英语委婉语.docx

英语委婉语.docx

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英语委婉语

CULTURALFLAVOROFENGLISHEUPHEMISMS

1.0Introduction

Theword“euphemism”meansspeakinggoodfame.Almostallculturesseemtohavecertionnotionsorthingsthatpeopletrytoavoidmentioningdirectly,evenifthereissuchaterminthelanguage.Whensuchanotionorthinghastobereferredto,peopleareaccustomedtosubstitutingadifferenttermorphrasethatsoundsnicer.Toacertainextent,rhetorichasalwaysbeenrestrictedbycultureconsciousness,soareeuphemisms.Theuseofeuphemismsisacommonphenomenonofvariousnations.Euphemismshavebeenusedinpolitics,economy,educationandhuman’slife.Moreover,theyalwaysreflectmentality,feelingsandattitudetowardslife.ThispaperwillmainlydiscusstheculturalflavorinEnglisheuphemisms.

2.0Definitionandclassificationofeuphemism

2.1Definition:

Thename“Euphemism”comesfromtheGreekeu,“good”,andpheme，“speaking”or“saying”,andthusmeansliterally“tospeakwithgoodwordsorinapleasantmanner”①.Euphemitingisgenerallydefinedassubstitutinganinoffensiveorpleansanttermforamoreesplicit,offensiveone,therebyveneeringthetruthbyusingkindwords.WebsterThirdEditiongivesthedefinitionsasfollows:

1.Thesubstitutionofanagreeableorinoffensivewordsorexpressionforonethatisharsh,indelicate,otherwiseunpleasantortaboo;allusiontoanoffensiveespression.2.Apolite,tactfulorlessesplicittermusedtoavoidthedirectnamingofanunpleasant,painfulorfrighteningreality.Euphemismsareverycommonwithinallnastions.Theuseofeuphemismsdiffersinmanyrespectsbecauseofeachnation’shistory,socialcustomsandmoralstandard.

2.2Classification:

Generallyspeaking,therearetwokindsofEuphemisms:

oneisthetraditionaleuphemism,whichisconnectedwiththetaboowords.Suchasfour-letterwords,death,illness.Theotheristhestylisticeuphemism,whichisnotconnectedwiththetaboowords.Itisthe“diplomatic”wayofusingalessoffensiveorlessdirectwordorphraseorsayingtoreplacesomethingunpleasantorharsh.②Itiskindoftactfulexpression.Itisprimarilyusedinoccupation,theporr,theold,etc.Wecanfindsuchwordsinsomeairlinecompanies:

deluxeclassorpremiumclass（thefirstclass）,butthefirstclass（thesecondclass）,business/economic/touristclass（thethirdclass）.Moreover,weshouldpaymoreattentiontothecharacteristicsofeuphemism.Beinglookedhorizontally,differentcountrieshavedifferenteuphemisms.Suchas”thelunarcalenderin1933issymbolizedbytherooster”.Whyisitaroosterinsteadofacock?

BecauseintheU.S.A.,cock,thesameasass,bull,isataboo.Beinglookedvertically,differenteuphemismhasdifferenttimesmark.BeingaspecialcharacteristicofVictorianliterature,euphemismreflectsamentalormoralwayofinwhichitwasindecoroustospeakopenlyofthelegsofatable,andofwhichtheverywordunmentionablesisarevealingsymbol.Beforethat,especiallyinthenovelandtheplay,literaturewassufficientlyoutspoken,andwritersduringthepresentcenturyarecertainlynotbackward,incallingaspade.

3.0TheMotiveofEuphemism

Themotivesforgeneratingeuphemismsareasdiverseandasuniversalastherangeofhumanemotions.Fearandadesiretoplacatethemysteriousforcesthatruletheuniversewereprobablythereasonsforeuphemizing.Indilutedandsubtlerforms,theseunderlyingimpulsesarestillwithustoday,welardoursentenceswithexpressionslike”knockonword”③withouteverthinkingthatwedosotoavertevil.Wearesubjecttoothervarietiesoffearaswell.Afraidtofloutsocialandmoralconventions,werefertoourloversasCOMPATIONS,thusdisguisingtheunconventionalorsociallyunacceptablenatureoftherelationship.Ourfearofspecificdiseaseshasledustocoinalexiconofeuphemismsforinsanityandretardation,epilepsy,venerealdisease,cancer,heartdiseaseandstroke.WealsosufferfromageneralizedterrorofeverysortofDISABILITY---theworditselfisaeuphemism---anddisfigurementand,whilewefeartheseconditions.Weareequallyafraidofthesocialrejectionthatmightattachtousifwehadthem.

Anothermotiveforcontemporaryeuphemizingisourstrongdesiretoavoidoffendingothers.Thefearofcausingpsychicpainandthedesiretobewellthoughtofleadustouse“kindwords”,weprefertoDISCONTINUEratherthanto“fire”employees.Inoureagernesstoavoiddeflatingouregosandthoseofothers,weoftencreateeuphemismsthatinflatethem,forexample,byconferringoverblowntitlesonpeopleplacesandjobs.Theterm“professor”hasbeenattachedtobartenders,magiciansandsnakeoilsalesman,aswellasacademics.Theterms“institute”and“college”havebeenappliedtoschoolsforautomechanics,televisionrepairmen,barbers,embalmersandothers.

