[Abstract] As an indispensable and natural part of English l(7)

5. The social function of English euphemisms
5.1 For evasion
Since death is inevitable, it has become the fear of all human being. In early time, people seldom mentioned death directly because they were superstitious about it. They believed that death was a devil that can hear human’s voice. So if you speak of it, it will appear. Thus, there were many euphemisms about the word “die” such as “breathe one’s last” and “join the majority”.
Disease is another fear of man. In primitive society, as the level of medicine was very low, people scarcely survived when they got sick. To them, disease was as dreadful as death. So they didn’t speak it directly either. In modern society, although many diseases can be cured, people are still afraid of them. On the one hand, the patient suffers a lot from it; on the other hand, the expense is a heavy burden to the family especially the poor. The common result is that the patient regains his health but the whole family has to live a poor life for many years or even all their lives. Thus, people usually use euphemistic words when they mention the names of disease. For example, the “Big C” replaces “cancer” and “AIDS” substitutes “acquired immune deficiency syndrome”.
In Chinese people’ eyes, westerners are quite open-minded. But this does not mean that they talk about all the words related to sex freely. “Except for some medical terms in a special situation, they may use euphemistic words to talk about it”[21]. Such as, “to have sex” and “to make love”. Words about the birth are also seldom mentioned directly because they make people think of sex. When a woman is pregnant, she is described as “to have one watermelon on the vine”; “in a particular condition”; “to have one on the way”, etc.
5.2 For politeness
The Pursuit of beauty is the nature of human being. Beauty helps one feel confident while ugliness makes one have a sense of inferiority. So it is impolite even offensive to say someone is ugly directly. When people want to express someone is ugly, they usually say “He is plain looking” or “She is not pretty”, etc. With the improvement of living standard, more and more people have a weight problem. Various products of losing weight flood into the market for being too fat is not only a problem of appearance but also a problem of health. Obesity brings inconvenience as well as the risk of many diseases. Therefore, there are a lot of euphemisms about fatness like “plump”,  “chubby” or “tubby”, etc. “Skinny” is another unpleasant word. No one likes to be described as “skinny”, but they will be really pleased when they hear others describe them as “slim” or “slender”. （转载自http://zw.nseac.coM科教作文网）
The disabled need help and protection but they are sensitive, too. So people have to choose their words carefully when they talk about them. Many euphemistic words are designed to avoid mentioning the handicapped. “deaf” is replaced by “hard of hearing”; “cripple” is euphemized as “the inconvenienced”, and so on..
5.3For elegance
 Excrement is a disgusting topic in polite conversation. They are avoided by means of euphemisms. “Defecation” refers to one of the sickest elements in the world. When you go to see a doctor for a stomach upset, the doctor will ask you, “How is your bowel movement?” And if he wants to have a further examination, he will need a specimen of your manure. If someone rounds his thumb and index finger up to form the letter “C” with other fingers stretching out, he wants to go to W.C. There are other expressions having the same meaning, like  “to sing a song”, “to see the moon”, “answer the nature’s call”, “do one’s business” or simply “ Excuse me”.
Some parts of body are associated with sex, so they are avoided being said directly. This generates a large number of euphemisms. “big brow eyes”, “bust” or “coconuts” refers to female’s breasts; “naturals”, “affair” or “tails” suggest sex organs of human being, etc. Like parts of body, nakedness is a taboo out of embarrassment or shame. According to the Bible, Adam and Eve ate the wise fruit, found themselves naked and felt very ashamed. They hid themselves behind the bush when the Lord came to see them. Then they used fig leaves to cover important parts of their bodies. This story demonstrates that “nakedness” has been a taboo for a long time. There are many euphemistic words about nakedness, like “altogether” and “in one’s birthday suit”. Once a man was bathing without locking his door, one of his friends rushed into his room for emergency and found he was naked. They both felt embarrassed. Then the man with nothing on said, “You are the one besides my mother who has seen I am in my birthday suit”. Both of them immediately burst into laughter.