[Abstract] Euphemism is derived from taboo, which is used to describe something inappropriate to talk about directly in communication. It is a cultural phenomenon as well as a rhetorical device. It is also a proper language pattern people created in social communication in order to make the communication effective. It plays an important role in our daily life. The most important social functions of euphemism are evasive function, polite function and cosmetic function. Political euphemism is a type of euphemism, so it has the feature of euphemism. Political euphemism is used widely by politicians, through which they can deliver their real information in a mild way without any harshness. This article will make an introduction of the origin, social functions and the application of euphemisms, and then discuss respectively the political euphemisms used in internal and international aspect and the rhetorical application of political euphemisms.
[Key Words] social function; political euphemism; rhetorical application 【摘 要】 委婉语起源于民俗禁忌，人们在交际中用来描述不宜直言的人或事物，既是一种修辞手法，又是一种文化现象。委婉语又是人们在社会交际中为谋求理想的交际效果而创造的一种适当的语言形式。它在生活中发挥着十分重要的交际功能。最主要的有避讳功能，礼貌功能，掩饰、美化功能。政治委婉语是委婉语的一个范畴，沿袭了普通委婉语的特征，广为政治家们所用。它使政治家们得以一种温和、不带任何刺激性的表达方式传递其真正的信息。本文将从委婉语的起源、社会功能、修辞入手，分别阐述政治委婉语的国际国内使用情况和政治委婉语修辞运用。
【关键词】 社会功能; 政治委婉语; 修辞运用 1. Introduction
1.1 The definition of euphemism
The English word “euphemism” derived from the Greek word “euphemismos”，which means “fair speech”. The prefix “eu-” means “good，sounding well”，and “pheme” means “saying” or “speech”. So the literal meaning of “euphemism” is “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner.” In the book of Modern Linguistics, it is defined as “a mild, indirect or less offensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh, unpleasantly direct or offensive.”[1]
1.2 The origin of euphemism
To trace the beginning of euphemisms, we can’t neglect “taboo”. In primitive society, people couldn’t explain such things as death, ailments and some supernatural phenomena. They also had confusion between the names of things and the things themselves: The name is viewed as an extension of the things. Just as the idiom says “Speak of the devil and he appears.” Naturally the words or the phrases related to these unexplainable things became taboos.
For ordinary people, the safest way to avoid mentioning these things that they have to mention in many circumstances is to use another name---euphemisms to replace the true name of such a thing. In many cultures，the names of gods and devils are taboos .In order to avoid mentioning them directly, people use “gosh or golly” instead of God and “dicken or old Nick” instead of the devil. Therefore，we can safely state that “the existence of taboo words or taboo ideas stimulates the creation of euphemisms”.
In our modern society, however, the religious and superstitious relics still exist. But to a larger extent，euphemism is mostly motivated by people’s fear of death. Thus it is no wonder that such a large number of euphemisms about “death” exist: depart, decease，英语毕业论文，pass away，etc.
In short，euphemism originates from taboo. Because of the psychology of fear， people dare not or would rather not call something by name directly. If such unpleasant things have to be mentioned，people work out indirect terms to replace them. Thus euphemisms come into being. Using euphemisms gives people a feeling that they are somewhat distant from what they fear，and resorting to euphemisms seems to be a guarantee of their safety，happiness，health and good luck.
1.3 The social functions of euphemism
From the origin of euphemism, we can see that the original function of euphemism is to be used in talking about taboos. In our daily life, there are some tabooed things that are believed to be dangerous to certain individuals, or to the society as a whole, or to be disgusting and unpleasant and cause fear. Such taboo things include disease, disabilities, death, sex, body excretion and body elimination process, etc. People can use euphemisms to talk about what cannot be talked about.
With the development of our society, some new functions came into being during the communication in the civilized society. In our daily communication, besides, taboo topics, there are other sensitive and unpleasant topics which we do not feel like talking about directly, such as occupation, appearance, form of address, social status, poverty, murder, and so on. If we talk about such things directly, we may feel or make others feel embarrassed or unhappy. Such psychology in communication results in another function of euphemism, that is to show politeness and conceal feelings. For instance, unemployment and poverty are very dreadful things nowadays. In the modern way of thinking, to mention somebody’s unemployment and poverty is to speak pejoratively of his condition. So the replacements for them keep appearing. The miserable fact of unemployment is said to be “involuntarily leisured”, “between jobs”, etc. The poor becomes “the underprivileged”, and “the disadvantaged”. In Chinese, we refer to 失业 as 下岗，炒鱿鱼；被裁掉 as 给优化掉，etc. And the poor are descried as 拮据，手头紧，手头不便，囊中羞涩，etc.
