unit 2 stop being coy课件.ppt

Stop Being Coy;coy: shy, affected modest Stop being coy: Stop being afraid of using plain, simple words. Do away with your shyness, decide what you want to say and say it as directly as possible in plain words. The title clearly expresses the writer’s negative attitude towards euphemism.;Euphemism: ; For example, we say “portly” or “full-figured” instead of “fat”, “inexpensive” instead of “cheap”. How do euphemisms come into being? The existence of taboo words or taboo ideas stimulates the creation of euphemisms. Since euphemisms may very well serve as polite substitutes for taboo language. Taboo and euphemisms are, thus, two faces of the same communication coin. ;;;;In English, words borrowed from Latin generally sound “scientific” and therefore, appear to be “clean”, whereas their native Anglo-Saxon counterparts are often considered taboo, a sociolinguistic fact reflecting that the vocabulary used by the upper classes is superior to that used by the lower classes. Thus, an upper class lady “perspires” and “expectorates” while a kitchen maid “sweats” and “spits”;;;;;In many cultures, people avoid using direct words that pertain to death or dying because it is the subject that everyone fears and is unpleasant to talk about. This gives rise to a number of euphemisms related to the death subject. “刚才，四老爷和谁生气呢？”我问。 “还不是和样林嫂？”那短工简捷的说。 “祥林嫂？怎么了？”我又赶紧的问。 “老了。” “死了？”我的心突然紧缩，几乎跳起来，脸上大约也变了色，但他始终没有抬头，所以全不觉。 ;;In the English-speaking word, people do not “die”, but “pass away”, or to use an idiomatic expression, they only “kick the bucket”. Often when English speakers have to ask for the “bathroom”, they are communicating in a roundabout way that they are not merely interested in the physical location of a certain room, nor do they necessarily want to take a bath, but wish to have some kind of “convenience,” to “do their daily duties,” or to “perform their bodily function.” ;;Euphemism economically deprived low-income dresses dignified matron negati