unit 10 euphemismppt课件

1、Unit 13Euphemism,-by Nicole,The authorNeil Postman,A writer, professor of media ecology at New York University. Contributes to magazines and periodicals, including Atlantic and Nation. His works includes: Exploring Your Language (1966); Language and Reality (1966), and Teaching as a Conserving Activ

2、ity(1979).,Introduction:,The word “euphemism” comes from Greek; “eu” means good, while “pheme” refers to speech. So “euphemism” means “good speech” or “comfortable words”.,Euphemism,Definition: 1. Substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substit

3、uted. (Oxford Concise Dictionary, 1976) 2. Substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. (Websters New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973),From the above definitions we can see that there are something in life that should not be stated blunt

4、ly or truthfullythat there are times when it is necessary, even wise, not to “call a spade a spade” but to use some better-sounding name.,What are these harsh, blunt, unpleasant, or offensive things that we have to deliberately avoid mentioning directly for fear of hurting other peoples feelings? An

5、d what are the better-sounding names, the “gilded” words, that could replace them?,The problem is rather complex, for the circumstances and conditions under which euphemisms should be used differ from person to person, from profession to profession, from purpose to purpose, even from class to class.

6、,The Social Psychology for Using Euphemism,Taboo Politeness Political Deception,Taboo,Examples: Death In both English and Chinese, people always avoid the immediate mention of “death” and displace it with different substitutes. For example in English there are about 400 expressions about “death”, wh

7、ile in Chinese the number reaches up to 480.,English: close ones day pay the debt of nature depart to God go to a better world go to sleep pass away cross the Jordan,Chinese: 行将就木，弥留之际 （即将死亡） 百年之后，千秋之后 （死亡之后） 寿终正寝，与世长辞 （正常死亡） 山高水长，三长两短 （意外死亡） 千秋万岁，宫车晏驾 （帝王之死） 命归黄泉，撒手人寰 （平民之死）,香销玉殒，珠沉壁碎 （美女之死） 英勇就义，为

8、国捐躯 （英雄之死） 哲人其萎，兰摧玉折 （贤人之死） 丧事白喜事 寿衣，寿木，寿穴 Cemetery: memorial park Mortuary: funeral home,王夫人起身忙回道:他妈前日没了,因有热孝,不便前头来.(第54回)Lady Wang rose to explain, She couldnt very well come, madam, because shes newly in mourning for her mother.,2. Toilet habits Urinate: answer the natures call, make water, pass

9、water, see the moon make a coke stop bathroom, washroom, restroom, his and hers go to necessary house WC go to spend a penny,Politeness,Personal Characteristics old: elderly, senior, seasoned, old age pensioner. breast: chest, bosom buttock: rear end private parts: lower parts ugly: plain, homely, n

10、ot particularly good- looking fat: plump, chubby, stout, heavyset disabled: physically handicapped,2. Privacy knowledge about sex: the fact of life adultery: misconduct, intimacy rape: assault cohabitation: trialmarriage, married but not churched,Todays parents must go beyond the birds and bees to A

11、IDS, herpes and teenage pregnancy, might seat their child in front of a computer. Computer programs aid parents who want their kids to have the facts of life but who are uncomfortable discussing them. the birds and bees： the facts about sex, esp. as told to children,现在的父母向孩子解释两性关系时，仅仅用小鸟和蜜蜂来做比喻是不行了。

12、他们还必须让孩子了解艾滋病，疱疹及未成年人怀孕等一系列相关问题。对于那些想这么做却又难于启齿的父母来说，电脑程序可以充当其代言人；他们只要打发孩子去打开电脑就可以了。,pregnant: She is expecting. She is in a family way. She is in an(a) interestingdelicate condition. She has cancelled all her social engagements. She has an accident. (to not married woman),3. School Language stupid p

13、upil: a slow learner, underachiever subnormal child: exceptionalspecial child He is working at his own level. (for below average students) He has a tendency to stretch the truth. (for a lying student) He depends on others to do hisher work.,4. Poverty poor, poverty-stricken, penniless: low in ones p

14、ocket, in an awkward financial situation without money, lack of money: hard for money, pinched for money,5. Menial Jobs or Professions of Low Social Standing prison guard: prison officer gardener: landscape architect barber: beautician dustman, garbage collector: sanitation engineer Janitor(看门人）: su

15、perintendent, custodian,tree-trimmer: tree surgeon GalGuy Friday: femalemale secretary (Daniel Defoe: the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) Chinese: 保姆，清洁工：家政服务人员 家庭妇女：全职太太 看门人：保安,Political Deception,1. illegal: inappropriate 2. technical surveillance, intelligence gathering: wire-tapping 3. air suppor

