The Pragmatic Analysis of English Euphemism

【Abstract】In daily communication， euphemism is used to hidden embarrassing facts and unpleasant things.The originality of this paper lies in the study of English euphemism from the perspective of pragmatics. Some fundamental knowledge and the pragmatic functions of English euphemism will be discussed.

【Key words】English euphemism； Classification； Pragmatic function

1. Introduction

Language is the subjective response of objective society （Deng & Liu， 1989）， playing an important role in travel service， politics， military activity and foreign academic exchange. （Gu & Lu， 1990） So it is necessary for people to avoid the word which will cause embarrassment.

Therefore， in order to improve our communicative skills， it’s quite necessary for us to study English euphemism from the pragmatic aspect .

2. Literature Review

In the early 1580s， the term “euphemism”was created by George Blunt， a British writer， and defined it as “a good or favorable interpretation of a bad word”（Neaman & Silver， 1983： 4）. In 1981， the British linguist， Hugh Rawson， compiled a dictionary―A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double-talk， which discussed the definitions， functions， classifications and domains of euphemism. Then Euphemism and Dysphemism was published by Allan and Burridge in 1991， which is a valuable study of English euphemism in a pragmatic way. In 2000， The Sociolinguistics of Language was written by R. Fashold which discussed not only the historical and social background of the euphemism， but also the essence of this social phenomenon. （Li Guonan， 1989）

In brief， great contribution has been made to the research of English euphemism， but there still remain lots of aspects need to be further studied.

3. The Pragmatic Analysis of English Euphemism

As a means of communication， euphemism is used for different reasons. It may be used to avoid taboo， or for humorous and ironic effect， or for being polite and modest， or for disguising.

3.1 Avoiding taboo

Some English euphemism is related to taboo， which exists in every language. Euphemism can be used as substitutes to avoid unhappiness， anxiety and embarrassment caused by taboo words. For example， “God” is replaced by “Gad”， “Satan” by “the good man”， and “die” by “pass away”.

3.2 Being polite

In daily communication， politeness is regarded as an essential element that speakers must pay attention to. To be specific， native English speakers tend to show their politeness by using euphemism . For example， “give me the salt” is replaced by “Would you please give me the salt” and “disabled people” by “handicapped”.

3.3 Disguising

Euphemism can be used to beautify things and to avoid negative impact and it is not always used out of good motives. Euphemism can produce ambiguity and hidden truth. As a consequence， some people especially profiteers and politicians， are tend to use euphemism to make a deceit. For instance， American arms invaded Grenada in 1983. Reagan ， the American President， fit to be tied because of the word “invade” was used very much by news reporters in reporting the news. While， Reagan called it “rescue mission”. （Li Guonan， 1989）

3.4 Being humorous and ironic

This one seems less important in comparison with the former three functions. But there is no doubt that some English euphemisms can definitely make language more humorous and vivid. Here is a typical example： when someone is sent into prison we often say he lives at government’s expense instead.

3.5 Being modest

In communication， some expressions， which are called anti-euphemisms， can be used to lower the speaker's own status or uplift the hearer's status. These expressions are not“to call a spade a spade”， but “to beat around bushes”， therefore， it belongs to euphemism （Gu Jiazu， 1997： 73）， such as “your humble servant” and “my Lord”.

4. Conclusion

Euphemism has rich linguistic basis， historical background and culture. Studying the phenomenon of English euphemism is significant to open up the field of language study， to train the awareness of cross-cultural communication and to avoid the pragmatic failure.

References：

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