Abstract:

As a means to harmonize the interpersonal relationship, euphemism is not only commonly used in daily communication，but also more and more frequently used in business negotiation. In business negotiation between China and America, euphemism plays an important role in helping seize business opportunities, promote sales of products, and develop new markets, etc. This thesis will introduce functions of euphemism, elaborate the differences between Chinese and American euphemisms in business negotiation from the perspectives of lexicon, syntax and context, and analyze the causes of the differences of the euphemisms used in Chinese and American business negotiation, which include cultural background, social environment, and policies of business negotiation.

Key words: euphemism; business negotiation; cultural difference

摘要：

作为一种和谐人际关系的方式，委婉语的使用不仅遍布于日常生活，而且在商务谈判中也愈发频繁与广泛地使用。在中美两国商务谈判中，委婉语在抓住商业机遇、促销产品与扩大新市场等方面扮演着重要的角色。本文将介绍委婉语的功能，并从词汇、句法和语境方面阐述中美两国在商务谈判中委婉语使用上的差异，并对差异产生的原因进行分析探究，其原因包括文化背景、社会环境和商务谈判的政策。

关键词：委婉语；商务谈判；文化差异

Introduction
Euphemism is a widespread language phenomenon and indispensable lubricant in language communication. It is an expression, which can show politeness, soften the tone and coordinate the personal relationship. Euphemisms are widely used in business negotiation. It can be found that many English and Chinese euphemisms are made in the framework of conceptual metonymy in business negotiation.
To be a successful negotiator, you have to know the wants, needs and motivations of the other party. The easiest, quickest way to uncover these information is through skillful language. With practice, you will find you can ask better questions and gaining more valuable information.
There is an old maxim “a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of vinegar can do.” It means that if you want to win the support of another person, you should convince him/her that you are his/her sincere friend. Friendly and euphemistic language can warm people up and melt any tension between them. So in business negotiation between different countries, such as China and America, euphemisms play an important role in leading the negotiation to success.