Euphemisms in English Everyday Discourse Eufemismy V anglickém jazykovém prostředí

INTRODUCTION 
In our society, there is a tendency to avoid naming objects and abstract 
things directly because we do not want to insult others. In order not to hurt 
someone’s feelings we try to soften the potentially negative effect of the 
expressions through using milder alternatives. It means that whenever we come 
across a sensitive topic we choose such words which minimize an offensive or 
harsh impact on listeners. As I have always been incredibly interested in how the 
choice of words can influence our perception of different situations and facts, I 
have chosen an issue of euphemisms as the focus of my thesis.
Dealing with sensitive topics while some of them are not only delicate but also 
tabularised. In other words, it is prohibited to speak about them in public and if we, 
under different circumstances, have to address them we are obliged to express them 
indirectly. My primary objective is to define all these taboo areas and words which are 
used to describe them in order to maintain a verbal politeness.
However, the main purpose of the thesis is to analyse the use of euphemisms in 
everyday English discourse with the respect to their influence of our perception of 
unpleasant situation. Additionally, it will be examined when the euphemistic 
alternatives fulfil their primary function of softening of the meaning and when they 
serve as an instrument of manipulation.
The thesis is divided into two parts. The theoretical one provides a framework 
based on the works of Burridge, Allan and Keyes whereas the practical part introduces 
various examples excerpted from British newspapers, magazines and online articles. 
The qualitative analysis reveals the use of euphemisms, their occurrence, functions and 
purposes. As the formality of the euphemistic alternatives differs it will be also 
discussed if all of them can appear in press or if some of them are used in a spoken 
discourse only.

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