16、t ： air attack 4. active defense or preventive war aggression 5. physical persuasion: torture 6. collateral damage： civilian casualties, massacre 7. pre-emptive strike： surprise attack,Use of Euphemism in News,(The) old,The aging The senior citizen The well-preserved men The veterans The graying arm

17、y The sunset years Past ones prime The second childhood Feeling ones years .,渐渐上了年纪 高级公民 保存完好的人 老手 灰军 暮年 过了风华正茂的年代 返老还童 知天命.,被剥夺的 处于不利地位的 不拥有的人 缺衣少食的人 没有特权的人 匮乏的人 文化上吃亏的人（穷学生、黑人学生） 被剥夺受教育权利的人（穷孩子）.,Use of Euphemism in News,The poor,The deprived the disadvantaged The havenots The needy The underprivi

18、leged The indigent The culturally disadvantaged The culturally deprived.,Use of Euphemism in News,The poor nations,The South the Third World The Fourth World The developing nations The underdeveloped nations.,南半球 第三世界 第四世界（最穷的国家） 发展中国家 欠发达国家.,Use of Euphemism in News,Dismiss/ sack/ fire,Ease out Lay

19、 off Select out Show sb. the door Get the walking ticket/papers Slim Downsize .,悄悄离开 冗员 选派出去 礼送出门 接到通知书 瘦身 缩减规模.,2. Examples of euphemism in Chinese,去世 逝世 作古 牺牲 薨。 与世长辞 身体发福 赋闲 拮据,Dictionary work,1. Auspicious: favorable 2. exalted: dignified, elevated 3. phony: deceitful; fraudulent 4. expunge: wip

20、e out; erase 5. amiss: improper; wrong, faulty 6. semantics: study of meaning 7. in the same vein: in the same manner 8. warrant: be worthy of 9. incongruous: inappropriate; out of place 10. categorically: absolutely; unconditionally,Library work,Euphemism: A figure of speech in which indirectness r

21、eplaces directness of statement, usually in an effort to avoid offensive bluntness in some subject involving delicacy or taboo. To say “at liberty” instead of “out of work”, “senior citizens” instead of “old people”, “in the family way” instead of “pregnant,” “anti-Semite” instead of “Jew- hater”, a

22、nd “pass away” instead of “die” is to practice euphemism of one sort or another. It is possible for euphemism to signal false delicacy, insincerity, sentimentality, or excessive modest; euphemism may also mean a decent respect for the feeling of others. There can also be a measure of irony in euphem

23、ism, as when a novel about desertion in wartime is called A farewell to Arms. From A Handbook to Literature,Euphemism,A pleasant way of referring to something unpleasant. Thus Burier became undertaker, then mortician 殡仪业者; when opium became too odious, morphine (“dream bringer” bring into use; later

24、 heroin was coined as more attractive than diamorphine(海洛因)(“die o morphine”) from Dictionary of world Literary Terms,Structure,1: Euphemism has got a bad name because it is a way to give pretty names to essentially ugly realities 2: what we call things affects how we will perceive them. 3: Euphemiz

25、ing is a perfectly intelligent method of generating new and useful ways of perceiving things. 4: Euphemizing is not a contemptible process; it is contemptible only when a name makes us see something that is not true or diverts our attention from something that is. 5: Euphemizing may be regarded as o

26、ne of our more important intellectual resources for creating new perspectives on a subject. But such changes must be supported by some authentic tendency or drift in the culture. 6: Nevertheless, the power of names is not to be underestimated. 7: a more elaborated definition of euphemism is that it

27、is a means through which a culture may alter its imagery and by so doing subtly change its style, its priorities, and its values.,Para. 1,Euphemism has got a bad name because it is a way to give pretty names to essentially ugly realities Would you please give some examples of euphemism to illustrate

28、 the main idea? Operation sunshine the hydrogen bomb Sanitary engineer the garbage man At liberty unemployed .,words,Auspicious Exalted Down-to-earth Partial Phony Accusation Detestable Conducted Expunge hideous imagery evoke,exalt,1. praise, glorify, or honor; exalt the virtues of ones children glo

29、rify ones spouses cooking synonym： laud，extol，glorify，proclaim 2. fill with sublime emotion; tickle pink (exhilarate is obsolete in this usage); The children were exalt at the prospect of going to the movies He was exalted by his phenomenal success synonym： exhilarate，inebriate，thrill，beatify 3. hei

30、ghten or intensify; These paintings exalt the imagination We were exalted by his poems.他的诗激发了我们的想象力。 synonym： inspire，animate，invigorate，enliven 4. raise in rank, character, or status; exalted the humble shoemaker to the rank of Kings adviser She thanked the President to exalt her. 她感谢总统提拔她。,expunge

