英语中的委婉语Euphemism课件

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• Lexical devices are often employed to attain euphemistic objective.That is,to substitute a taboo word with pejorative in meaning.For instance, agent for spy, speculator for gambler, silencer for murderer. Borrowing is a favorite method for students, especially in the Vphemisms for the age a nd weight
• The age, especially a woman’s age is regarded as a sensitive priva cy. And most of the western people are afraid of getting old, so “old people” or”old age” can easily cause the fear of the old peopl e. Some euphemistic expressions take place of them, such as “get ting on (in years),second childhood, a distinguished gentleman, a g rande dame, third age”. They are not “old” but “long-lived”.
• Morphological devices include word-forming methods such as compounding, back formation, acronymy and clipping. For instance,the acronym "BM" is formed from bowel movement (大便); the word "lav" is the clipped form of lavatory(洗手间).
• Figures of speech are also effective means to serve euphemistic function. These are metaphorical transfer (as in meat technologist for butcher), negation (as in unwise for stupid), understatement (as in the needy for the poor) and periphrasis (as in visually retarded for blind).
• e.g. pass away（过世）、to go west（归西天）、 tick the bucket（翘辫子）、to go to sleep（长眠）、 to close one’s eyes（闭眼）、to expire（逝世）、 to end one’s day（寿终）、 to lay down one’s life（牺牲）、 to breathe one’s last（咽气）、 to pay the debt of nature（了结尘缘）、 to cross over to the other side（去世）等
• In western country, it is very impolite if you talk about someone’ s figure and weight without reservation. If someone is “fat”, “ove rweight” is often used to replace it. To male, “fat” is called “stou t”; to female, “a fat girl” is called “a fuller figure or plump”;to chil d, it is called “chubby”. On the contrary, if someone is too thin, eu phemism is also used. To male, it is called “lean”, and to female, it is called “slim, slender or svelte”.
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The euphemisms for death
• Death is one of expressions. The euphemisms for deat h are a widely used item, especially when it concerns o ne’s own families and friends.
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Formation devices
• Most euphemisms are formed by morphological devices, phonetic devices, spelling devices, lexical devices, and rhetorical devices.
• For example,badly off（短缺的）、less well off（不太 宽裕的）、down on one’s luck（时运不济）、 hard up for money（缺钱）、in difficulty（处于困境）； have-nots（不富有的人）
• u n e m p l o y m e n t : “to be developing a new project” . In America “unemployed men” are called “claimants”, w hile, in Britain, they are called“to be on public assistan ce”or “the less fortunate” .
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The euphemisms for poverty and unemployment
• The topic of poverty and unemployment might cause so me embarrassment, so people often use euphemism wh en their talks concern such things.
three morphemes ：
“eu-”
“being good or well”,
“pheme-”
“speech”,
“-ism”
"an act or the result of an act".
So euphemism means “speaking well of”.
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Social background of the emergence of euphemism
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Conclusion
As an important language phenomenon,euphemism will surely have an influence on the human language.Yet it still needs further study,not only from lexicon level,but also from the level of grammatical and phonetic.Besides,we also need to study the fundamental principles governing the building of euphemisms and the basic characteristics of euphemistic expressions.
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King Size &
Queen Size
When women go to buy pentyhose(连裤袜)in English,they can often see “Queen size”just like"King Size",it‘s for fat people.This is also a kind of euphemism.
English Euphemism
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Definition
• Euphemism is a pleasant replacement for an objectionable word that has pejorative connotations.
• The word “euphemism” comes from ancient Greek.
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The euphemism for the office and trade
• For example, “mental hospital or mental healt h center” is a euphemism for“madhouse”; “mortuary or funeral” is a euphemism of dead house. Some small companies or small enterpris es like to use the word “industry”, such as hote l industry, tourist industry, garage industry, w omen’s beauty industry etc.
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THX~
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• The emergence and development of euphemism was caused mainly by the people of middle class. People of upper class didn’t choose their work with great care any longer because their social status has been stabilized. People of lower-class didn’t have the ability to weigh their words because of their knowledge limitation. People of middle class want to improve their present condition and social status,so they try to prettify themselves in language. During the past decades,in some English speaking countries,a lot of euphemism emerged and was developing quickly because of the increase of the people of middle class.