Beautifying the Ugly: Euphemism as a Politeness Strategy in Language Use

Abstract

Language users seem to employ euphemisms to mitigate the effects of face threats caused by theuse of words perceived as offensive or impolite. The present study shows the extent to whicheuphemism has been used in various settings in Nigeria as a politeness strategy in themaintenance of interlocutors’ faces. Data for the study were drawn from the Nigerian discourseenvironment. While the work adopts an interpretative textual analysis model, the analysis wasdone within the framework of Brown and Levinson’s Politeness theory (1987). Findings revealthat euphemisms serve mainly communicative and rhetorical purposes and facilitate socialinteraction by masking unpleasantness in language use and the degree of use depends on thecontext and the perceived social relationship between the interlocutors.