钱金袁

【Abstract】： In daily communication， people need to consider manners， taboos， religions， etc.  to avoid conflicts with others. Euphemism is commonly used to settle such problems. With the development of technology， Internet language is being more popular， which also provides a launchpad for the development of euphemism. To contrast the euphemism of Internet language will help us understand English and Chinese more concretely.

【Key words】： euphemism; Internet language; forms; contrast

1. About the euphemism

The English word “euphemism” is derived from Greek Language， where in the prefix “eu” has the meaning of “good and pleasing” and the root “phem” has the meaning of “word”， so literally， the word “ euphemism ” refers to pleasing words. In Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language， the definition of “euphemism” is that the substitution of a mild， indirect， or vague expression for one thought substituted. Euphemism is not only an important language phenomenon， but is also a common phenomenon in human language.

2. Contrast of euphemisms of Internet language in English and Chinese in formation

The formations of the euphemism of Internet language reflect concrete formations of peoples cultural activities. To maximize the efficiency of euphemisms of Internet language and also to decrease the complexity of typing， the formations are usually required to be as concise as possible. According to the characteristics of different euphemisms of Internet language， the formations can be divided into 5 kinds：

2.1 Shortening

As its name shows， it means a word made by picking several letters from a sentence， phrase or word. In most cases， the word is made by picking from the initial letter of the phrase or word. Such kind of formation is both applied to English and Chinese. Here are some examples： In English， “GF” is made from the phrase “girl friend”. In Chinese， “TMD” is a dirty word， and is made from “他媽的”. From above examples， English euphemisms of Internet language are made by the certain letters of the words or phrases themselves， while Chinese euphemisms of Internet language are made by the certain letters of Pinyin.

2.2 Homophony

It usually uses the pronunciation of numbers to make a sentence or phrase more implicit. When those numbers are spoken out， the real meanings can be understood immediately. Here are some examples： “520” means “I love you”; in Hangzhou dialect， “62” which is homophonic to“盝兒”simply means “a stupid man” .

2.3 Mispronunciation

Mispronunciation means to transfer some special words by changing pronunciation little， and in such way， the words may not be so direct and explicit. This formation applies to both Chinese and English. One difference of this formation in Chinese can even be made by changing the tones. Here are some examples： In Chinese， “稀饭” is the mispronunciation of “喜欢”; “鸭梨” is the mispronunciation of “压力”; In English， “Oh， shoot”means “Oh， shit”; “Go to heck” means “Go to hell”.

2.4 Fuzzy words and substitutions

In English， many words are borrowed from Latin and French， and by using Latin or French   can be more euphemistic.Here are some examples： The Latin word “lingerie” means “underwear”. When doing online shopping， using “lingerie” may not be so embarrassing; The word “affair” suggests “sexual scandal”. In Chinese， “那種事”means “sexual action”; “手头紧”means “shortage of money”.

3. Analyses of differences between euphemisms of Internet language in English and Chinese

3.1 Differences of language structure

The different language structure of Chinese and English leads to a big difference to the formation of a Chinese-English euphemism of Internet language. First of all， English is the phonogram and it only uses limited combinations of 26 letters to express meaning， but Chinese is a combination of pronunciation and semantics. The same pronunciation will have different euphemism combinations， at the same time it will produce the different meanings and pronunciation or similar sounds which can produce different euphemism words.

3.2 Differences of cultures

Language is the carrier of culture， and it will definitely reflect its characteristics of culture. Due to the influence of ancient culture value in Chinese culture， Chinese do not like to talk about feelings and do not say “love” face to face. English culture has always been encouraged to directly express “love” since they are more open to their feeling. Besides， some beliefs in English and Chinese culture are completely opposed to each other. In English belief， dogs are a kind of friendly animal. There is an expression like “a lucky dog” in Internet communication， which is a euphemism of “a lucky person”. However， in Chinese peoples mind， they will not like to be described as a dog since they do not have such affection to dogs. Conversely， Chinese uses some expression of dogs to show bad things like “人模狗樣”.

4. Conclusion

Internet is the production of the industry era， and it will be a functional carrier of culture and language， which will also reflect the development of Internet culture. However， new words sometimes will impact the standardization of language， especially Internet language.By contrasting the formations euphemisms of Internet language in English and Chinese can make us understand the euphemism in a more interesting way， which in turn will popularize the euphemism and reduce culture shocks and conflicts.

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