Euphemism In English Case Study

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1.Introduction
1.1 Background and purpose of the study
With the development of global economic integration, English has been an important tool in various international associating activities. Therefore, it’s necessary for us to know and learn the art of rhetoric in business English. No matter in business letters or in business negotiations, the business personnel often express their views and put forward suggestions by means of euphemism and euphemistic presentations so that it can be easier to create good business environment leading to a win-win situation.
In terms of business negotiation, the final success largely depends on the application of language for negotiation is an activity carried by language. Because of both two parties must try …show more content…

The former one is closely related to taboo words, such as birth, death, sex and so on. And it will give people quite different feelings depending on direct or indirect way you take to express these taboo words. On the contrary, the latter one has nothing to do with taboo words. Actually it is compliment in a way.
2.2 Cause of euphemism
Euphemism runs a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times. The earliest euphemism came into being with the emergence of taboos. At that time, human beings couldn’t withstand any natural disasters with their low social productivity. Also, they couldn’t account for some natural phenomena so they felt scared and turned to superstition and religion. In order not to offend gods, many taboos appeared. Thus euphemism emerged at the right moment when people had to talk something about these taboo words.
“Social members thought that the language itself can bring happiness or disaster to human beings and that language is the root of the fortunes. Who want to offend the root would receive a double punishment. On the other hand, who want to please the root will get the sanctuary and bless” (Chen Yuan,

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