What are the taboos and euphemisms in Chinese and Western cultures?

How to address each other in verbal communication is a very important issue. In the Chinese language, the main taboo involves the custom of keeping one's name secret, and the names of one's ancestors and elders are not to be called by name. Generally speaking, the younger generation should address the elders by generation title instead of name title, and regardless of whether there is no blood relationship can be called relatives. Such as "grandpa, grandma, grandpa, grandma, uncle, uncle" and so on. In interpersonal exchanges, not only the juniors avoid calling the name of the elders, but also in the not very familiar with the peers also avoid calling each other's names to show respect for each other, usually people to "Mr.", "comrades", "masters "and so on and so forth.

The English language in the way of address is not like the Chinese have so many taboos, basically there is no taboo problem, but there are some strict rules, especially for members of the royal family, the high status of the clergy's name is sloppy. Of course, in most cases it is sufficient to address Mr. or Mrs., Ms. or Miss with the last name. However, if you know that the person you are addressing is a person of high social status, such as doctor, professor, judge, governor, etc., you should address him/her by his/her title plus his/her last name or by his/her title alone.

(2) Vocabulary taboos

The British and Americans are also very particular about the use of words related to physical appearance and physique. They usually don't use ugly to describe people with bad looks and physique. And use plain, ordinary to replace it, taboo body fat or skinny, with chubby, plump or slim, slender instead. In Chinese culture, we often use "you've recently gained weight", "fat" to compliment someone's health, but the English rarely use fat to express the body fat. Because English-speaking people, especially women, are very sensitive to their own weight and body, if you say she is fat, she will be very unhappy.

(3) Digital taboos

We all know that the numbers 4 and 7 harmonize with the words "dead" and "gas", so people in general do not want to use these two numbers. In the selection of telephone numbers, the end is 4, 7 of the number of very few people are willing to choose; and 6, 8 is considered to be "smooth", "hair" numbers, is valued by people, the end with 6, 8 of the telephone number was once out of the high price of people to buy. "Long" is the harmonic sound of 9, so since ancient times, the rulers of the upper echelons of the country hope that the people are peaceful, stable, in order to rule the world for a long time. Therefore, the Forbidden City has nine big nails on the gate, just as the so-called "nine nine to one". Because the Bible contains the story of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, the 13th man, the British and Americans are generally averse to the number "13", so it is difficult to find the 13th floor of a high-rise building, such as an apartment or hotel.

(4) Taboo Topics

There is a big difference between the two languages in this respect, which is mainly due to the fact that the Han Chinese and the English-speaking people look at things very differently. English speakers attach great importance to privacy, and there is a proverb in English that says: A man's home ishis castle, which means that a man's home (personal space) is sacrosanct and cannot be entered without permission, especially the bedroom. For example, in the rural areas of the north, inviting guests to "go on the bed" is a sign of hospitality. In Britain and the United States, everything on the desk belongs to the individual, and outsiders are generally not allowed to look at it, even a newspaper, you have to ask for permission to borrow it. In the eyes of the Chinese is not so. Some people enjoy the photo albums of foreign teachers or read the comments written on students' homework without permission. What seems to be normal to us is considered by Westerners to be an invasion of other people's personal space. Therefore, when talking to an English-speaking person, it is inappropriate to talk about the other person's age, finances, income, weight, marital status, religious beliefs, political leanings, and other topics related to the life and privacy of the individual, unless it is necessary to talk about it (e.g., in hotels, hospitals, detention centers).

From the above analysis, we can see the taboo language behind the deep-seated cultural differences of a half-claw, but to exhaust the language taboos contain deep cultural connotations is not within the power of this article. The existence of the universal fact of linguistic taboos shows that all human beings have a tendency towards goodness and beauty, but this ****same mentality is driven by different ethics and morals, different values and so on. From the phenomenon into the essence can make us see the essence of the phenomenon of linguistic taboo more clearly, and grasp the direction of its development.