Abstract and Key Words

Abstract: Euphemism is a common linguistic as well as cultural phenomenon in daily life. It oils the human relationship in communication and helps to save face of communicators. Euphemism holds great interest for scholars both eastern and western and some exciting progress has been made both at home and abroad in its studies from various points of view. In the thesis, firstly the author tries to analyze the definition, classification and formation of euphemism. Secondly, the author focuses on the exploration of pragmatic principles that English euphemism violates and observes in the communication. Thirdly, the author attempts to analyze the social functions and the use strategies of English euphemism. Lastly, the chapter concludes the whole thesis and deals with how the findings of this thesis can be applied to communication.

Key words: euphemism; pragmatic principles; use strategies

摘要：  委婉语是人类语言使用过程中的一种普通现象，也是一种文化现象。委婉语在人们交际生活中起着“润滑剂”的重要作用，因此中西方学者对于委婉语都有着很浓厚的研究兴趣，委婉语的正确运用对于文化的交流和发展有着不言而喻的重要性。第一，本文作者将试图分析委婉语的定义，分类和形成。第二，作者将着重研究英语委婉语在日常交流中的语用原则。第三，作者将试图分析英语委婉语的社会功能和使用策略。最后，作者将对全篇做一个总结。作者想通过本文从而使我们在日常交际中能够恰当地使用委婉语，并使交际进行得更为有效和得体。

关键词：委婉语；语用原则；使用策略

1 Introduction
    As a very part of language and a common linguistic phenomenon, euphemisms are so widely used in our daily life no matter in which era or which culture. From the moment they are coined, they play an important role in people’s everyday communication. We have heard them in movies and television programs. We have read them in magazine and newspapers. We have relished them in the works of superb writers. We have overheard them in the street corners and on the park benches all over the world. The role euphemisms playing in a language is just like the lubrication oil in a machine, which enables people to express what can’t be uttered directly and ensures communication to be carried on successfully. Therefore, every society, every speech community, and every social class has their euphemisms of various kinds. As D.J.Enright wrote in Fair of Speech: the Uses of Euphemism, “a language without euphemisms would be a defective instrument of communication.”