ABriefDiscussiononEuphemism浅谈委婉语Ⅰ.WhatisEuphemism1.Theword“euphemism”derivesfromancientGreek.“Eu”inancientGreekmeanswellorsoundingwell.“Pheme”meansspeech.Sothemeaningofthewholewordis“wordsofgoodomen”or“goodspeech.”Whenconductingthesocialcommunications,accordingtothepoliteprinciple,peoplealwaysusesomeimplicit,elegantandmildexpressionstoreplacethosethatareharsh,vulgarandviolenttohelpthemovercomethepsychologicalobstaclesandgetridoftheunpleasantimaginaryassociations.--DonglinFeng,Euphemism---AMirrorofSocialLife2.Aeuphemismisasubstitutionofanagreeableorlessoffensiveexpressioninplaceofonethatmayoffendorsuggestsomethingunpleasanttothelistener.--Wikipedia3.Euphemismmeanstheuseofamildorvagueorperiphrastic(转弯抹角的)expressionasasubstituteforblunt(直言不讳的)precisionordisagreeableuse.--ModernEnglishUsage,1957Ⅱ.MajorFunctioning--ReplacingtabooEverylanguagehasitsownlinguistictabooandavoidingusingtaboooncertainoccasionsisregardedasasymbolofsocialdevelopment.AppearanceInEnglish,“homely(不好看)”or“plain(一般)”isusedinsteadof“ugly(丑)”todescribeapersonwhoisnotgoodlooking.Intheagewheneveryoneisinpursuitofbeingslender(苗条的),“plumy(丰满的)”,“stout(壮实的)”,“heavyset(富态)”areusedtosubstitute“fat(胖)”.Forlameperson,weusuallycallthem“physicallyhandicapped”.AgeInthewest,peopleseldomtalkaboutage,anditisespeciallythecaseforwomen.Themainreasonisthatbeingoldmeansthedecayofvigoranddeclineofeconomicandpoliticalstatus.Inthewest,thereareno“oldpeople(老人)”but“seniorcitizen”or“thelonger-lived”.InChina,oldpeoplearerespectedbecauseoftheirrichexperienceandaccumulatedwitswhereasinthewestwhenonebecomesold,onewillbekickedoutofthemainstreamofsocietyandbecomeuseless.DiseaseItiscommonforpeopleallovertheworldtoyearnforbeinghealthy.Fordiseases,especiallytheseriousones,therearealwayseuphemismssuchasthe“bigC(大写的C)”forcancerand“heartcondition(心脏状况有异)”for“heartattackdisease(心脏病)”.DeathAlthoughitisanaturallaw,everybodytriesnottousetheword“death”.ThereareoverahundredeuphemismsfordeathinEnglishsuchas“togotosleepfor