31、,To remove by erasing or crossing out Please expunge this remark from the record synonym： strike，excise 1. The juvenile court may expunge or destroy the records of a juvenile at any time. 少年法庭可在任何时候删除或者销毁未成年人的记录。 2. He could not expunge the incident from his memory. 他无法忘掉这件事。 3. Wonder when to expun

32、ge that kitchen sponge from your life? 你对何时换掉厨房里的海绵有疑问？ 4. The revolutionaries expunged domestic opposition.革命者肃清了国内敌对势力。,evoke,1. call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses);产生 “- pity“ “- a smile“ evoke sympathy synonym： arouse，elicit，enkindle，kindle，fire，raise，provoke 2. call forth引起，招致 Her be

33、havior evoked a quarrel between the couple synonym： provoke，call forth，kick up 3. deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning)得出。结论 We evoked some interesting linguistic data from the native informant. synonym： educe，elicit，extract，draw out,4. evoke or call forth, with or as if by magic;召唤(死者灵魂等);【律

34、】把(案件)移送到上级法院 “evoke the specter of unemployment He evoked/ conjured wild birds in the air. Evoke/ stir a disturbance Evoke/ call down the spirits from the mountain为死者招魂 synonym： raise，conjure，conjure up，invoke，stir，call down，arouse，bring up，put forward，call forth 5. call to mind or evoke synonym： s

35、uggest，paint a picture,Paraphrasing:,L 35: People who are partial to euphemisms stand accused of being “phony” or trying to hide what it is they are really talking about. Euphemism-prone people are subject to the charge that they are insincere.,Para. 2,what we call things affects how we will perceiv

36、e them. - we must keep in mind that things do not have “real” names. (L15) - A name is usually so firmly associated with the thing it denotes that it is extremely difficult to separate one from the other - Advertising, perfumes, an automobile, Shakespeare,Denote (L21),1. VERB 动词预示;是的征兆;表示;是的标志 be si

37、gn or indication of FORMAL 正式 (1) Red eyes denote strain and fatigue. 眼睛充血表明压力过大、身心疲惫。 (2) There was a message waiting, denoting that someone had been here ahead of her. 有了一条留言，这表示有人已先于她到了这儿。 2. （符号等）代表，是的标记 represent FORMAL 正式 (1) In figure 24 D denotes quantity demanded and S denotes quantity supp

38、lied. 在图 24 中，D 代表需求量而 S 代表供应量。,Paraphrasing 2,L2526 What we call thing affects how we will perceive them. Things may take on a different look when named difficultly.,Perceive (L25),1. see, notice, or realize it, especially when it is not obvious A key task is to get pupils to perceive for themselve

39、s the relationship between success and effort. 关键任务是让学生们自己认识到成功和努力之间的关系。 perceive problems 发现问题 2. 看作；视为；认为 Stress is widely perceived as contributing to coronary heart disease. 压力被广泛认为是导致冠心病的一个因素。 They strangely perceive television as entertainment. 奇怪的是，他们居然将电视看作娱乐。,Paraphrasing 3,It would appear

40、that human beings almost naturally come to identify names with things, which is one of our more fascinating illusions. (L2830) It seems that mankind is predisposed(使易接受；使倾向于做) to regard things as being inseparable from the labels they bear. This is a most intriguing delusion.,illusion,1. an erroneou

41、s mental representation假象;表象; synonym： semblance 2. something many people believe that is false错误观念 They have the illusion that I am very wealthy. synonym： fantasy，phantasy，fancy 3. the act of deluding; deception by creating illusory ideas幻象； 幻觉 synonym： delusion，head game,Paraphrasing 4,For if you

42、change the names of things, you change how people will regard them, and that is as changing the nature of the thing itself. With the change of the names of things, you have changed their images in the eye of people, which, in effect, means a change in what the things really are.,Para. 3,3: Euphemizi

43、ng is a perfectly intelligent method of generating new and useful ways of perceiving things.,TranslationL33-35,Can make us love almost anything by getting us to transfer the charm of a name to whatever worthless thing they are promoting. 1: 通过转换有魅力的名字推销无价值的东西。能使我们爱上一切 2. 如今，各类无赖都非常清楚一点，他们通过让我们把名字所具有

44、的魅力转移到他们所推销的任何无价值的东西上，几乎能使我们爱上一切东西。,3. 现在各种骗子都很清楚这一点，他们把有魅力的名字赋予给那些他们宣传的东西，其实这些东西没有任何价值，让我们无限喜爱。,transfer,1. move around; transfer the packet from his trouser pockets to a pocket in his jacket synonym： shift 2. transfer somebody to a different position or location of work synonym： reassign 3. move f

