英语修辞

Euphemism (委婉)指的是以较文雅、悦耳或温婉的说法来代替粗野、刺耳或直露的说法。它能借助语音、语法、词汇及其他修辞手段，得体地表达生活中那些使人尴尬、惹人不快、招人厌恶或令人恐惧的事物。其主要修辞作用是在语言表达上减少刺激性和敏感性，从而起到一种缓冲或美化作用。

英语委婉语数量众多，其运用范围涉及到社会生活诸领域，大致可概括为以下四个方面。 2．表达方式

1） 有关疾病、残疾、衰老、死亡的委婉语

疾病

soft in the head头软了( 实指疯mad ); the big C大写的C、long illness长期之病 ( 实指癌cancer ); Hansen’s disease汉森之病 ( 实指麻风病leprosy ); irregularity不规则 ( 实指便秘constipation ); heart attack心脏状况( 实指心脏病heart attack disease ); problem skin皮肤有问题 ( 实指粉刺acne ); mental hospital / mental hospital精神病院 / 精神健康中心 ( 实指疯人院madhouse ); look off colour气色不好 ( 实指身体有病 ); social disease社会病 ( 实指艾滋病 )。

残疾

在学校里，把disabled students (残废学生)婉称为special students (特殊学生)；把the crippled婉称为the handicapped (走路不方便的人)；把blind students (盲学生)婉称为visually retarded students (视力有毛病的学生)；把deaf (聋)婉称为hard of hearing (听力有困难)；把stupid students(愚蠢学生)婉称为slow learners (学得慢的学生)或under-achievers (智力不发达的学生)；把He is dull (foolish)(迟钝)婉称为He is a bit slow for his age；把foreign students外国学生)称为international students，以避免把他们看成外人。 衰老

getting on years年岁增长; advanced in age高寿; elderly年岁大的; senior年事已高的; past one’s prime过了鼎盛期; feeling one’s age感觉到上了年纪; golden age金色岁月; sunset years日落之年。 死亡

joint the silent majority加入沉默的大多数; pass away走了，离开了; go to heaven上天堂了; fall asleep睡着了; pass beyond过去了; fade凋谢了; be called to God被上帝召唤去了; safe in the arms of Jesus在耶稣怀里得到平安; be gone to a better 1and到一个更好的地方去了; pop off (the hooks)突然蹬了腿(猝死，pop突然砰一声); get off the hooks (原文为脱钩，转义为死)脱离了; go to his long home回到永久的家; kick the bucket翘辫子; go to sleep forever长眠; be no more不再有了; go west西去; be at rest安息; go the way of all flesh走众生之路; join one’s ancestors加入祖先的行列; return to dust归之尘土; breathe one’s last作最后一次呼吸; run one’ s race跑完自己的赛程; be no longer with us与我们永别了等等。 2）有关人体、排泄的委婉语 人体

homely不好看、plain平常婉指ugly丑；heavyset富态、weight watcher胖人、caro1ie count-down减肥、chubby胖平平的、plumy丰满的、stout壮实的婉指fat胖；slender苗条、slim苗条、willowy苗条、svelte亭亭玉立、lean精干、lithe灵活婉指skinny瘦；in a state of nature 处于天然状态、in one’s birthday suit 身着生日服装表示“赤身裸体”； 排泄

大便(defecate)和小便(urinate)可用以下委婉语取而代之：

go to stool去大便; pass water小便; go to the bathroom去盥洗室; answer nature’s call响应自然的召唤; make water小便; empty one’s bladder小便; Where is the restroom?休息室(附设盥洗间)在哪里?; go to W．C．去盥洗间; go to public lavatory去公共盥洗室; go to men’s(women’s)去男(盥洗间)女(盥洗间); go to washroom去洗手间; I have to pay a call.我必须付款应召; I would like to be excused.我请求原谅; go to the bank去银行; spend a penny去花点小钱; I have to retire for a moment.我得离开一会儿; I want to wash my hands.我要去洗洗手; see Johnny去看约翰尼; consult Mr. Jones咨询琼斯先生; power one’s nose擤鼻子; want to make one self comfortable想去使自己舒服点。pass air (排气); 1et a breezer (刮一阵微风); make a noise等。

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3）有关社会职业、社会问题的委婉语 社会职业

tree-trimmer花木匠→tree surgeon花木外科医师；hair dresser (barber)理发师→beautician美容师；floor-sweeper楼层清洁工→custodian engineer监管工程师；bootblack擦鞋匠→foot- wear maintenance engineer鞋类保养工程师；cobbler补鞋匠→shoe rebuilder鞋子复原师； dustman (garbage collector)垃圾清理工→street orderly街道清洁师 / sanitary engineer卫生工程师；hired girl女佣人→domestic help家务助手；maid女佣→day-help家务助手；housekeeper管家→live-in-help安居助手；head-waiter侍者领班→captain总管；barber理发师→tonsurial artist削发艺术家；butcher屠夫→meat technologist肉类技术专家；funeral undertaker殡葬承办人→grief therapist哀伤治疗专家。

