【正文】 even their houses also have a sweetsounding name“substandard housing”. The euphemism for unemployment has many expressions. Most of them are humorous, such as “between jobs”, “between shows”, “to be developing a new project”, “to receive a Mexican raise/ an Irish promotion” (to raise a promotion without raising the salary), “to be selfemployed”. In America “unemp。 “penniless” is called “out of pocket, in reduced circumstances, badly off, needy etc.”。 to child, it is called “chubby”. On the contrary, if someone is too thin, euphemism is also used. To male, it is called “l(fā)ean”, and to female, it is called “slim, slender, willowy or svelte”. . The euphemisms for poverty and unemployment The topic of poverty and unemployment might cause some embarrassment, so people often use euphemism when their talks concern such things. For example, “dismissal” is often called “l(fā)ay off, ease out, get the walking ticket/pink slip”。 locksmith for locktician. Some special occupational names have adopted two prefixes. For example cosmetologist and cosmetician both refer to “female hairdresser”. Moreover, Latin prefix “arian” is originally used in religion, but now it is also used in the occupation, such as: bartarian, sanitarian. Another Latin prefix “ian” is also used popularly, such as custodian (entrance guard or dustman). Some people even want to change the native 英語(yǔ) 畢業(yè)論文 viiiprefix “er” to the Latin prefix “or” because they think the foreign prefix is more elegant and sweetsounding, such as weldor, wild animal trainor. . The euphemisms for the aged and weight The age, especially a woman?s age is regarded as a sensitive privacy. And most of the western people are afraid of getting old, so they call “old people” “senior citizens”. ”old age” and “senility” can easily cause the fear of the old people. Some euphemistic expressions take the place of them, such as “getting on (in years), past one?s prime, feeling one?s age, second childhood, a distinguished gentleman, a grande dame, third age”. The old people bee “an elder statesman” or “old age pensioner” or even use initialing “OAP”. They are not “old” but “l(fā)onglived”. Old people?s home, of course, is not an ideal place for old men to live in. There are many euphemistic expressions: a home for adults, a nursing home, a rest home, a private hospital, a convalescent hospital. The old people who live there are called euphemistically “a resident”. In western country, it is very impolite if you talk about someone?s figure and weight without reservation. If someone is “fat”, “overweight” is often used to replace it. “weightwatchers” is also a euphemism for “fat people”. To female, “a fat girl” is called “a fuller figure or plump”。 undertaker for mortician。 dustman for garbologist。 “undertaker” also has many expressions: bereavement counselor, grief therapist, funeral director, funeral service practitioner. Besides “engineer” housewife also can be called “household executive”, “homemaker”, even “domestic manager”。 pestkiller→pest control operator。 garden worker→landscape architect。 housewife→domestic engineer。 packing engineer。 dry cleaning engineer, pipe engineer。 building (custodian, dwelling) engineer。 “to make a woman pregnant” is called “to spoil/ruin a woman?s shape”. Some one even called 英語(yǔ) 畢業(yè)論文 vii“to be pregnant” “to be caught” or “to be fallen”. Some vague expressions also show a kind of restless mood, such as: that way, in a certain/particular/delicate condition etc. The use of humor is another feature of euphemism for “being pregnant”. American people are likely to say “to have a watermelon on the vine”, or “to swallow a watermelon seed”. British people are likely to say “to have a bun in the oven” or “to have an Irish toothache” (to make fun of Irish people who are pregnant as monly as having a toothache). . Courtesy Another reason to use euphemism is that it avoids the harsh and direct word in a polite way, and makes the sentence sound more pleasant. To grasp the polite function of euphemism can help you build a good relationship with others. The polite functions are especially reflected in the occupations, or trades. It relate with Politeness Principle of Leech[17]. It is obvious that advertisement is aimed at helping businessmen propaganda their goods, for the sake of soliciting customs. As a pleasant way, using euphemisms in advertisements has bee more and more widespread. Now, “secondhand store” has been replaced by “resale store”, “super”, “giant”, “special”, such words, have bee more popular. Moreover, we can often see the same phenomenon about the expressions for classes of cabins. To defend passengers ?honor, “First Class” is changed to “Deluxe Class”, “Second Class” is to “First Class”, “Third Class” to “Business Class”, and “Economic Class” to “Tourist Class”. This function undoubtly plays an active role of improving the progress of society: . The euphemism for the office and trade For example, “mental hospital or mental health center” is a euphemism for “madhouse”。 “pornographic movies” is called “adult films”。 “an unnatural death” is called “to be blown across the creek” . The euphemisms for sex Nearly all languages consider “sex” a taboo word. In the west, when children asked their parents where they came from, their parents often answered the baby was a visit from the stork. People can say “pregnant” instead of “expecting” or “in the family way”。 VD (Venereal Disease) etc. “to die because of a crash” is called “old Newton took him”。 “mit suicide” is called “selfdeliverance or selfviolence”. People often use initialing to avoid talk about some diseases directly, such as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)。 “l(fā)eprosy” is called “Hansen?s disease”。 “graveyard” is called “