英语论文网

B is equal, intimate, and informal. B．People use euphemism for pursuing good fortune and avoiding disaster. In order to pursue good fortune and avoid disaster, people always use euphemistic words instead of using the words “dead”, “suicide”, the figure “4”, “42”, etc. E.g. When I was in the grocery store I heard my friend moan, “oh, did I just make a faux pas!” I stopped thumping melons and gave her my full attention. “I ran into Mrs. Jones,” she wailed “l didn’t know that her husband died last week, and I asked her how he was feeling. She said, ‘he’s gone’. I assumed he went someplace for his health, and I said “…” “What did you say?” I prodded her, “good riddance?” “Worse than that,” I said, “Why did you go with him?” (Ke Yanfen,1995：182) In this example, Mrs. Jones use “Oh, he’s gone” instead of saying directly that her husband died. But my friend doesn’t notice the euphemism. So she make a fool reflection “Why did you go with him?” The roles’ relationship between my friend and Mrs. Jones is equal, intimate, and informal. C. People use euphemism in order to avoid irritating others. People want to be respected and they don’t w ant to be refused or critized directly. It will irritate them if they are refused and critized directly. So euphemism is very important for people in this situation to avoid irritating others. E.g. Fly: Babe, you wait here. Babe: Are pigs allowed? Fly: Sorry, only dogs and cats are inside the house (The film: Babe) Workman: Mr. Brown, I should like to ask for a small rise in my wages. I have just been married. Employer: very sorry, my dear man, but I can’t help you. For accidents, which happen to our workmen outside the factory, we are not responsible. (Ke Yanfen, 1995:75) In the first example, Babe is a pig. Fly doesn’t want to irritate Babe, so he says: “sorry, only dogs and cats are inside the house” instead of saying “No, pigs aren’t allowed” directly. The roles’ relationship between Babe and Fly is equal, intimate, and informal. In the second example, the roles’ relationship between workman and employer is unequal, distant, and formal to some extent. The employer doesn’t want to irritate the workman, so he says that for accidents, which happen to our workmen outside the factory, we are not responsible. D. People use euphemism because they feel anxious and fear. When people feel something dangerous to themselves, they will have a feeling of anxiety. They will take all kinds of ways to avoid the dangerous things happening. Using euphemism is one of the ways. E.g. A big battle was going on during the First World War. Guns were firing, and shells and bullets were flying about everywhere. After an hour of this, one of the soldiers decided the fighting was getting too dangerous for him, so he left the front line and began to go away from the battle. After he had walked for an hour, he saw an officer coming towards him. The officer stopped him and said, “Where are you coming?” “I’m trying to get as far away as possible from the battle that’s going on behind us, sir,” the soldier answered. “Do you know who I am?” the officer said to him angrily. “I’m your commanding officer.” The soldier was very surprised when he heard this and said “My god, I didn’t know that I was so far back already!” (Ke Yanfen, 1995:101) In this example, the soldier feels anxious and fears about himself. He is