首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Euphemism Definition lexical meaning: —speaking with good words or in【L1】________ a polite, roundabout and 【L2】________
Euphemism Definition lexical meaning: —speaking with good words or in【L1】________ a polite, roundabout and 【L2】________
admin
2023-02-27
2
问题
Euphemism
Definition
lexical meaning:
—speaking with good words or in【L1】________
a polite, roundabout and 【L2】________ mode of expression
to make unpleasant things sound better
to make people avoid【L3】________
Origin
euphemisms originate from verbal taboos
—the names of【L4】________ were the earliest taboo words
—words to replace the taboo words were the earliest euphemisms【L5】________
positive and negative
—positive euphemisms:
—also called stylistic euphemisms or【L6】________ euphemisms
—inflate and【L7】________
—negative euphemisms:
—also called traditional euphemisms
—deflate and【L8】________
unconscious and conscious
—unconscious euphemisms:
—used unconsciously; no intent to【L9】________
—conscious euphemisms:
—speakers are conscious to say tactfully
—listeners understand【L10】________
Euphemisms in【L11】________
euphemisms related to names
—in China: more euphemisms about names
—e. g. 【L12】________was forbidden to be called
—in the UK or the US: few euphemisms about names
—e. g. children can have the same names as their parents
euphemisms related to old age
—in China: proud of being old; few euphemisms
—in America: 【L13】________ of being old; a lot of euphemisms
euphemisms related to【L14】________
—in Western countries: a symbol of【L15】________
—in China: not a shame
【L1】
Euphemism
Good morning, boys and girls. In today’s lecture, we will focus on euphemism. In our society, some acts are taboos, because they’re unacceptable. To avoid unpleasantness, embarrassment or horror, people will find a new way to talk about them, by selecting or coining new words to replace existing ones which are thought to have picked up the unpleasant or undesirable associations— then there appears the euphemism. The word "euphemism" comes from Greek. In Greek, "eu-" means good or "well," the root "-phem" means "speech," and "-ism" is a noun suffix. Therefore, the term "euphemism" means literally, speaking with good words or in a pleasant manner." Though in different books, euphemism has been defined differently, all those definitions share the same point: A euphemism is a polite, roundabout, and indirect mode of expression which is used to talk about something unpleasant. It can make the unpleasant things sound better, and make people feel good; it can make both the speaker and the hearer avoid losing face. Now let’s look at the origin of euphemisms.
Euphemisms originate from verbal taboos, and verbal taboos originate from religious superstition. Almost every culture has its own taboos. In uncivilized and crude society, the primitives were often confronted with puzzling and threatening situations and phenomena, such as death and disease. As they couldn’t understand and explain the extraordinary events, they worshiped, and even dreaded the supernatural. Such psychology leads to superstition, and people dare not call them by name directly, so they work out indirect terms to replace them. Thus their names became the earliest taboo words, and other words used to replace them became the earliest euphemisms. When a taboo word is abandoned, people have to find another word to fill up the vacancy. That’s the way euphemisms are created. Then, let’s talk about the classification of euphemisms. Euphemisms can be classified into many categories according to different criteria, rules or principles. There is no uniform standard, but the motives of the different classifications are to discover and understand the characteristics of euphemisms from different angles.
Here, we will give a brief introduction to two representative classifications of euphemisms. First, positive euphemisms and negative euphemisms. Hugh Rawson divides euphemisms into two general types— positive and negative. Positive euphemisms can also be called stylistic euphemisms or exaggerating euphemisms, which "inflate and magnify, making the euphemized items seem altogether grander and more important than they really are." Negative euphemisms are extremely ancient, and closely connected with the taboos. They are also called "traditional euphemisms." They deflate and diminish. They are defensive in nature, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise eradicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly." Second, conscious euphemisms and unconscious euphemisms. Euphemisms, whether positive or negative, can be divided into two classes: unconscious and conscious according to whether the euphemistic meaning is correlative with the original meaning or not. Unconscious euphemisms were developed long ago, and are used unconsciously, without any intent to deceive or evade. Take "indisposition" for instance, the original meaning of the word is "incapacity to deal with something" and its euphemistic meaning is "slight illness or ill health." It has been used frequently for so long that few can remember their original motivations. Conscious euphemisms are widely employed, which involves more complex categories. When people communicate with each other, speakers are conscious to say tactfully, and the listeners understand their implied meanings. For example, when a lady stands up and says that she wants to powder her nose or "make a phone call" at a dinner party, the people present realize the euphemism means "something else," that is, "going to the ladies’ room." As cultures are different from each other, one item that needs a euphemism in a culture does not necessarily need one in another.
