Abstract

In every society there are certain things that are supposed to be unspeakable. A number of words are therefore labeled as frivolous, vulgar, obscene, or at least inconsiderate when used in communication. In order to skirt those taboo words or ease the sting of harsh words, man has created euphemisms, which can presumably serve as hallmarks of civilization.
    There are five main function of euphemism. At the same time, the significance of its successful translation should be paid attention to. If the listener misunderstands the words, lots of troubles may arise. The methods in translating euphemism are important, such as literal translation and free translation. Through the proper employment of the two methods, euphemisms achieve their equivalent effects in the target language.

Key words: euphemism, functions, the methods in translating, the principles of translating

摘要

在任何一个社会中，总有一些不能直截了当说出来的话。在人们交流的实际场合中，有相当一部分词语含有轻浮的、粗俗的、或至少是使人难堪的意思。为了避免提到这些禁忌语或减轻这些词语对人感情的伤害，人们创造并使用了委婉语。
首先，我们要注意委婉语的五种功能：禁忌功能、礼貌功能、隐藏功能、积极功能、褒扬功能。与此同时，我们也需要注意委婉语成功翻译的重要性。如果交流的人误解了意思，那将会有一系列的麻烦。所以，翻译委婉语的方法很重要，比如说直译和意译。通过对这两种翻译方法的恰切使用，可以使其在目标语中实现对等译效。

关键词：委婉语；功能；翻译方式；翻译原则

1. Introduction
Euphemism is a common phenomenon in people’s use of language in different language communities, social groups. There are a certain number of special euphemisms in various languages .The word “euphemism” originates from Greek, of which “eu” serves as prefix, with the meaning of “good, sounding good”, while the root “pheme” means “saying, speech”. So the whole word suggests “to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner”. According to Newman (1990:1), euphemism can be explained as “substituting an inoffensive or pleasant term for a more explicit, offensive one, thereby veneering the truth by using kind words”. For example, when talking about death, people would like to use “pass away, be no more, come to an end” rather than the blunt “death”. Based on this explanation, it will not be difficult to form the basic impression that euphemism can avoid the use of unpleasant words and create relatively positive atmosphere and glorifying senses.