euphemism

英 ['juːfəmɪz(ə)m] 美['jufəmɪzəm]

GRE低频词TEM8扩展词汇

复数: euphemisms;副词: euphemistically;形容词: euphemistic;

euphemism 委婉语

eu-, 好的。-phem, 说，词源同fame, phone.

euphemism: euphemism: [17] Etymologically, euphemism means ‘speaking with good words’. Greek euphēmismós, a compound formed ultimately from the prefix eu- ‘good, well’ and phémē ‘speech, saying’ (a relative of English fable, fame, and fate), originally denoted the avoidance of words of ill omen at religious ceremonies, but it was subsequently taken up by grammarians to signify the substitution of a less for a more offensive word. Its opposite, dysphemism ‘use of a more offensive word’, is a modern coinage, formed in the late 19th century using the Greek prefix dus- ‘bad, difficult’.
=> fable, fame, fate
euphemism (n.): 1650s, from Greek euphemismos "use of a favorable word in place of an inauspicious one," from euphemizein "speak with fair words, use words of good omen," from eu- "good, well" (see eu-) + pheme "speech, voice, utterance, a speaking," from phanai "speak" (see fame (n.)).

In ancient Greece, the superstitious avoidance of words of ill-omen during religious ceremonies, or substitutions such as Eumenides "the Gracious Ones" for the Furies (see also Euxine). In English, a rhetorical term at first; broader sense of "choosing a less distasteful word or phrase than the one meant" is first attested 1793. Related: Euphemistic; euphemistically.

1. The term "early retirement" is nearly always a euphemism for redundancy nowadays.: 现在“提前退休”几乎就是裁员的委婉说法。

3. The word " euphemism " originates from Greek.: 委婉语( euphemism )一词源自希腊语,从字面上理解是指用好听的言语或令人愉快的方式来说话.

4. Huang mother - in - law face a cash reward, Yao master euphemism refused.: 面对黄婆婆的现金酬谢, 姚师傅委婉拒绝.

5. Language reflects culture and euphemism is a mirror of culture.: 语言反映文化,而婉语则是各种文化的一面镜子.