Euphemism In China

Cultural Differences in Chinese and English Euphemisms

Abstract: Euphemism, a common linguistic phenomenon in different cultures, is defined on the lexical-level in this thesis. This thesis is to make a contrastive study of English euphemisms and Chinese euphemisms. Its development is the outcome of various socio-psychological factors. The study of English euphemisms will surely shed light on English teaching in China.

Key words: Euphemism; Culture; Intercultural communication

Introduction: Euphemism is an idiomatic expression which loses its literal meanings and refers to something else in order to hide its unpleasantness. For example, “kick the bucket” is a euphemism that describes the death of a person. In addition, many organizations use the term “downsizing” for the

John Donne in his poem “The Flea” employs euphemism. He says: “Mark but this flea, and mark in this, How little that which thou denies me is; It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be. Thou know’st that this cannot be said A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two; And this, alas! is more than we would do.” In order to persuade his beloved to sleep with him, the speaker in the poem tells her how a flea bit both of them and their blood got mixed in it. This is a euphemism.

Example 3. “The Squealer”, a character in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, uses euphemisms to help “the pigs” achieve their political ends. To announce the reduction of food to the animals of the farm, Orwell quotes him saying: “For the time being,” he explains, “it had been found necessary to make a readjustment of rations.” Substituting the word “reduction” with “readjustment” was an attempt to suppress the complaints of other animals about hunger. It works because reduction means “cutting” food supply while readjustment implies changing the current amount of food.

3. Examples of Euphemism in