Abstract:
Language is the carrier of culture. Euphemism is a common phenomenon in the development of human languages and it is also a reflection of culture. Different nations have different cultural backgrounds so euphemisms can be a reflection of different national psychology and cultural connotations. Both English and Chinese euphemisms have long histories and they are closely connected with their respective cultures since the day they came into being. Using euphemism is an effective way in coordinating interpersonal relationship and euphemism plays an irreplaceable role in verbal communication. Because of the increasingly frequent world culture exchanges, studying the English translation of Chinee euphemisms from the perspective of cultural context has a great significance to promoting the success of the exchange between the two peoples.
    Translation is a cross-cultural communication activity. It is not only the conversion between the two languages but also the conversion between the two cultures. Language can reflect culture and culture can also restrict the use of language. As euphemisms carry a rich cultural connotation, cultural context plays a particularly prominent role in the translation of Chinese euphemisms. This paper begins with the introduction of cultural context, euphemism and proceeds to explain the relationship between cultural context and translation of Chinese euphemisms, and then based on all these discussions, it discusses four frequently used methods of Chinese euphemism translation. It is hoped that this study could be helpful to the minimization of cultural misunderstandings as well as to further improvement of the quality of euphemism translations.

Key words: euphemism; cultural context; translation; communication

摘  要：
语言是文化的载体，委婉语是人类语言使用过程中的一种普遍的现象，也是语言在文化中的一种体现。不同民族的委婉语都有其特定的历史文化背景，所以委婉语可以折射出不同的民族心理和文化内涵。英汉委婉语都具有很长的历史，自产生之日起就与社会文化紧密的联系在一起。使用委婉语是交际中人们协调人际关系的一种有效手段，同时委婉语也起着其他语言所无法替代的作用。随着世界文化交流的日益频繁，从文化语境角度研究汉语委婉语的英译对于促进两个民族间的成功交流有着重大意义。
    翻译是一种跨文化交际活动，它不只是两种语言间的转换，同时也是两种文化间的转换。语言可以反映文化，文化也制约着语言的使用。由于委婉语承载着丰富的文化内涵，因此，文化语境在汉语委婉语翻译过程的作用尤为突出。本文开头介绍文化语境和委婉语，继而解释了文化语境与汉语委婉语翻译之间的关系，基于以上讨论，进一步探讨汉语委婉语的英译过程中四种常用的有效的翻译方法。本文旨在减少文化误解同时提高委婉语翻译质量。

关键词：委婉语；文化语境；翻译；交际

1 Introduction
Euphemisms are a linguistic phenomenon which exists in almost every language and also a cultural phenomenon because they have always been closely related to their cultures. In many cases, people cannot give direct or explicit expression of certain meanings, and then they have to use euphemisms to carry on communication. Therefore, euphemisms function as a kind of lubricant when it comes to something inelegant or something sorrowful. Due to different cultural factors, on various occasions, one euphemism in the Chinese culture may not find a counterpart in the English culture, and this has caused great difficulty in the translation of Chinese euphemisms. Nowadays cross-cultural contacts are increasing on an unprecedented scale, which makes euphemism translation a matter of vital importance for cross-cultural understanding and communication.