The-Humorous-Function-of-English-Euphemism

龙源期刊网作者：黎清亚来源：《校园英语·中旬》2017年第08期【Abstract】Asauniversallinguisticphenomenoninhumansociety，euphemismiswidelyusedinallsocialclassesandfields.Itisanimportantmeanstocoordinateinterpersonalrelationship.Thisresearchdiscussessomefundamentalknowledgeofeuphemism.ItaimstoanalyzethehumorousfunctionofEnglisheuphemisminsocialinteraction，advertisementandexpressingprofessions.ThroughtheanalysisofthehumorousfunctionofEnglisheuphemism，ithelpspeopletoreducemistake，improvetheeffectofcommunicationandenhancemutualunderstanding.【Keywords】Englisheuphemism；humorousfunction；socialinteraction；advertisement；profession1.IntroductionAsacommonlinguisticandculturalphenomenon，euphemismisanimportantmeanstocoordinateinterpersonalrelationship.Itiswidelyusedinallkindsofareas，soithasarousedwideinterestsfromdifferentfieldsbothathomeandaboard.Intheearly1580s，aBritishwriter，GeorgeBlunt，createstheterm“euphemism”anddefinesitas“agoodorfavorableinterpretationofabadword”（HanLifen，2009：1）.Besides，intheeighteenthandnineteenthcentury，euphemismrapidlydevelopsintheUnitedKingdom.Therearemanyotherscholars，suchasMencken，NeamanandSilver，D.J.Enright，AllanandBurridgewhohavemadealotofcontributionstothestudyofeuphemism.Itisnecessaryforhumanbeingstocommunicateindailylife.However，becauseofthedifferenceofthelifehabits，customsandcontexts，therearemanyembarrassmentsandunhappinessinthecommunication.Therefore，itisusefultolearnhowtomakefulluseoftheeuphemismindifferentenvironmentsandcontextstominimizethehurttootherpeopleandtoachieveeffectivecommunication.Englisheuphemismisusedforthepurposeofrespectortheunwillingnessofhurtingotherssoastoreducesomeunpleasantsituationsorembarrassmentscausedbystraightforwardwordsorconcepts；andforthedesireofself-exculpationandself-comfortwhichuseeuphemismtodisguise，satisfythevanityorachieveaparticularpurpose（LuQingsheng，2013：152）.Thisresearchaimstointroducesomebasicinformationofeuphemismanditmainlytalksaboutitshumorousfunctionindifferentcontexts，suchasinsocialinteraction，inadvertisementandinprofessions.Throughthestudyofthefunctionofeuphemismscanhelppeopletohaveageneralidea龙源期刊网（2011：266）thinksthateuphemismisusedtoreferamodeofexpressionwhichismild，vagueandpoliteusedtomeansomethingunpleasant.Euphemismis，inaparticularcontext，thereactiontotheseallkindsofnegativepsychologicalreactionsorpainfulthingswhichmakepeoplefeelfear，shameful，self-abasedandsoon；informationorganizer（speakerandwriter）intentionallyappliesthetechniquesofpronunciationorgrammarformasanindirectexpressionoftheselanguagesorwordstoavoidtheinformationorganizerhimselfandthepersonwhounderstandstheinformationfeelpain（ShaoJunhang，2007：20）.Accordingtothesedefinitionsabove，itisclearthateuphemismisachoiceoflanguageinordertoachieveacertaincommunicationpurpose.Thiskindofchoiceistherequirementofsocialcommunication.Inconsequence，euphemismiscontrolledbysomesocialfactors.Therearemanyscholarsstudytheuseofeuphemism.LiuYan（2016：20）thinksthateuphemismisarhetoric，anditisaepitomeofculture；itisnotonlyameansofcommunication，butalsoawayofhumanexistence.Itiswidelyusedinpeople'slife.Asapolitelanguage，euphemismisthelubricantofsociety，andithasthefunctionofreconcilingcontradictionandrealizingthepurposeofcommunication（WangJinwei，2015：84）.Itisknownthattherearemanybenefitstouseeuphemism.Inconsequence，peopleshouldlearnhowtouseitinourcommunication.Euphemismhasagoodconvinceinlife，soitiswidelyusedinallareasofsocietybythepublicandithasgottheirfavors（DouLin，2015：213）.3.TheEmbodimentofHumorousFunctionAsweallknow，euphemismiswidelyusedinourdailylife，andithasbeenappliedinallkindsofareas，suchaseducation，career，business，politicsandsoon.Whenpeopleusethem，therearesomeunderlyingpurposes.LiuChunbao（2002：15）pointsoutthateuphemismhasthreefunctions：thefirstoneis“avoidingstimulatingandgivingapersonwithcomfort”；thesecondis“removingthevulgarwordsandgivingapersonwithelegance”；andthelastoneis“abandoningthestaleexpressionandgivingapersonwithoriginalsense”.Itshowsthatitisthereflectionofthebeautyofourmindtouseeuphemismatdifferentsituations.Forexample，whenpeoplecommunicatewithothers，theyshouldbepoliteandrespectothers.Inordernottoberudeorhurtothers，itisnecessarytoreducetheconflictinlanguage.Inotherword，euphemismhasmanyfunctionswhenitisused，suchashumorousfunction，beautificationfunctionandpolitenessfunction.Theuseofeuphemismcanmakethelanguageofhumanbeingswitty，humorous，andconcludethebrutaltruthinthehumor（XuHui，2010：83）.So，theresearchofthehumorousfunctionof龙源期刊网，itmainlydiscussesthehumorousfunctionofeuphemisminsomefields.3.1InSoci