when people want to disguise some facts, they often take a roundabout way of talk. Then they must use more words. Expressions in political issues are usually made by longer and more words or phrases. The typical example of this kind is the different expressions of the “War Syndrome” in three different periods. In World War One, it was “shell shock”; in World War Two, it became “combat fatigue”; while in 20th century 1960s the phrase became Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, used to describe the panic of the order soldiers of Vietnam War. We can’t see anything related to war at all from the phrases. There are some other examples: in official English, government use “in the early state of finalization” instead of “not yet finished”; “be economical with truth” instead of “withhold the truth”; “Higher
Education Contribution Scheme” instead of “Educational Levy”. And “fire” is said as “give the sack”, “imprisonment” can be called as “live at the government’s expense”, “poor” is “economically disadvantaged individuals”, “weapon equipment development” is called as “reconnaissance forces sweeping”, “drop” as “adjustment downward”.
3.3. The use of irony
Irony is a figure of speech in which the meaning literally expressed is the opposite of the meaning indicated and aims at humor or sarcasm and avoids hurting others by direct expressions. That is to say irony is what we said is the opposite of what we meant. Through irony, letting the listener guess and gradually understand what the speaker really intend to do, we can avoid to make the listener embarrassed. Through it, we cannot only cover what is not convenient to say directly, but also increases the humor. For example:
Nixon’s proposals have been hailed as wound if not original. But this appraisal of his own stewardship sometimes seems more generous than candid.
The word “generous” is originally used as a commendatory word to praise somebody. Its using here has the effect of irony, which intends to criticize that the president exaggerated something and was not modest. [10]
4. Conclusion
The present paper has focused on the political euphemism used in internal and international aspects and its rhetorical application. It would be a beneficial guide for the language learners to understand the culture and the psychologies. In addition,only when learning what topics or subjects are required to be euphemistically described,can we avoid being misunderstood in dealing with diplomatic affairs. Nowadays, more and more people pay attention to the research on political euphemism. By studying political euphemism, we can not only enlarge our knowledge, but also grasp the social psychology of the user using political euphemisms, and then understand and use it properly.
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