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Leech's Theory Of Euphemism

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The word euphemism comes from Greek word euphēmismos, derived fromeuphēmos which mean sauspicious, sounding good. Leech defines euphemism as the practice of referring to something offensive or delicate in the term that makes it sound more pleasant. (Leech, 1981 p.45)Leech also describes that euphemism is a way to deliver our ideas which are vague, taboo, impolite etc. to be more polite and without offending someone so that the hearer can accept the point pleasantly. Euphemism is an expression of politeness. As Allan and Burridge (1991 p.11) said that: ” Euphemism is used as an alternative to dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one’s own face or, through giving offense, that of the audience, or of …show more content…

Orthophemism is a term for all neutral (euphemistic), nor offensive (dysphemistic).Allan(2009 p.627)adds that a euphemismis“ typically more colloquial and figurative (or indirect) than the corresponding …show more content…

to be more polite and without offending someone so that the hearer can accept the point pleasantly. (1981p.45). This phenomenon by expansion dysphemism, is attached politeness through the concept of the face; to be sure x-phemism can be divided in relation to the notion of face and face affront. The function of euphemism is preserving the speaker’s or writer, public image or face in communicative interactions and hence maintaining the social concord in interpersonal relations by avoiding the potential face-affronts that some taboo word expressions may present (Crespo-Fernandez 2015: xi.p. 45-46). Euphemisms is applied in different spheres of life without considering which euphemism to use and when, however, it is not so easy to classify them as there is no uniform standard. Euphemisms can be categorized according to different criteria, rules, or principles. The following is a presentation of some possible classifications of euphemisms. Rawson break up euphemisms into two general types, namely, positive and negative which are distinguished according to the evaluative aspect

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