中英死亡委婉语对比分析Death Euphemisms Between Chinese and English: A Contrastive Analysis [5]
论文作者:佚名论文属性:短文 essay登出时间:2009-04-09编辑:刘宝玲点击率:34849
论文字数:26000论文编号:org200904091747052664语种:中文 Chinese地区:中国价格:免费论文
关键词:死亡委婉语文化差异Deatheuphemismculturedifference
from or expose another person to danger or unhappiness. It implies the still earlier image of unplugging a bath or barrel and thus permitting “the water of life to run out”.
Pye Chamberlain noted in the New York Times (1981) that the Reagan administration had coined many new words for taxes, among he cited income enhancement. He noted that in those days nothing in life is certain but “negative patient care outcome and income enhancement”. Because of his words, this death euphemism came into being.
Many western countries are noted for their well-developed navigation. Therefore, death euphemism takes a significant part in people’s daily language. Davy Jones’ locker is the nickname of the sea. When a sailor dies in the sea unfortunately called he will just go to Davy Jones’ locker. Other euphemisms as “to slip off”, “slip one’s cable”, “coiled up”, “hit the rocks” and “the last voyage” are also used nowadays in many English-speaking countries. (Rawson, Hugh 1981)
3. Death of Others
Many military death euphemisms and sporting euphemisms are used today. Soldiers must sacrifice their lives in pursuing of their goals that serve their cause and their country. If so, they have done their bit. A later expression “to make the ultimate sacrifice” or “the supreme sacrifice”, “fired his last shot” indicate he would have to fight against the enemies with his life. As early as 1330, the poem Arthur and Merlin praised a knight because “his life he laid there”. Derived from this line “to lay down one’s life” came into being as a death euphemism. In 1862, this phrase was used in Temple Bar that recorded that a man might be “ready to lay down fortune, freedom and perhaps life itself…” (Neaman & Silver1983). Others as “tap toe”, “turn off the taps” and “to be blown across the creek” is still in use today.
Shakespeare compared life to a stage. The stage is as mirrors of daily life. Robert Browning in Christmas Eve and Easter Morn (1895) wrote, “If he blacked out in a blot thy brief life’s unpleasantness…” Here “black out” has been reinforced and amplified by cinemas and theaters. Othello’s “put out the light, and which lives are snuffed out” was inherent the expression. So the phrase “black out” and “switch out the lights” are used as death euphemisms. It is natural to compare the end of life to the end of a play. “The fall of the curtains and make the last bow, to bow off or to bow out” are indicating the end of life. “Out of the picture”, “to fade out”, “black out” and “fade away” used as death euphemisms.
The baseball, steeplechase and football are entertainments. The baseball expression “to strike out” has been in use in America since the 1930s. It originally meant “to be retired after failing to hit three pitches”. In the 1950s, a medical professor followed the metaphor to its logical occlusion when he told his students “sometimes, no matter what you do, the Great Umpire up above will call “strike three”.” Expressions also coming from the steeplechase as “to jump the last hurdle”, the football “the final kick off” or simply “kick off”, the rugby “to be thrown for a loss”, and the table-tennis “to drop the cue” all mean “the end of the game” and metaphorically the end of life. The defend will be “out of game”. All of them are later death euphemisms. (Ayto, John 1993)
Ⅳ. Contrastive Analysis of Death Euphemism in Chinese and English
A. Differences of Religion
“A dictionary of Chinese Euphemisms”, Chinese death euphemisms amount to 481 ite
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