Abstract: Euphemism is widely used in human language. It plays an important role in social communication. Sometimes, people use different words or sentences to express the same meaning in order to avoid embarrassment and bring the sense of humor. This paper will study the formation and communicative function of English Euphemisms. Various methods have been used to form English euphemisms, including phonetic devices, vocabulary devices, grammatical devices, rhetorical devices and semantic devices. The communicative function will be discussed from the following four aspects: to evade, to be polite, to disguise, to be elegant. And it is hoped that the study can help us to have a good understanding of English euphemism, remove the obstacles in intercultural communication and improve our communicative competence.

Key words: English euphemisms; formation; communicative function 

CONTENTS

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. The Definition of English Euphemism .2

3. The Formation of English Euphemism. 2

3.1 Phonetic Devices

3.2 Vocabulary Devices

3.3 Grammatical Devices

3.4 Rhetorical Devices

3.5 Semantic Devices

4. The Social Communicative Functions of English Euphemism.6 

3.1 To Evade

3.2 To Be Polite

3.3 To Disguise

3.4 To Be Elegant

5. Conclusion.10 

Bibliography .11

Acknowledgments.12