Euphemism (委婉)在口语和书面语里都时有运用，不可或缺，这是因为在日常生活和社会生活中都有不少人们不愿直接提及的事物，这就需要借助委婉语来表达。以下为一些实际用例，部分出自名家笔下，堪称巧用英语委婉的典范。

And, it being low water, he went out with the tide. ( Charles Dickens; David Copperfield ) 正是退潮的时候，他跟潮水一道去了。 *作者用“驾潮而去”表示“溺水而死”，话说得哀婉动人。

If you will allow me, I will call your carriage for you. ( Oscar Wilde ) 如果你愿意的话，我去给你叫辆车。

*句中以“去给你叫辆车”委婉地下达了逐客令，却礼貌、得体。

7. 夸 张 HYPERBOLE

1. 定义

英语Hyperbole (夸张)一词源于希腊语的huperbole，原意为excess (超过)。这是一种故意夸大其词或言过其实(overstatement)的修辞手法，其特点是对表达对象进行有违常识或不合逻辑的夸张性描写，以此来取得强烈的修辞效果。

(1) His eloquence would split rocks! 他的雄辩之威之利，能劈磐石。

(2) It is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. 骆驼负载过重，加根草就能压死。

*例(1)为扩大夸张；例(2)则是缩小夸张。 2．表达方式

英语Hyperbole按构成方式大体可分为五类，现分别举例说明。 ( 1 ) 用数词表示

We must fight for every inch of land. 我们必须寸土必争。

This made him roar like a thousand bulls. ( George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss )

这使他像千牛怒吼一般咆哮起来。

I have given my last ounce of strength to my work. 我对工作已经尽了最大的努力。

She is sitting here, but her mind is a thousand miles away. 她人在这里坐着，心却在千里之外。 I beg you a thousand pardons. 我很对不起你，请千万原谅。 Thanks a million. 万分感谢。

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The gang deserve to die a thousand deaths. 这伙人罪该万死。

I’ve told you fifty times.

我对你讲过无数次了。

It’s a thousand pities that you can’t come. 你不能来，真令人遗憾。

My left leg weighs three tons. (Thomas Baily Aldrich: Marjorie Daw )

我的左腿重三吨。

You write ten times better than any man in the congress. ( Peter Stone and Sherman Edwards: 1776 )

你写得比议会中的任何人都要好上十倍。

An ounce of wisdom is worth a million tons of books. ( Konrad Bercovici: The Wisdom of the Illiterate” ) 一盎司智慧抵得上百万吨书本。

( 2 ) 用动词、名词、形容词或副词表示

动词

Tanks thunders down the road. 坦克轰隆轰隆地沿着路开过来。 He nearly exploded with indignation. 他几乎把肺都气炸了。

My feet are killing me. 我的脚痛死了。

They split／burst their sides with laughing. 他们捧腹大笑。

The price of food is soaring. 食品价格飞涨。

In inflationary times prices soared / ballooned / skyrocketed. 在通货膨胀时，物价飞涨。

She was walking on air. 她高兴得心里飘飘然。

They are sitting on a volcano, which might erupt at any moment. 他们好像正坐在火山口上，这火山可能随时都会爆发。 The sound of drums and gongs reached the stars. 锣鼓喧天。 名词

Life is happiness, each minute might have been an age of happiness.

( Dosloevsky to His Brother Mihail )

生活就是幸福，每一分钟都能拥有无穷无尽的幸福。 It’s a crime to stay inside on such a beautiful day. 今天阳光明媚，躲在家中实在太遗憾了。

She was tired to the world. 她疲倦得要命。

He is on top of the world. 他高兴极了。

There is a world of difference between these two cities. 这两个城市千差万别。 I haven’t seen you for ages. 咱们很久没见面了。

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There’s no one within miles of him as a cricketer. 作为板球队员，没有人能胜过他。 I have tried heaps of times. 我试过很多次了。

It was raining cats and dogs. 天下着滂沱大雨。

There are clouds of clerks in the office. 办公室有很多的职员。

She wept floods／oceans of tears. 她泪如泉涌。

She left in a storm of tears. 她大哭着离开了。

There is a sea of faces in the park.

公园里人山人海。

He committed the sin of sins. 他犯了滔天大罪。

Grain is the treasure of treasures. 粮食是宝中之宝。

The Pacific is the deep of deeps. 太平洋是个最大的海洋。

Frieda is the Parisian of Parisians. 费里达是最典型的巴黎人。 形容词

He is blind drunk.

他烂醉如泥。 It’s so plaguy co1d.

天冷得要命。

It is a cruel hard job.

这是一件十分艰苦的工作。 It’s bitter cold.

天气真冷。 副词

The hills are heavenly beautiful.

山景宜人。

The man is beastly vulgar.

这个人庸俗不堪。

It is terribly cold today.

今天冷得吓人。

You are awfully kind.

你太客气了。

I’m dreadfully tired.

我十分疲劳。

I’m frightfully sorry I inconvenienced you. 使你感到不便，我真抱歉。

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