【正文】 nt than they really are in order to be polite and satisfy speakers and hearers(Rawson, 1981:5). It is monly applied in formal documents or official language, focusing on the exaggeration to replace something that are not taboo but will easily make others upset and unpleasant. For example, “mental house” or “mental health center” are substitutions for “madhouse”. The positive euphemism also elevates workers’ status. For example, “l(fā)andscapearchitect” is the substitution for “gardener”, and “sanitation engineer” is used to replace “garbage collector”. This kind of euphemism is widely used in politics, economy diplomacy and so on. Negative euphemismNegative euphemisms are closely related to the taboos which are also called traditional euphemism(Rawson, 1981:1). They “deflate and diminish the word meaning, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and otherwise eradicating from the language everything that people prefer not to deal with directly.”(Rawson, 1981:1). Negative euphemisms and taboos express the same thing but in different ways. Take the word “die” for example. There are hundreds of negative euphemism about it, such as “pass away”, “e to end”, “breathe one’s last”, “join the majority”, and so on. By substituting euphemism for taboo, people will feel more acceptable. Negative euphemisms are considered as conventions in human munication. characteristics of euphemism UniversalityIn almost all cultures there are certain things which are strongly forbidden by traditional custom. That is taboo. Generally speaking, people will try to avoid mentioning taboos directly. When people have to mention it, they are likely to substitute other expressions that sound better. So euphemism exists in almost all human munities in the world. IndirectnessThe most distinctive characteristic of euphemism is indirectness. It is agreed that the more directly someone presents, the worse municative effect he get. In English, the phrase “could you…”sounds more polite than “can you…”. For example, the sentence “Could you pass me the salt?” is not an interrogative sentence to know whether the hearer has the ability of passing the salt or not. It is just a sentence “I want you to pass me the slat.” expressed indirectly. DistinctnessAlthough euphemism is the general language phenomenon of all nations, the use of it is different because of different histories, cultures and customs. Take “age” for example, in western countries, it is a very sensitive topic. However, in China, people always like to use“老(old)”to show someone who is experienced, for example,“您老高壽?(How old are you?)”. The use of euphemism is various depending on different culture backgrounds.. The functions of euphemism It is no doubt that euphemism is a lubricant in human munication. . Enright(1985:3) says that “without euphemisms the world would grind, unoiled, to a halt, universal animosity covering all”. Although many people criticize euphemism for it sometimes causes ambiguity, the significant role it pays in munication is irreplaceable. It can be found that people use euphemism to avoid offence everywhere. Euphemism basically has two functions: substitution for taboo words and politeness. Substitution for taboo wordsTaboo is generally regarded as a social phenomenon related to custom and culture. Every human munity prohibits some kinds of statements. If some statements are defined as taboos, people are not expected to mention them in public. Otherwise, it will be taken as offence to others. On the whole, there are several types of taboo words: words showing disrespect to God。t agree with you more, but…”. Interrogative instead of imperative Negotiators have to present their ideas during the process of negotiating and how to make their presentation more pleasant is very important. An imperative sentence expresses a direct order, while an interrogative sentence is used to raise a question about an answer or a promise from the hearer. Both of them may have bad effect on the hearers because they seem to force listener to do or mit something. But pared with imperative sentence, an interrogative sentence are more indirect and accords with the politeness principle. Therefore, in international business negotiation, a good negotiator should use interrogative sentences instead of imperative sentences. Three examples are cited below.(1) a. I want to have a look at your specification.b. Could you show me your specifications? (2) a. Go on with your remarks.b. Would you please go on with your remarks? (3) a. concerning the paper publication, you can go and check the reprints.b. If you have any questions about the paper, would you like to check them up in the reprints?From the three examples above, the difference between interrogative sentences and imperative sentences can be found easily. An interrogative sentence is a question, while an imperative sentence is a mand. If a request is expressed in an interrogative sentence, its bad effect on the hearer can be avoided because as for a question, the listener can answer “yes” as well as “no”. When presenting ideas, interrogative sentence can avoid excess force on the hearer. Therefore, it is more polite in munication and will be more effective in business negotiation. Caring for opponent’s feelings“Acknowledging the other party39。 Foresman Company, 1985.Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1986.李鑫華. 英語修辭格詳論. 上海: 上海外語教育出版社，2000王海云. 商務談判 北京: 北京航空航天大學出版社，2003徐憲光. 商務溝通. 北京: 外語教學與研究出版社， 2001楊林聰. 禮貌原則在商務溝通中的應用， 北京: 國防科技大學出版社. 2002炎昌, 劉潤清. 語言與文化. 北京: 外語教學與研究出版. 1989 22