call the boycott class "students restless"; Describe "news distorted and tampered by the government" as "managed news"; The strengthening of "police repression" is called "public order"; Beautify "espionage" as "public diplomacy". Is the person who stole the newspaper a plumber?
Euphemism, as a special linguistic and semantic phenomenon, contains rich cultural connotations and permeates all levels of language use. Understanding and mastering euphemism can improve the quality of people's speech acts, reduce discourse conflicts and make language communication activities go smoothly.
[References]?
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