It is known that Thai students study English since
they were at least three years old. It takes about fifteen years studying
English before graduating from universities. Unfortunately, their English
proficiency is still limited. As a teacher of English for several years, the
author has found that one of the factors affecting students’ proficiency in
English is the lack of English vocabulary. This factor leads to difficulties
when reading English printed materials. The words used in English reading
materials sometimes do not represent direct meanings because the writer or the
speaker wants to avoid others’ embarrassment. These types of words are called
euphemisms. Euphemisms are used to replace the words which are impolite. They
are considered as the idiomatic expressions that lose their literal meaning and
they are used in the sentences to hide the unpleasantness. As a result, Thai
students, who are non-native English speakers, sometimes cannot interpret what
they have read or even listened. The author, therefore, presents the article on
“Euphemisms in English Language” in order to provide the importance of
euphemisms in English language and why we, as teachers of English and English
learners, have to study them seriously.
