Abstract:
 Euphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon that exists in all kinds of languages. Euphemisms can reflect history, culture and customs of a nation. There are a large number of euphemisms existing in both English and Chinese languages, and there are similarities as well as differences between English and Chinese euphemisms. This paper aims to make a comparative study of English and Chinese euphemisms. As for the similarities, both English and Chinese euphemisms have the same social function that makes people express ideas more easily and making communication go more smoothly. What’s more, euphemism also plays an important role in maintain human relationship as well as social relationship. However, because of different cultural backgrounds, the scope and content of euphemism is different. Euphemisms in age, name and address and religion reflect different cultures of the east and west. Through the comparative study of English and Chinese euphemism, we can have a better and thorough understanding of the language and culture in the east and west, and it is also of great significance in intercultural communication.

Key words: euphemism; intercommunication; culture; taboo; politeness

摘要：
委婉语作为一种常见的语言学现象存在于所有的语言中。委婉语可以反应一个国家的历史、文化以及习俗。英汉两种语言中都存在着大量的委婉语。这些委婉语之间既有相似点也有不同的地方。本篇论文旨在对英汉委婉语间的相似点与不同点进行比较。关于相似点，英汉委婉语都有相同的社交功能——使人们更容易将思想表达出来，使得谈话能更顺畅的进行下去。除此之外，适当使用委婉语还能够有效维持人与人之间的良好关系以及人与社会之间的关系。然而，英汉委婉语之间也存在着差异。由于受到不同文化的影响，英汉委婉语在内容以及应用范围上都有所不同。年龄、姓名与称呼以及宗教领域的英汉委婉语折射出中西方文化的差异。英汉委婉语的对比研究，可以帮助我们更好地掌握语言以及中西方的文化，并能促进中西方互相交流。

关键词：委婉语；相互交流；文化；禁忌；礼貌

1 Introduction
    Euphemism is a common linguistic phenomenon, which exists in almost every kind of language and has its own popularity. It is also a cultural phenomenon, which is the reflection of distinctive cultural differences in language. In every society there are certain things which need to be expressed indirectly. A considerable amount of words are labeled as vulgar or inconsiderate. But in daily communication, in order to maintain better social relationship, people always tend to resort to other indirect expressions, euphemism, which can make some embarrassing words seem acceptable.
The creation of euphemism has its unique historical and cultural background. Owing to the different backgrounds of every nation, for example, geographical environment and life style, etc., the contents and scopes of euphemism also vary. Euphemism is just like a mirror, which can reflect the psychological and cultural implications of different nations as well as the unique values, morals and ethics of a nation.