中西语言文化对比

show difficulty in distinguishing between imaginary and factual material/with credibility gap
need help in learning to adhere to rules standards of fair play
1.官方委婉语
•美国政府机构汇集了各种官方英语(officialese)，文 武官员职员分别盛行联邦政府官僚英语 (bureaucratese)、五角大楼英语(Pentagonese)、 国务院英语(State-Departmentese)、官腔英语 (gobbledygook)以及各地方市政府英语 (urbababble)。
e.g. To my no small astonishment, I found the house on fire.
Her face wasn’t a bad one; it had what they called charm. 英语常用一些否定的形式拐弯抹角的表达强烈的肯定 意义
e.g. I couldn’t feel better. One could not be too careful in a new
这类动词的名词化结构往往也能转移否定 It is not our opinion that your supposed contract is practical.
（2）用肯定的形式来表达否定的意义，这类表达法常 见于含蓄虚拟句、反意问句、省略句、诅咒句和讽刺 语。
2.职业委婉语(occupational euphemism)
在当代英美社会里，人们为了装饰门面，提高 某些行业的社会地位，满足自尊心和虚荣心， 常常创造一些悦耳动听、冠冕堂皇的委婉语 (uplifting word or impressive title)来称呼某些职 称或职业。 meat technologist (=butcher)屠夫 prison officer (=gaoler)监狱看守 research consultant (=file clerk)档案管理员 law enforcement officer(=cop)警察 ......
"Euphemism is generally defined as substituting an inoffensive or plesant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words". （Neaman & Silver)
I used to think I was poor. Then they told me I wasn't poor, I was needy. They told me it was self-defeating to think myself as needy, I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad image, I was underprivileged. Then they told me underprivileged was overused, I was disadvantaged. I still don't have a dime, but I have a great vocabulary! (W. Redfern: Clichés and Coinages) 我以前总以为自己穷，后来他们告诉我，我并非 “穷”，而是“拮据”；而后他们又告诉我，认为 自己“拮据”未免自我坍台，还是说“被剥夺文化 教育权利”；而后他们又说“被剥夺”三字形象不 好，应该说“机遇不佳”；而后他们又说，这个说 法已经用腻了。现在应该说“情况不利”。到头来 我还是身无分文。可词儿却有了一大堆。
need help in learning to respect the property rights of others
have qualities of leadership but need help in learning to use them democratically
She experiences difficulty exercising selfcontrol: (a) verbally, (b) physically.
e.g. This piece of work is nothing to be proud of.( This piece of work is disgraceful)
这种有节制（controlled）而又漫不经心的(casual)曲 言（meiosis）,往往带有幽默和冷嘲的味道。
e.g. It was nothing, a pinprick. He had five sandwiches and a quart of milk for
使用委婉语常常是为了回避或掩盖某些严酷的社 会现实，或为了防止“出语伤人”，避免“有失 传统”，以显得文明礼貌。
“死亡”：pass away, breath one's last, go to one's Maker, sleep with one's fathers, go to glory, go to a better world...
neighborhood.
英语一些含有“多余否定（pleonastic negation）” 的句子，也用否定的形式表达肯定的语义。 e.g. What dirty means would he not resort to.
I don’t know how far I didn’t run.
汉语也有类似的“多余否定” 例如： 街上人来人往，好不热闹。 见到她，我不觉又惊又喜。 她脚一滑差点没有摔倒。
“死亡”：“去世”、“寿终”、“作古”、 “归寄”、“百年”、“三长两短”······ “崩”“晏驾”（帝王之死）、“薨”（诸侯之 死）、“卒”（大夫之死）、“不禄”（士之死）
然而，与汉语相比，英语的委婉语不仅数量多， 使用频繁，而且涉及的范围也相当广泛，几乎 涉及现代社会生活和公私事物的各个方面。其 中许多委婉语带有浓厚的社会文化色彩，大都 轻松俏皮，颇有趣味，让人忍俊不禁，是一大 特色，在汉语里往往没有相应的表达法。ty (=used car)用过的车 industrial action(=strike)罢工 golden years (old age)老年时期 willowy (=slender)苗条，柳腰，婀娜多 姿 Let's go to Reno. 咱们去离婚吧。 ......
委婉语固然可以使人们避免许多难堪的局面，减少 不必要的摩擦，调节人际间的关系，但过多地使用 委婉语却给人们一种闪烁其词、矫揉造作的印象。 许多委婉语还被用来掩盖事实，欺骗公众，影响人 们直接的思想交流。
Such indirectness may seem amusing, but people also use a sinister kind of euphemism to mask realities that ought not be concealed. The CIA, for instance, substitutes the vague pharse "terminate with extreme prejudice" for the ugly word "murder".... Such transparent attempts to make killing human beings sound inoffensive are dangerously misleading(E. McMahan&S. Day).
his snack. The house has been here since 1880,and no
hurricane had ever bothered it.
英 国 人 在 言 辞 中 宁 可 用 低 调 词 （ down-toner ） 如 rather，quite，all right， somewhat来代替高调词如 very，best，worst。 e.g. She’s rather good-looking.
3. 委婉否定（indirect negation）:把直接的否定变得 含蓄、婉转，使口气显得温和而不武断，谦逊而留有 余地。 （1）用转移否定（transferred negation）的方法使否 定的口气显得间接而不唐突。 e.g. We don’t believe that Chinese is inferior to any other language in the world. I don’t suppose you need to worry.
中西语言文化对比
——委婉语，含蓄，迂回
一、委婉（Euphemism)
委婉说法是用一种比较婉转、间接的方式来谈论不 宜直言的人或事物。
"a mild or vague or periphrastic expression as a substitute for blunt precision or disagreeable truth" (H. W. Fowler)
He has written quite a number of books.
言辞低调还表现在少用激烈的词语，避免滥用形容词 和副词。 urgent, danger, crisis…
2.间接肯定（litotes）:亦称“曲言法”，即用否定的 词语，强调其反义，这种用反说代替正说的弱式双重 否定往往能产生委婉的效果。
二、含蓄（Implicitness）
英美民族富于幽默，表达时常常不把要说的话直 接说出来，而是用某种间接，含蓄的方式陈述。 汉语也有含蓄表达法，但较常用作修辞手段。 英语常用的含蓄表达方式： 1. 低调陈述 2. 间接肯定 3. 委婉否定 4. 婉转暗示
1. 低调陈述（understatement）: 以含蓄的语气故意 把大事化小，用轻描淡写的言辞来加深对方的影响。
五角大楼英语(Pentagonese) 侵略战争：international armed conflict 空袭：air support 杀死敌人：neutralize the adversary 退却(retreat)：exfiltration(撤出)、an adjustment of the front (战线调整) 战败(defeat)：strategic withdrawal(战略撤退) 国务院英语(State-Departmentese) useful and bussinesslike meeting(有益而一本正 经的会晤）→一次什么也没解决的会晤 serious and candid discussion(认真而坦率的讨 论）→事实上存在着重大的分歧
3.学校委婉语
Harsh Expression (Avoid)
Euphemism (Use)
lie撒谎
cheat作弊
steal偷窃
a bully 恃强凌弱 She cannot control herself. She said what she should not at all say and did what she should not at all do. 言行不能自控
•官僚英语(bureaucratese)： ecnomic adjustment→economic crisis （掩盖经济危机的存在，从而避免人们对西方经济 失去信心） 严重的失业现象：underultilization/human resources underdevelopment
以下是穷人的自述，用来讽刺官方的委婉语：