II。 English Political Euphemisms

2。1 Definition of Political Euphemisms

Euphemism is deeply ingrained in our life and widely used by almost every inpidual。 Although euphemism has been exerting such inestimable impacts on every corner of the world, no one can confidently give an exact definition of euphemism。 Rawson (1981) once defined euphemism as “loved by inpiduals and institutions (government especially) who are anxious to present only the handsomest possible image of themselves to the world”。 In China, He Zhaoxiong and Mei Deming (1999) defined euphemism as “a mild, direct or less offensive word or expression substituted when the speaker or writer fears more direct wording might be harsh, unpleasantly direct or offensive”。 Obviously, scholars’ definitions of euphemism are not the same; however, all these explanations indicate that euphemism is utilized to communicate with people and make the hearers comfortable by using relatively polite words。     

Likewise, thousands of people have thousands of definitions of political euphemism。 Up to now, there is no scientific and formal definition of political euphemism。 However, undeniably, political euphemism is used by many statesmen and politicians in political activities to achieve their intents, like showing politeness, concealing truth, etc。文献综述

2。2 Formation of Political Euphemisms

   Euphemism is mainly realized by resorting to borrowing words, vague words, metaphor, degradation, phonetic means, etc。, while English political euphemism is principally realized by using abstract words or vague words, understatement, circumlocution, long words or sentences。

2。2。1 Abstract Words or Vague Words

In terms of English political euphemism, there is a common phenomenon that a superordinate (a word that is of greater rank or station or quality) takes the place of a direct expression。 For example, “industrial action” is the name for “strike”。 Such abstract and vague words is used much more frequently by statesmen and mass media, aiming at not bringing the public into the awareness of the seriousness of the real situation。 

2。2。2 Understatement

    Understatement, also a rhetoric device to achieve euphemistic effect, is frequently utilized to reduce risks。 For example, the civilian casualties are often called collateral damage instead in order to hide the terrible truth。

2。2。3 Circumlocution

    Circumlocution adopts an indirect and roundabout way to convey ideas with more words。 A typical example is that the phrase of “post-traumatic stress”, which seems to have no association with war, is used for describing the impact of Vietnam war on American veterans in 1960s。 

2。2。4 Long Words or Sentences

 Long words and sentences are used to distract people’s attention and blur the facts。 For example, a majority of statesmen and   politicians tend to employ “people with a visual impairment” instead of “blind people”。                                               

2。3 Classification of Political Euphemisms

2。3。1 Classification of Euphemism

In A Dictionary of Euphemisms and Other Double-talk, Rawson (1981), from the perspective of semantics, once pointed that euphemisms are made up of two types——positive euphemisms and negative euphemisms。 He held the opinion that positive euphemisms, also called stylistic euphemisms, mean that low and bad words are replaced by high and good words。 Additionally, he believed that negative euphemisms, also called traditional euphemisms, indicate that the original scary words are replaced by relatively mild words。 At the same time, from the perspective of pragmatics, he classified euphemisms into conscious euphemisms and unconscious euphemisms。 Abrantes(2005) pided euphemisms into two classifications: conventional euphemism and official euphemism, from the perspective of speaker’s original meaning。 来.自^优+尔-论,文:网www.youerw.com +QQ752018766- 奥巴马演讲中政治委婉语的语用分析(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_124606.html