Motivations for Using Euphemisms as Reflected in Selected Filipino Short Stories in English

This descriptive qualitative research used textual analysis to find out the motivations for using euphemisms among Filipinos as reflected in selected short stories in English. Fifty English short stories written by Filipinos during the American and the contemporary periods were reviewed. Specifically, this study examined the context of their usage guided by face theory, Grice?s co-operative principle, relevance theory and politeness. Euphemisms are used to enhance good relationships. From the expressions collected from the fifty stories, politeness is the very common motivation for employing euphemisms. These expressions which try not to offend the reader or the addressee in the stories are the writers? or the characters? polished ways of concealing some harsh realities of life like death, ailments, descriptions of people trivialized by society, expressions of anger, ways of calling the divine beings, insanity, and sex. Euphemisms categorized under relevance theory are expressions which meanings are disguised by the way they are used in context. Their meanings are not unveiled directly by the words? primary meaning. They can only be discovered through critical reading. Relevance is in the reader?s attempts to understand the expression. Those that are used to save face are expressions which are sugarcoated such that the addressee would not be embarrassed. While those under the co-operative principle are expressions which help develop understanding if the character in the story or the readers themselves are equipped with the proper knowledge or stock of vocabulary in order to decode the information presented.