Abstract:

Euphemism is a common phenomenon in daily communication, especially in political and military affairs. This study takes Obama’s speech as an example aiming to find the functions of euphemism in political oration. Politeness principle is carried out to demonstrate the advantages caused by the application of euphemism. The results shows that to use euphemism in correct ways can help the speaker to achieve his goals. Besides, the application of euphemism can improve the efficiency of communication. And application of euphemism can avoid offence, beautify matters and make people easier to accept bad news; euphemism has the function of deception and irony as well.

Key words: euphemism; politeness principle; speech 

摘要：  

委婉语在日常生活中是一种非常常见的语言现象，尤其在政治和军事领域使用更为广泛。本文以奥巴马演讲为例，旨在说明委婉语在政治演讲中的重要性。本文以礼貌原则为理论基础，阐释委婉语的使用所能带来的影响。研究结果表明，准确的使用委婉语可以帮助演讲者更好的达到既定的目的，同时委婉语的运用可以提高演讲的效率。再者委婉语还具有避免冒犯他人，美化事物，使听众更易接受不好的消息，以及欺骗和讽刺的功能。

关键词：委婉语；礼貌原则；演讲

1. Introduction
“Euphemism is a common cultural phoneme as well as a linguist concept”(Sun, 2006:1). Euphemism is a big concept which includes many aspects and it can reflect our life vividly and widely.
In social communication we have a number of approaches to covey our thoughts and ideas but one thing we have to take into consideration is that we should avoid using inappropriate words. Sometimes we can not express our ideas directly because there are some impolite words which will make others unhappy. In this circumstance we can pay attention to the use of euphemisms.