ThePragmaticStudyofEnglishEuphemism

1.IntroductionThere is a humor:Once a Paris tourist resided in UK.A landlady told him sadlythat,"My husband has just passed to the other side."The guest looked from the fenceof the garden but saw no one,feeling confused.The landlady explained:"I mean he'skicked the bucket."The guest comforted her that:"I hope his foot will be bettersoon."The landlady felt unintelligibly and said:"No,he wasn't here,he snuffed it...you know."The guest wondered and said:"But you've got electricity here."Thereasons why the guest did not answer properly are that he did not realize that thelandlady used euphemism,nor did he understand the "conversational implicative"ofeuphemism.What the landlady wanted to say is that her husband died.The word euphemism comes from the Greek word "euphemos",meaning"auspicious/good/fortunate speech"which in turn is derived from the Greek root---words eu,"good/well"+pheme,"speech/speaking"(Liu Yi,2002).The eupheme wasoriginally a word or phrase used in place of a religious word or phrase that should notbe spoken aloud,such as taboo.By speaking only words favorable to the gods orspirits,the speaker attempted to produce good fortune by remaining in good favorwith them.2.A general survey of euphemism"In English language,euphemism in use differs from person to person,from2