From the above examples we can see that euphemisms can help to keep us more distant from the unpleasant reality, or in other words, the harsh truth has been concealed to a certain extent, that is to say, in reality，euphemisms are also often used to cover the truth. The euphemisms related to politics given excellent explanation for this. For example, the Watergate Scandal made people more sensitive to political language. It became necessary to use euphemisms to make the sensitive political concepts softened and vague. Hence，the “Caper incident” substituted “phones taps”， “go the hangout road” for “tell the truth”，and “stone wall” for “flatly refuse to cooperate”. George Orwell once illustrated the bitter irony of such linguistic phenomenon，“political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable，and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
Based on the above descriptions about the social functions of euphemisms，we can make the generalizations as follows:
(1) Euphemisms not only help the speaker avoid talking about the dreadful or embarrassed things directly, but also help the speaker or the listener feel relaxed talking about the things that might probably make him/her appear disgraced or embarrassed if spoken directly.
(2) Euphemisms are used to cover up the true nature of events, deceiving the public with nice-sounding and pseudo-technical work, and in the meanwhile it also can help some people avoid talking about sensitive things directly so that they can escape their due responsibility, even punishment.
1.4. Rhetorical application of euphemism
1.4.1. The definition of rhetoric
Before we study the rhetorical application of euphemism，it is necessary to make clear what is rhetoric. Rhetoric is “the art of using language impressively and persuasively, esp. in public speaking.”(Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, 4th edition.) Whether Speaking or writing，one has to get oneself across effectively， i.e.，to be eloquent，accurate，impressive，persuasive and expressive. The study of how to express oneself effectively，generally speaking，is the main concern of rhetoric.
1.4.2. Rhetorical application of euphemism
When we use euphemisms, we also have to think about how to express our ideas effectively. So we should make use of the rhetorical device. The rhetorical devices frequently used are as following:
(i) Metaphor
With this figure of speech，the euphemism always seems to be romantic so that the style of the language may change a lot. There are numerous euphemistic words for “die” in English. Actually some of them are vivid and informal metaphor. For instance，“go to his long home”, “go to sleep forever” and “cease to think”，etc.
(ii) Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is used to stand for another thing. The two things involved in a metonymy are not of the same kind but are closely related. Euphemism makes a good use of it. For instance, some part of human body are often euphemized with a whole part for a very special one, which is not suitable to mention directly, such as “lower parts”, or “part below” for “secret parts”, “upper parts” for “breasts”, etc.
(iii) Synecdoche
Some euphemisms are invented by synecdoche, a trope which is “a figure by which a more comprehensive term is used for less comprehensive or vice versa; as whole for part or part for whole, a genus for species or species for genus, etc.”(Oxford Dictionary) For instance, “He has a smooth tongue,” in fact, means, “He is talkative.”
(iv) Personification
Some unpleasant things are given human characteristics or human names to achieve a vivid effect. Examples:
(1)Personified euphemisms for drugs:
Big Harry for heroin，Miss Emma for morphine，
Mary Jane for marijuana，etc.
(2)Personified euphemisms for bathroom:
John (Am.E.) ，jakes，Sir John;
Mrs. Tones，Aunt (e.g. to go to one’s Aunt) (used by female only) ，etc
(v) Periphrasis
Periphrasis, as circumlocution, refers to a thing named in a roundabout way. Rawson suggests “the longer the euphemisms, the better.” They have more syllables, and frequently, two or more words will be deployed in place of a single one. For instance, “trousers” does not sound well，so “nether garments” replaces it. “Fart” is too unpleasant to the ear，so people say it as “wind from behind”.
(vi) Understatement
Understatement is a figure of speech in which an idea is deliberately expressed too weakly. It is used to play down or to minimize the importance of something. It is usually employed in three ways: litotes, meiosis and overtones. Litotes is understatement by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. It is the use of negative form for positive ideas when the speaker wishes to weaken his tone of comment on something. For example, we often use “unwise” instead of “stupid”; “impolite” instead of “rude”.
(vii) Irony
Irony is a figure of speech in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense. For example, when someone hates the weather, which spoils his trip and says, “What a fine day!” he is ironical.
Some intimate feelings or bad things are expressed resorting to irony， a figure of speech in which the meaning literally expressed is the opposite of the meaning indicated and aims at humor or sarcasm and avoid hurting others by direct expressions. In certain context，it can hold the reader’s attention and deepen its impression，therefore，a Pleasant effect could be achieved. Examples: Ministry of Defense is in fact referred to “Ministry of War”, the real meaning of “life insurance” is “insurance when you are dead”, and “freedom fighter” is substituted for “terrorists”. |
