Today, let’s talk about taboos. Actually, it’s not a new topic. We have learned some cultural taboos of English-speaking countries in the previous sections. A taboo is a prohibition of an action or an expression based on the belief that such behavior is either too sacred or too accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake. And in today’s section, we will focus on verbal taboos mainly. Verbal taboos refer to language expressions which speakers from a certain culture believe to be harmful, offensive, embarrassing, or simply impolite. Tradition or social custom strongly frowns on their use. 

In any culture, taboo is stricter in public speaking, in classroom, or at gatherings of people with certain social status. Though people of different cultures do not completely agree on what taboos are, English and Chinese share some similarities. For example, the followings should be avoided in any polite conversations in both cultures:

1.     Excreta and acts of human excretion are to be avoided.

2.     Talking about sexual intercourse and certain parts of the body.

3.     Disability and death.

4.     Swear words.

The above are the areas of agreement on verbal taboos in both cultures. Next, let’stalk about some disagreement of taboos between Chinese and English Culture.

1.     Compared to English culture, Chinese attitude towards excreta and acts of human excretion is less strict. That’s why one will hear people say “吃喝拉撒睡” in serious public talks or conversations.

2.     The attitude toward sex in English-speaking countries is freer and more open than in Chinese culture.

3.     In western countries, words that have religious connotations are considered profane if used outside of formal or religious ceremony. It was proper for people to use such English religious words as God, devil, heaven, hell, Christ, Jesus and damn only in serious speech. Those who violate this rule will be scolded or evaded.

4.     Words related to age, income, politics and marital status are taboos in English culture. To ask questions of those topics would be considered prying into an individual’s personal life. Some people may not mind and will readily talk about such things, but it is not polite to ask unless the other person shows that he or she will not be offended. On the contrary, these questions are inoffensive in Chinese culture. Expressions like “吃了吗？(Have you had your meal？)”, “去哪儿？(Where are you going？)” are usually regarded as ways of greetings.

5.     In English, racist language which shows a bias against certain racial or ethnic groups is taboo. Words like nigger, Negro, nigga are strictly forbidden for they are scornful and easily recall blacks of their bitter past.

6.     In China, a younger call an elder or a junior call a senior by their given names would be regarded as a sign of disrespect, while in some English-speaking countries it is acceptable and even considered affable, which is quite counter to Chinese custom.

Therefore, one can conclude that taboos vary in different cultures, and they certainly reflect the particular customs and views of the culture. One should always be alert not to break them. If the subjects of taboos must be mentioned, one needs to use a euphemistic term－euphemism. A euphemism is the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant. For examples, departed for dead; relieve oneself for urinate;sleep with for have sexual intercourse with. We would learn more from the following table.

Taboo sets a barrier in our communication, especially in intercultural communication, while euphemism could help remove the cultural barriers. Taboo can be mildly offensive to extremely offensive, and it is rather wise for a speaker to choose a proper euphemism to replace an inappropriate expression when in mixed or unknown company. Believe it or not, if you have some knowledge of verbal taboos and euphemisms, you are likely to gain unexpected benefits in conversations with people from other cultures.