Euphemism And Its Interpretation

The word"euphemism"comes from the Greek word"euphemos", meaning"auspicious/good/fortunate speech"which in turn is derived from the Greek root-words eu (ευ),"good/well"+ pheme (φ?μη)"speech/speaking". Euphemism stands in comparison with taboo which is a strong social prohibition (or ban). Taboo is relating to any area of human activity or social custom declared as sacred and forbidden. Breaking of the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society.Euphemism is a cross-matching of form and meaning none other than euphemism itself. Generally speaking, the cross-matching is not symmetrical.A paradox arises here. Euphemisms can be used when taboos must be mentioned, why should we allow the offensive words to remain in the vocabulary of our language and why don't we eliminate them once and for ever so that our later generations will no longer be offended by the use of offensive words? It is a question which cannot be avoided in a serious research either concerned with taboo or euphemism.On the one hand, taboo and euphemism do co-refer in most contexts but they are complementary in distribution, they differ in register. Each performs its specific referring function in its specific context, any wrong use in defiance of context, which corresponds to Halliday's field, will bring about seriously negative effect.On the other hand, contemporary linguistics, ever since Saussure, has abandoned the prescriptive tradition, and the diametrically distinct tradition of descriptive linguistics has appeared and grown to its maturity. Descriptive linguistics has become the widely acclaimed irreversible linguistic research paradigm. Taboo and the corresponding euphemism are described and explained by the linguists. But they are not advocated or prohibited by linguists,Euphemism and taboo are mutually dependent, either of which cannot be isolated from the other. No euphemism is endlessly durable just like no taboo will remain for ever. Since euphemism is no more than the formal substitution of taboo which brings approximately no change of meaning, any euphemism will become increasingly...