So, now we’d like to talk about some situations of euphemisms in different cultures. First, euphemisms related to names. The Chinese culture places an emphasis on names. In ancient times, people were forbidden to call the emperor’s name directly. The common people even had no right to mention the characters having the same sound as the emperor’s name. However, there are few euphemisms about names in English. People in the UK or the US even call their parents’ names directly to show their friendly relation. Furthermore, it is inoffensive for the young to have the same names as the old. Second, euphemisms related to old age. Chinese and English have different connotations about "old age." In China, old people are thought to be more experienced, and people show great respect to them, so they are proud of being old and there are few euphemisms for old age. However, Americans are afraid of becoming old. They want to act, feel and look young. In their opinion, the old people live a lonely life and are no longer energetic, so there are a lot of mild and roundabout expressions to show the concept of "old age." Last, euphemisms related to fatness. In Western countries, fat is a symbol of stupid, so to mention the word "fat" directly is impolite.
The people who have no self-made dint will deliver fat, so the word "fat" is a word that contains a derogatory sense. The euphemism of "fat" is weight-watcher in English. And people say "heavyset" or "on the heavy side" to express the euphemistic sense. But in China, fatness was once treated as a kind of beauty during the Tang Dynasty, so people don’t think being fat is a shame. OK, today we have discussed the meaning of euphemisms, the classification of euphemisms and different euphemisms in different cultures. As a normal phenomenon of language, euphemisms are widely used in all human interactions, and can be observed everywhere in all human societies. They are not only the grease of language, but also the accumulation of social culture. In our next lecture, we will get a close look at the principles of euphemisms.
选项
答案
a pleasant manner
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/dVQiFFFM
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Writeanessaybasedonthechartbelow.Inyourwriting,youshould1)interpretthechart,and2)giveyourcomments.Youshou
Inthepast20yearsalone,threecoronaviruseshavecausedmajordiseaseoutbreaks.FirstcametheoriginalSARSvirusin2002.
Inthepast20yearsalone,threecoronaviruseshavecausedmajordiseaseoutbreaks.FirstcametheoriginalSARSvirusin2002.
Inthepast20yearsalone,threecoronaviruseshavecausedmajordiseaseoutbreaks.FirstcametheoriginalSARSvirusin2002.
Inthepast20yearsalone,threecoronaviruseshavecausedmajordiseaseoutbreaks.FirstcametheoriginalSARSvirusin2002.
TheInternetaffordsanonymitytoitsusers,ablessingtoprivacyandfreedomofspeech.Butthatveryanonymityisalsobehind
Peoplewhousuallychowdownonchillipeppersmayliveforlongerandhaveasignificantlyreducedriskofdyingfromcardiovas
HowdoesSerkis’versiondifferfromtheoriginalone?
Despitetheabundanceandimportanceofmaize,itsbiologicaloriginhasbeenalong-runningmystery.Thebrightyellow,mouth-w
随机试题
论述赫克托尔的形象特点。
A.胃肠道问质瘤B.肾癌C.非小细胞肺癌D.甲状腺癌E.乳腺癌FDA批准索拉非尼用于治疗
A.生殖器疱疹B.外阴毛囊炎C.外阴尖锐湿疣D.生殖器梅毒E.沙眼衣原体感染外生殖器出现单发、无痛性、圆形、红色隆起硬结,表面有浆液性渗出物
产褥感染是指分娩时及产褥期的
在一个正向市场上,卖出套期保值,随着基差的缩小,那么结果会是()。
甲公司为增值税一般纳税人,适用的增值税税率为13%,所得税采用资产负债表债务法核算,适用的所得税税率为25%。资料一:甲公司2×21年实现的利润总额为2000万元。2×21年发生的部分交易和事项如下:(1)2×21年11月购入管理用
下列体现了导游词的创造要以人为本的是()。
依次填入横线处的词语,最恰当的一组是()。物质_________的时代过去了,生产不再是发展的_________,产能出现了过剩,消费才是制约发展的重要因素,________经济增长真正和持久的动力是最终消费需求。
《左传》
Giventhelackoffitbetweengiftedstudentsandtheirschools,itisnotsurprisingthatsuchstudentsoftenhavelittlegood
最新回复
(
0
)