SOCIOLINGUISTICS

* Do taboo and euphemism serve any socially useful pupose ? Or are

they just ‘relics of the Dark Ages’?

Taboo and euphemism are two of some aspects that have drawn our
concerns for a long time.And the issue that ‘Do taboo and euphemism serve
any socially useful pupose ? Or are they just ‘relics of the Dark Ages’?’ is
considered as a controversial topic.As for me,I also want to give some
opinion about this issue.
Taboo is the prohibition or avoidance in any society of behavior
believed to be harmful to its members in that it would cause them anxiety,
embarrassment or shame.Tabooed subjects can vary widely: sex; death;
excretion; bodily functions; religious matters; and politics.
A euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive
expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant
to the listener;or in the case of doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for
the speaker. It also may be a substitution of a description of something or
someone rather than the name, to avoid revealing secret, holy, or sacred
names to the uninitiated, or to obscure the identity of the subject of a
conversation from potential eavesdroppers. Some euphemisms are intended
to be funny
Taboo words and expressions are perhaps less obvious in our society
than euphemisms.
Generally, taboo words are words which were 'not only considered
inappropriate for certain context, but were also forbidden in most
communicative events' Trudgill, 1974:29-3 1 However, regardless the fact
that taboo words were condemned to use, their presence was undeniable, and
it did, in fact, exist in our community. The traditional conception said that
females were forbidden to use it for any reasons, while males had their
freedom because of the context of masculinity involved. Since the condition
became more flexible toward males and females, the pressure got more
relaxed. Therefore, the writer was curious to know the kinds of taboo words
that males and females used, their tabooed subjects, and their primary
purpose to use it. The data was taken from the movie Boys don?t cry, and
the approach used was a qualitative-descriptive approach. On the other hand,
the theories used to analyze the data were divided into two main theories and
one supporting theory. The main theories were taken from the combination
between Liedlich and Wardhaugh?s theory about the classification of taboo
words and Liedlich?s theory of the purpose. Meanwhile, Hymes? theory
about the factors exist in communicative events was also taken to support
the analysis of the user?s purpose in using taboo words. The final result of
this study was that the taboo word that was often used by both males and
females was fuck, and they shared the same tabooed subject, which was Sex.
The purpose was quite different. While males used taboo words for the
purpose of identification, females used them to provide catharsis.
Schools are full of euphemisms. At Frankfurt International School, for
example, the special lessons given to students who are having difficulties in
their school subjects are called Study Center (in the middle school) and
Academic Workshop (in the high school). Teachers rightly do not want to
offend students or parents by being too blunt or direct, and usually choose a
softer word or expression to convey the same message. For this reason,
school reports often contain euphemisms such as: He is not working to his
full potential or He has a rather relaxed attitude to his work (= he is lazy),
She is unable to concentrate in class (= she is disruptive), He has strong
opinions about everything and is not afraid to voice them (= he is loud and
arrogant).

Typical of many recently-coined euphemisms are the words and

expressions that try to avoid giving offence to various minority groups or
unfortunate individuals. People who have severe learning difficulties are
sometimes called intellectually-challenged, and those with a physical
handicap are referred to as differently-abled. Poor people are called needy,
under-privileged; disadvantaged or economically deprived. Poor countries
have in turn been called underdeveloped, developing, emergent, Third
World - all in an effort to retain the meaning without causing offence or
being patronising. The struggle over the past 10-20 years to find an
acceptable way to refer to black Americans is further evidence of the
increased sensitivity that we now have to the power of language. This
sensitivity is often referred to as political correctness.

The field of English language teaching is experiencing a similar

struggle over terminology; we have not yet reached a consensus on what we
should call our learners of English. Some people are unhappy with the term
ESL (English as a second language) students because this implies that
English is the first foreign language that non-native speakers should learn.
And in any case, they say, English might be the learner's third or fourth
language. These people prefer to use the term EAL learners - i.e. English as
an additional language learners. In America over the past few years the term
LEP (limited English proficient) students has become popular. However
there is now a backlash from people who feel that this term is too negative,
and they suggest calling such students PEPs (potentially English proficient).
The latest acronym, however, seems to be ELL (English language learner).
No doubt this will remain popular until someone points out that all native
English speakers are ELLs too, and yet another new term will need to be
found!
So if we look at the following euphemisms,can we explain them
correctly?

* senior citizen
* law-enforcement officer
* undertaker
* collateral damage
* pro-choice
* white meat
* adult video
* economical with the truth
* tired and emotional
* person with a visual impairment
* substance abuser
* downsizing
* Where can I wash my hands?

As I noted above, many euphemisms have been coined to avoid

offending sensitive people or discriminating against unfortunate individuals
or underprivileged minority groups. In my opinion these are acceptable
reasons for deploying a euphemism *. Much less acceptable are euphemisms
like collateral damage or the odious Final Solution (Endloesung - i.e. the
murder of Jews in Nazi Germany) and the more recent ethnic cleansing (to
describe the attempt to clear parts of the former Yugoslavia of a particular
national group by terrorising and killing them). The purpose of these
euphemisms is not to avoid offending people but to deceive them.
* pro-choice - describes person who is a supporter of a woman's
right to have an abortion (opponents of abortion call themselves pro-life)
* white meat - the meat that comes from the breast of a chicken
* adult movie - pornographic movie
* economical with the truth - someone who is economical with the
truth is a liar
* tired and emotional - drunk
* person with a visual impairment - a blind person
 * . The intention of this euphemism is to stress that the blind person
is a person - who happens to have a visual disability. He or she is not
defined by the disability. The term blind person, on the other hand, is
thought to place the blindness at the center of the person's existence; and for
this reason it has become unacceptable to some. (It is interesting, however,
that some blind people object to term, not least because it muddles the
distinction between the fully blind and people who have a more minor visual
disability. - Read more about this and about the problems with euphemisms
in general.) substance abuser - a drug addict
* downsizing- reducing the size and wages bill of a company by
sacking employees
* Where can I wash my hands? - Where is the toilet?
Euphemisms is also used to Soften Language.You can see some
examples:
* Fat = overweight, full-figured, big boned, chubby, plump,
voluptuous, portly, etc.
* Poor = working class, of modest means, of humble origins, low-
income, unable to make ends meet, in debt, etc.
* Handicapped = disabled, differently abled, physically challenged,
disadvantaged, etc.
* Remedial = developmental, special needs, etc.
* Homeless = without a roof over one’s head, on the streets,
destitute, dispossessed, displaced, etc.

Continue this brainstorming activity, but demonstrate another

important use of euphemisms by showing how language is manipulated to
add value to certain words or ideas. Notice how these examples often
involve occupations.
Euphemisms has the ability to inflate or Mislead

* Garbage collector = waste disposal worker, sanitation worker,

waste management, etc.
* Secretary = administrative assistant, clerical assistant, executive
assistant, personal assistant, etc.
* Janitor = custodian, caretaker, superintendent, maintenance
worker, etc.
* Boss = supervisor, executive, director, manager, etc.
* School = institute, academy, university, conservatory, etc.
 They have now seen concrete examples of how certain language
softens the impact of words and how to manipulate language to inflate or
mislead. Students can now take sentences filled with euphemisms and
translate them into simple, direct language. Break into groups and provide
each with two or three examples of sentences using this kind of language. If
students haven’t heard a particular euphemism before, encourage them to try
to figure out possible meanings by looking at the context clues in the
sentences.