Euphemism in China and English-speaking countries(英语论文).doc

I. Introduction With the development of modern society, many countries all around the world communicate with each other more and more in culture, politics and economy. As an important figure of speech, euphemism exists in all languages and its social functions are also broadening. Euphemism is a kind of common linguistic phenomenon which exists relatively to direct speech. With regard to the study of euphemism, it is limited to the range in related to taboo. In fact, euphemism takes shape with the interaction or influence of speech situations to express a mental need of the communicative subjects and speakers who use it. In our daily life and even in the cross-cultural interaction, it is often the case that some people have to tell harsh, blunt, unpleasant or offensive things to others, but they try to avoid mentioning them directly for fear of hurting others’ feelings and use better-sounding expressions, the “gilded words”, which is the best way for us to exchange with others when some sensitive topics are concerned. Although people in every country all use euphemism to deliberately avoid mentioning something harsh or blunt for fear of hurting others’ feelings, the use of euphemism is rather complex, for the circumstances and conditions under which euphemism should be used differ from person to person, from profession to profession, from place to place. It would seem that the urge to speak euphemistically is a universal trait, varying in scope and motive with different individuals in different circumstances. If it is misused, it will cause misunderstanding and a negative effect. Euphemism is not only a phenomenon of social languages, but also a phenomenon of culture. It has been deeply rooted in all aspects of our social life and makes languages in flux. Euphemism reflects various cultural values in different countries. Hence, in order to interact well in the international situation, we should not only know cultural values of euphemism in our own country, but a