unit 10 euphemismppt課件

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: 行將就木，彌留之際 （即將死亡） 百年之后，千秋之后 （死亡之后） 壽終正寢，與世長辭 （正常死亡） 山高水長，三長兩短 （意外死亡） 千秋萬歲，宮車晏駕 （帝王之死） 命歸黃泉，撒手人寰 （平民之死）,香銷玉殞，珠沉壁碎 （美女之死） 英勇就義，為

8、國捐軀 （英雄之死） 哲人其萎，蘭摧玉折 （賢人之死） 喪事白喜事 壽衣，壽木，壽穴 Cemetery: memorial park Mortuary: funeral home,王夫人起身忙回道:他媽前日沒了,因有熱孝,不便前頭來.(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,現(xiàn)在的父母向孩子解釋兩性關(guān)系時(shí)，僅僅用小鳥和蜜蜂來做比喻是不行了。

12、他們還必須讓孩子了解艾滋病，皰疹及未成年人懷孕等一系列相關(guān)問題。對(duì)于那些想這么做卻又難于啟齒的父母來說，電腦程序可以充當(dāng)其代言人；他們只要打發(fā)孩子去打開電腦就可以了。,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(看門人）: su

15、perintendent, custodian,tree-trimmer: tree surgeon GalGuy Friday: femalemale secretary (Daniel Defoe: the Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) Chinese: 保姆，清潔工：家政服務(wù)人員 家庭婦女：全職太太 看門人：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 .,漸漸上了年紀(jì) 高級(jí)公民 保存完好的人 老手 灰軍 暮年 過了風(fēng)華正茂的年代 返老還童 知天命.,被剝奪的 處于不利地位的 不擁有的人 缺衣少食的人 沒有特權(quán)的人 匱乏的人 文化上吃虧的人（窮學(xué)生、黑人學(xué)生） 被剝奪受教育權(quán)利的人（窮孩子）.,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（最窮的國家） 發(fā)展中國家 欠發(fā)達(dá)國家.,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 .,悄悄離開 冗員 選派出去 禮送出門 接到通知書 瘦身 縮減規(guī)模.,2. Examples of euphemism in Chinese,去世 逝世 作古 犧牲 薨。 與世長辭 身體發(fā)福 賦閑 拮據(jù),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 殯儀業(yè)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.他的詩激發(fā)了我們的想象力。 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. 她感謝總統(tǒng)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. 少年法庭可在任何時(shí)候刪除或者銷毀未成年人的記錄。 2. He could not expunge the incident from his memory. 他無法忘掉這件事。 3. Wonder when to expun

32、ge that kitchen sponge from your life? 你對(duì)何時(shí)換掉廚房里的海綿有疑問？ 4. The revolutionaries expunged domestic opposition.革命者肅清了國內(nèi)敵對(duì)勢(shì)力。,evoke,1. call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses);產(chǎn)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。結(jié)論 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;召喚(死者靈魂等);【律

34、】把(案件)移送到上級(jí)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為死者招魂 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 動(dòng)詞預(yù)示;是的征兆;表示;是的標(biāo)志 be si

37、gn or indication of FORMAL 正式 (1) Red eyes denote strain and fatigue. 眼睛充血表明壓力過大、身心疲憊。 (2) There was a message waiting, denoting that someone had been here ahead of her. 有了一條留言，這表示有人已先于她到了這兒。 2. （符號(hào)等）代表，是的標(biāo)記 represent FORMAL 正式 (1) In figure 24 D denotes quantity demanded and S denotes quantity supp

38、lied. 在圖 24 中，D 代表需求量而 S 代表供應(yīng)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. 關(guān)鍵任務(wù)是讓學(xué)生們自己認(rèn)識(shí)到成功和努力之間的關(guān)系。 perceive problems 發(fā)現(xiàn)問題 2. 看作；視為；認(rèn)為 Stress is widely perceived as contributing to coronary heart disease. 壓力被廣泛認(rèn)為是導(dǎo)致冠心病的一個(gè)因素。 They strangely perceive television as entertainment. 奇怪的是，他們居然將電視看作娛樂。,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；使傾向于做) 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錯(cuò)誤觀念 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； 幻覺 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: 通過轉(zhuǎn)換有魅力的名字推銷無價(jià)值的東西。能使我們愛上一切 2. 如今，各類無賴都非常清楚一點(diǎn)，他們通過讓我們把名字所具有

44、的魅力轉(zhuǎn)移到他們所推銷的任何無價(jià)值的東西上，幾乎能使我們愛上一切東西。,3. 現(xiàn)在各種騙子都很清楚這一點(diǎn)，他們把有魅力的名字賦予給那些他們宣傳的東西，其實(shí)這些東西沒有任何價(jià)值，讓我們無限喜愛。,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. 法國政府對(duì)海地政變表示譴責(zé)，并要求恢復(fù)合法政府的地位。 The government will not seek to disrupt the legitimate business activities of the defendant. 政府無意干擾被告的合法經(jīng)營活動(dòng)。,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 .倫敦東部的雷納姆澤，那兒有一條新的旁道將會(huì)分流 A13 公路的交通 During the strike, ambulances will be diverted to private hospitals. 在罷工期間，救護(hù)車將被轉(zhuǎn)到私人醫(yī)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. 政府正試圖將更多的公共基

55、金從西部轉(zhuǎn)到東部。 .government departments involved in diverting resources into community care. 負(fù)責(zé)將資源用于社區(qū)保健的政府部門,(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. 他讓總機(jī)接線員將勞拉所有的電話都轉(zhuǎn)給他。 Cust

56、omers will only incur (bring upon) additional call charges if the call is diverted outside the UK. 只有當(dāng)電話被轉(zhuǎn)接到英國之外，客戶才會(huì)被加收額外的電話費(fèi)。 (4) turn aside; turn away from They want to divert the attention of the people from the real issues. 他們想要把人們的注意力從真正的問題上轉(zhuǎn)移開。 The President needed to divert attention away fr

57、om his own economic record. 總統(tǒng)需要將人們的視線從他以往在經(jīng)濟(jì)上的表現(xiàn)上轉(zhuǎn)移開。,Feel alienated from,(1) make sb. become unfriendly or unsympathetic towards you.使疏遠(yuǎn);使不友好E.g.: The government cannot afford to alienate either group. 疏遠(yuǎn)兩個(gè)團(tuán)體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. 他的第二任妻子艾麗斯，決意要疏遠(yuǎn)他和兩個(gè)兒子的感情。,alienation,1. Alcoholism often leads to the alienation of family and friends. 酗酒常常導(dǎo)致家庭和朋友間的疏遠(yuǎn)。 2. Alienation is a central motif in her novels. 疏離感是她小說的一個(gè)重要的主題。 3. Marx concentrates on the alienation of

59、labour and emphasizes the invidious aspects. 馬克思集中論述了勞動(dòng)的異化，強(qiáng)調(diào)它令人厭惡的方面。 4. An assignment is a total alienation of chattels personal. 動(dòng)產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)讓是指屬人動(dòng)產(chǎn)的完全轉(zhuǎn)讓。,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