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’s English-Chinese Dictionary, 4th edition.) Whether Speaking or writing，one has to get oneself across effectively， i.e.，to be eloquent，accurate，impressive，persuasive and expressive. The study of how to express oneself effectively，generally speaking，is the main concern of rhetoric. 1.4.2. Rhetorical application of euphemism When we use euphemisms, we also have to think about how to express our ideas effectively. So we should make use of the rhetorical device. [3] The rhetorical devices frequently used are as following: (i) Metaphor With this figure of speech，the euphemism always seems to be romantic so that the style of the language may change a lot. There are numerous euphemistic words for “die” in English. Actually some of them are vivid and informal metaphor. For instance，“go to his long home”, “go to sleep forever” and “cease to think”，etc. (ii) Metonymy Metonymy is a figure of speech in which the name of one thing is used to stand for another thing. The two things involved in a metonymy are not of the same kind but are closely related. Euphemism makes a good use of it. For instance, some part of human body are often euphemized with a whole part for a very special one, which is not suitable to mention directly, such as “lower parts”, or “part below” for “secret parts”, “upper parts” for “breasts”, etc. (iii) Synecdoche Some euphemisms are invented by synecdoche, a trope which is “a figure by which a more comprehensive term is used for less comprehensive or vice versa; as whole for part or part for whole, a genus for species or species for genus, etc.”(Oxford Dictionary) For instance, “He has a smooth tongue,” in fact, means, “He is talkative.” (iv) Personification Some unpleasant things are given human characteristics or human names to achieve a vivid effect. Examples: (1)Personified euphemisms for drugs: Big Harry for heroin，Miss Emma for morphine， Mary Jane for marijuana，etc. (2)Personified euphemisms for bathroom: John (Am.E.) ，jakes，Sir John; Mrs. Tones，Aunt (e.g. to go to one’s Aunt) (used by female only) ，etc (v) Periphrasis Periphrasis, as circumlocution, refers to a thing named in a roundabout way. Rawson suggests “the longer the euphemisms, the better.” They have more syllables, and frequently, two or more words will be deployed in place of a single one. For instance, “trousers” does not sound well，so “nether garments” replaces it. “Fart” is too unpleasant to the ear，so people say it as “wind from behind”. (vi) Understatement Understatement is a figure of speech in which an idea is deliberately expressed too weakly. It is used to play down or to minimize the importance of something. It is usually employed in three ways: litotes, meiosis and overtones. Litotes is understatement by denying the contrary of the thing being affirmed. It is the use of negative form for positive ideas when the speaker wishes to weaken his tone of comment on something. For example, we often use “unwise” instead of “stupid”; “impolite” instead of “rude”. (vii) Irony Irony is a figure of speech in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense. For example, when someone hates the weather, which spoils his trip and says, “What a fine day!” he is ironical. Some intimate feelings or bad things are expressed resorting to irony， a figure of speech in which the meaning literally expressed is the opposite of the meaning indicated and aims at humor or sarcasm an