Thesentimentalizingtendencywenotedaboveisstillaneverpresentforcebehindtheeuphemismswecreatewhenwereferto“thewife”asTHELITTLEWOMANand“oldage”asTHEGOLDENYEARS④.If,inthespiritofthenewfranknessofspeech,thissentimentalbentisonthewane,itwillbereplacedbynewmotivationsforcreatingneweuphemisms.Forthenatureofeuphemismischanging.Obviously,oursisaperiodofchange,andwillitbefascinatingtoobservewherewenextturnourlinguisticattention.Willitbewar,computers,humanemotionorsomehithertocompletelyunconsideredsubject?

4.0ThegrowthofEnglishEuphemism

Thesubjectoftheearliesteuphemism,whichwasdeeplyinfluencedbytheAncientGreekCivilization,wasundoubtedlyreligious.

In55B.C,JuliusCaeasarledtwoinvasionstoBritain,whichmadethelocalCeltsabsorbtheGreekculture.In597B.C,theChristianitywasintroducedtoBritain,alargenumberofLatinwordsfollowedintoBritain,whichgaveenergytotheAnglo-Saxoncivilization.ThiswasaculturerevolutionduringtheEnglishdevelopment,whichnotonlyhaveenrichedthevocabulary（somewordsrelatedtoreligiousproduced）,butalsohaveimprovedtheexpressionoftheabstractthings.Atthattime,Godswhetherbenignormalevolentweretreatedwithrespectamountingtoterror.AmongtheGods,Deathwasthemostpowerful,somanypeoplewholovedlivescreatedsomanynewwordstoavoidmentioningdeath.

Intheyearof1066,NormanconqueredBritain.ThelanguageofFrenchwasinvogue,theupperandmiddleclasslookeddownontheAnglo-SaxonEnglish（whichwasregardedasinvaluable）.,theyborrowedmanynewFrenchwordstoexpresstheireminenceandself-cultivatshment.Inthisway,theNormanprovidesthemodernEnglishwithanabundanteuphemisms,thoughmostofthemajoritywasoutofuse,suchas,beef,mutton,pork,bacon,poultry,pigeon,biscuit,cream,raisin,lemon.Bythetimeofthe14thcentury（theofficiallanguagewasstillFrench）,JeffreyChaucer,whowasageniuslanguagemaster,enrichedtheeuphemismgreatly.Hewasthefirstonetocreatetheeuphemismsaboutsex.Shakespearewasideallyplacedtothrustanarsenalofsexualinnuendoesintoeachdramaticspeechandsonnet.Hereflectedhissociety’spanacheanditsstrangemixtureofriliqiousityandirreverenceinhischaracters’wordsaboutsweating.Atthesametime,thecourtlanguagewithstrongeuphemismflavorcameintobeing,whichcanbecalledtheancestorforpoliticaleuphemism.

Intheearly1680,theword“euphemism”appearedinEnglish.Aftertheyearof1660,euphemisms,whichreferredtopartsofbody-forbiddenterritory,gotmorefreedom.Uptothe19thcentury,thecommonpeopleusedmorewordsconcerningtheft,crimesandotherjargons,buttheupperandhighclasswasverysensitiveformoney,sex,death,etc.WhenOscarWildepubliclytriedforhomosexuality,asubjectthathadneverbeenairedsowidelybefore,hedefendedhisparticulartasteas“thelovethatdarenotspeakitsname”⑤.Inthe20thcentury,D.H.Lawrence’workswerealmostacollectionofallkindsofeuphemism,especiallyconcerningsex.DuringWorldWarOneandWorldWarTwo,euphemismconcerningwarwasaddedinEnglish.In1960s---1970s,thewomen’smovement,thefightforNegro,theyounggeneration’srebel,drugculture,coldwar,disintegrationofSoviet,nuclearradiationenrichedtheeuphemism.Itissaidthateuphemismisnotsovividandrichwithouttheabove.

Fromtheabove,differenthistoricaltimeprovidesdifferentculturalculturalcontentsforeuphemism.ThegreatchangesinAmericanlanguagewerefeltafterWorldWarOneandWorldWarTwo,andduringthe1960sthecounterculturemovementitselfwasareactiontowar.Obviously,culturalchangeshavecausedlinguisticchanges.Someday,itmayamusealinguistichistoriantonotethatinthe1980stherichestsubjectsofAmericaneuphemismweremoney,war,disease,politicsandwar.

5.0AnalysisofEuphemism’sCulturalFlavor

5.1Politics,MilitaryAffairsandDiplomacy

Manyeuphemismshavereflectedtheproblemsofpoliticalstruggles,militaryconfrontation,racialproblems,aggressionrepression,andtheissuesofnuclearandenvironment（protection）.

Everygovernmenthasitslinguisticprotocol.TheAmericangovernmenthasbeendescribedasanassemblyofthosespeakingbureaucratese,Pentagonese,statedepartmenttese,gobbledygookandalocalcitydialectcalled”⑥urbababble”.TheBritishhasgonesofartolistcategoriesofwordsthemselves,thatmaynotbeutteredinParliament,thusinadvertentlyencouragingBritishstatesmentocoinneweuphemisms.FoggyBottom（TheUnitedStatesDepartmentofState.Since1930,theUnitedStatesDepartmenthasbeenjocularlycalledFOGGYBOTTOMbecauseoffogginessofitsofficiallanguage）.Managednewsslantedor”doctored”⑦informationgeneratedbytheUnitedStatesgovernmentforitsownpurpose.（ThisAmericaneuphemismisares