45、rom one place to another; transfer the data transmit the news transfer the patient to another hospital 4. lift and reset in another soil or situation; Transplant the young rice plants synonym： transplant 5. cause to change ownership; I transferred my stock holdings to my children,6. change from one

46、vehicle or transportation line to another; She changed in Chicago on her way to the East coast synonym： change 7. send from one person or place to another; transmit a message synonym： transmit，transport，channel，channelize，channelise 8. shift the position or location of, as for business, legal, educa

47、tional, or military purposes; He removed his children to the countryside Remove the troops to the forest surrounding the city remove a case to another court synonym： remove 9. transfer from one place or period to another; The ancient Greek story was transplanted into Modern America,Why do people cal

48、l “a garbage man” “sanitation engineer”?,Is hoping we will treat him with more respect than we presently do. He wants us to see that he is of some importance to our society.,Why does a teacher prefer us to use the term “culturally different children instead of “slum children”? He is doing it to enco

49、urage us to see aspects of a situation that might otherwise not be attended to. (not given attention to),Para. 4,Euphemizing is not a contemptible process; it is contemptible only when a name makes us see something that is not true or diverts our attention from something that is.,What evidence?,1. W

50、hat is the purpose for the author to provide the example of “Operation Sunshine? To prove that when a name makes us see something that is not sure or diverts our attention from something that is. Why? The reality for hydrogen bombs? The image of “operation Sunshine”? to suggest a purpose for the bom

51、b that simply does not exist. 2. What is purpose of “culturally different”? To prove that euphemizing itself that is not contemptible. Why? To legitimate reasons why such children might feel alienated from what goes on in school.,It calls attention, to legitimate reasons why such children might feel

52、 alienated from what goes on in school. Sound or valid reasons why such children might feel separated or isolated from normal school life. legitimate is acceptable according to the law. The French government has condemned the coup in Haiti and has demanded the restoration of the legitimate governmen

53、t. 法国政府对海地政变表示谴责，并要求恢复合法政府的地位。 The government will not seek to disrupt the legitimate business activities of the defendant. 政府无意干扰被告的合法经营活动。,Divert （L45),(1) make vehicles follow a different route or go to a different destination than they originally intended Rainham Marshes, east London, where a ne

54、w bypass will divert traffic from the A13 .伦敦东部的雷纳姆泽，那儿有一条新的旁道将会分流 A13 公路的交通 During the strike, ambulances will be diverted to private hospitals. 在罢工期间，救护车将被转到私人医院去 (2) cause money to be used for a different purpose The government is trying to divert more public funds from west to east. 政府正试图将更多的公共基

55、金从西部转到东部。 .government departments involved in diverting resources into community care. 负责将资源用于社区保健的政府部门,(3) send it to a different number or place from the one that was dialled by the person making the call. He instructed switchboard staff to divert all Lauras calls to him. 他让总机接线员将劳拉所有的电话都转给他。 Cust

56、omers will only incur (bring upon) additional call charges if the call is diverted outside the UK. 只有当电话被转接到英国之外，客户才会被加收额外的电话费。 (4) turn aside; turn away from They want to divert the attention of the people from the real issues. 他们想要把人们的注意力从真正的问题上转移开。 The President needed to divert attention away fr

57、om his own economic record. 总统需要将人们的视线从他以往在经济上的表现上转移开。,Feel alienated from,(1) make sb. become unfriendly or unsympathetic towards you.使疏远;使不友好E.g.: The government cannot afford to alienate either group. 疏远两个团体中的任何一方都是政府承受不起的 (2) cause sb. to be emotionally or intellectually separated from them. His

58、 second wife, Alice, was determined to alienate him from his two boys. 他的第二任妻子艾丽斯，决意要疏远他和两个儿子的感情。,alienation,1. Alcoholism often leads to the alienation of family and friends. 酗酒常常导致家庭和朋友间的疏远。 2. Alienation is a central motif in her novels. 疏离感是她小说的一个重要的主题。 3. Marx concentrates on the alienation of

59、labour and emphasizes the invidious aspects. 马克思集中论述了劳动的异化，强调它令人厌恶的方面。 4. An assignment is a total alienation of chattels personal. 动产转让是指属人动产的完全转让。,Para. 5,Euphemizing may be regarded as one of our more important intellectual resources for creating new perspectives on a subject. But such changes must be supported by some authentic tendency or drift in the culture. - 1. such euphemizing does not have the intended effect. - nothing may change (culturally different, senior citizen, lunatic asylums