Abstract

During our daily communication, it is inevitable to come across some embarrassing or sensitive talking. Therefore, in order to avoid those unpleasant occasions and achieve smooth communication effect, people tend to apply euphemism which is more roundabout and polite in their ritual conversations. Euphemism is a form of language which people apply in their daily life in order to achieve ideal communication effect, and euphemistic expressions are more than euphemistic words and phrases established. A pragmatic study of euphemism can help to understand euphemism from a different perspective and the study will demonstrate clearly the application of euphemism in different contexts, and its application in communication by violating the Cooperative Principle while observing the Politeness Principle and the Face-saving Theory.

Key Words: English euphemism  context  the cooperative principle  the politeness principle  face-saving theory

摘  要

英语委婉语是一种特殊的语言现象，它是为实现特定的交际效果而产生的。在日常交际中，人们的谈话难以避免会涉及到令人尴尬或者其他敏感的话题。因此，为了在交际过程中避免造成不愉快的对话，而同时又能达到成功的会话效果，人们在交流过程中往往会使用委婉语。委婉语是一种人们在社会交往中为谋求理想的交际效果而创造的一种语言形式，它不仅仅指委婉词汇，它更是积极运用语言进行交际的表达方式。本文将分析委婉语在不同语境下的实际会话效果，以及委婉语在会话过程中的成功表达是对合作原则的故意违背，和对礼貌原则与面子理论的遵守，从而使我们对委婉语有更深的理解与认识。

关键词：委婉语  语境  合作原则  礼貌原则  面子理论

1 Introduction
Euphemism, as a special form and phenomenon of language, is deeply rooted in our social life and it simultaneously reflects our social values and culture values. And Enright(1985) stated: “A language without euphemisms would he a defective instrument of communication.”From another perspective, euphemism, as a linguistic concept, plays a significant role in creating social relations in order to achieve ideal communication. In our daily life, everyone is using euphemism consciously or unconsciously with the same purpose of tying to make our communication smooth and proper. Therefore, in communication, how to use English euphemism appropriately and effectively is of great significance.