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1、Euphemism Lecturer-zhouwei He is a bicycle doctor. ” 此句不能译作:“他 是个骑单车的医生“,因句中的doctor是委婉 语(euphemism), 是某种职业的美称,故不作 “医生“解,而是表示repair man的涵义, 因此 应翻译为“他是个自行车修理工.“常用委婉语举例 原 称 委 婉 语 无线电修理工 radio electrician radio doctor 理发师 barber cosmotologist 家庭妇女 housewife household executive 收垃圾工人 garbage collector sa
2、nitary engineer 老人 old people senior citizensOutline I. Introduction 1.1 Definition of Euphemism 1.2 The Features of Euphemism 1.3 The Functions of Euphemism 1.4the ways how euphemism come into being II. The Application of Euphemism III. A Comparison of Euphemism between English and Chinese IV. Tran
3、slation Strategies of Euphemism I. Introduction 1.1 Definition: Euphemism is originated from the ancient Greek “euphemismos,” in which the prefix “eu” means “good” or “elegant” and the root “pheme” means “speaking” or “words”. The Random House College Dictionary defines it as “ a substitution of a m
4、ild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt.” 语言与语言学词典把委婉语定义为“用一种不 明说的、能使人感到愉快的或含糊的说法,代替具 有令人不悦的含义或不够尊敬的表达方法”. Euphemism 一词源于希腊语，由吉利话（ Words of good omen）的意思，现在普遍 使用的委婉语定义是“温和，含糊和迂回的 说法对粗俗、生硬和直率的替代”。 委婉语起源于远古,维多利来女王时代中期为其鼎 盛时期,在现代英语中, 其出现频率依然颇高,因为 人们通过委婉语,可以用温顺
5、悦耳的词语去谈论或 叙述一些原来令人不快或逆耳之事物.为此,他们用 domestic help, day help或live-in help代替mail或 servant(佣人); 以custodian或superintendent替代 doorkeeper, caretaker或janitor(看门人或管理人); 用She has a tile loose或She has a cylinder missing去代替She is crazy或She is not right in the head(神经失常).1.2 Features 1.2.1 Time. The same object m
6、ay have different expressions in different times. For example, “trousers” had several substitutions as “indescribables , unspeakables, sit-upons” and so on several hundred years ago. The followings take “pregnant” as an example to illustrate the changes of euphemism in different times. 1) She has ca
7、nceled all her social engagements. (1856) 2) She is in an interesting condition. (1890) 3) She is in a delicate condition. (1895) 4) She is knitting little booties. (1910) 5) She is in a family way. (1920) 6) She is expecting. (1935) 7) She is pregnant. (1956)More 1.2.2 Regional. For example, “沉” is
8、 a taboo along the seaside regions, thus the boat owner whose family name is “陈” is often segmented into “耳东”. In Tianjing, “ 添煤” is a taboo during spring festival and must be replaced by “添火”. “书, 梳”are avoided to mention before a match as its pronunciation is similar with “输” which means “losing”.
9、 And 1.2.3 Language register (语域性).People of different ages, social status, or educational background use different euphemisms. For example, ladies might replace “going to the toilet” with “powder ones nose or freshen up”, while men with “to relieve oneself, because natures calls”; and children with
10、 “go to number one, go to the pot. And 1.2.4 Universal . Although people of different classes may use various euphemisms to replace the same thing, it is, however, an universal social phenomenon which exists in peoples daily communication. 1.2.5 National 1.2.6 Idiomatic and Short-lived 1.2.7 Casual
11、II. The Application of Euphemism 2.1 Such taboos as “appearance, old, disease and death” . For example, “plain and homely” replace “ugly”, “weight watcher, plumy, and stout” are used to replace “fat”, “slender, lean” to replace “skinny”. In western countries, “old” is a taboo, thus many substations
12、have appeared such as “ advanced in age, senior, elderly”. As for “disease”, “long disease” is to replace “cancer” while “heart condition” for “heart attack disease”. “ Death” is a taboo for all human beings and has the largest number of substitutions. It is said that there are almost 102 euphemisms
13、 for death in English, it is also rich in substitution for death in Chinese. More 2.2 About sex. 2.3 About poverty. For example, “needy” for “poor”, “substandard housing” for “slum”. Many decent euphemisms are created to satisfy peoples vanity. For instance, “garbage collector” “street orderly” and
14、“sanitary engineer” for “dust man”, “assistant” for “secretary” and so on. More 2.4 In education, euphemism are found prolific. (page 80 for examples). 2.5 In social affairs such as economic difficulties, political relations, euphemisms are used to beatify or cover up the truth so as to distract the
15、 publics attention. (page 79-81 for more examples) 1.3 Functions of Euphemism 1.3.1 To invite good luck. 1.3.2 To be elegant 1.3.3 To be polite 1.3.4 To cover up the truth -to be continuedWhats more 1、代替禁忌语，这些委婉语通常称传统委 婉语，种种语言都有一些词语属于忌讳的 范围。这是因为客观存在的某些事物或思 想，受到社会制约，不宜直说，而必须用 另一钏说法却取代，这就是委婉语，英语 中的忌讳语多是与身体某些器官及功能或 宗教有关，包括脏话（obscene）粗俗语（ vulgar）和触犯神灵的话（profane）与性 有关的的人们最忌讳的，所以骂人常用这 些话， 英语中的一些词如fuck、cut、penis都有相 关的委婉表达法，人们经常不愿说go to toilet而是说go to washing room或restroom 等，另一类禁忌语产生于人产对神灵的恐 惧和崇拜，他们使用委婉语，一是因为神 灵不可侵
