1. Introduction Communication has always been an important part in people#8217;s daily life. Therefore, how to communicate becomes a recondite topic because the ways of communication affect not only the relationship between people, but also the development and results of a lot of things. Instead of communicating in a direct way, people nowadays usually use euphemism which makes words more comfortable to accept, to ensure that their conversations to continue. So far, many studies on euphemism have focused on the effects of this linguistic phenomenon in all kinds of contexts and differences of euphemism in different languages. Few studies have linked euphemism with pragmatics, especially cooperative principle and politeness principle. Accordingly, concrete analyses of functions of euphemism in pragmatics are the key points of the present research. 1.1Need for the study This thesis is meaningful both in practical and academic respects. First of all, euphemism is a very ubiquitous and complex linguistic phenomenon today. It is related to many aspects, such as the notion, history, culture, psychology, context, and so on. Since communicating with others is a necessity for everyone, the appearance of euphemism improves the quality of communication to a large extent. This is because euphemism allows people to speak out taboo, embarrassing or terrifying words in a roundabout and implicit way, so that people can gain enjoyable communication experiences, then they can maintain their interpersonal relationship effectively. People whose first language is English use large amount of euphemism in their daily life to make their daily activities proceed smoothly. In short, euphemism acts as a lubricant in people#8217;s conversations. It helps avoid some conflict and unhappiness during the process of communication. Therefore, it is necessary to research euphemism from a systematic view to find out how it beautifies words. What#8217;s more, with euphemism as an intermediary, professional concepts in pragmatics will be concrete and vivid. Secondly, according to Dai Weidong and He Zhaoxiong, pragmatics is the study of how speakers of a language use sentences to effect successful communication. (2017:77) Thus, the study of pragmatic function of euphemism can in return help not only guide appropriate use of euphemism, but also enrich the expression of euphemism. To some degree, this promotes the interaction between people. 1.2 Research purpose This thesis intends to investigate the pragmatic functions of euphemism. Generally speaking, the purpose of this study is to figure out the application of pragmatics in euphemism. To be more specific, the thesis will firstly deal with how euphemism embodies cooperative principle, which classifies euphemism according to different maxims. Secondly, it will find out connections between euphemism and politeness principle. Through researches from these aspects, euphemism can be more systematic, which will emphasize the importance of euphemism in communication at the same time. 2. Literature review Just as Dai Weidong and He Zhaoxiong (2017) pointed out, pragmatics can be regarded as a kind of meaning study, because the process of communication is essentially a process of conveying and understanding meaning in a certain context. Euphemism is closely related to the context as well. People need to infer the true meaning of euphemistic words according to contexts of that time. It is meaningful to explore the relation between these two topics. Therefore, this chapter explains the theoretical framework at length on which the thesis will be put forward. It talks about definitions and development of euphemism and several pragmatic principles. Besides, it looks back on some typical empirical studies on euphemism, cooperative principle and politeness principle both at home and aboard. 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 Introduction of euphemism Euphemism has a long history. It comes from the Greek ”eu-” which means ”good” and ”-pheme” means ” speech” or ”saying”, and thus means ”literally to speak with good words or in a pleasant manner.( Yu Yanqing, 2008) Also, different dictionaries give this term different definitions. For instance, according to Wang Jian (2009), Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1978) defines euphemism as ”(an example of) the use of a pleasanter, less direct name for something thought to be unpleasant”. Then, in The New Edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary (1970), euphemism is defined as ”substitution of mild or vague or roundabout expression for harsh or direct one; expression thus substituted”. And in Webster#8217;s New Collegiate Dictionary (1973), the definition of euphemism reads, ”substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.” Though the expression of the definition vary, the general meaning is all the same. It can be concluded that euphemism means using pleasant words to replace bad or unpleasant words. 2.1.2 Introduction of cooperative principle Cooperative principle is raised by Herbert Paul Gerice in his work Logic and Conversation (1975). He holds the opinion that both sides of people follows some principles unconsciously in their conversations to communicate effectively. In Grice#8217;s original wording, it goes as follows: Make your conversation contribution such as required at the stage at which it occurs by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.( Grice, 1975) There are four parts in cooperative principle. To be clearer, cooperative principle contains four maxims, the maxim of quantity, quality, relation and manner. Different maxims also have different sub maxims which all contribute to allow communication to keep going smoothly. 2.1.3 Introduction of politeness principle According to Wu Bian and Xia Lin (2011), in the 1980s, Leech presented the politeness principle and it was treated as a supplement to the cooperative principle. It possesses two form, negative and positive. The former one refers to reducing the expression of impoliteness and the later one means adding the expression of politeness. (Leech,1983:87) Politeness principle is divided into six categories with every single one containing a criterion and two sub criterion. The six categories include tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and the last one, sympathy maxim. Together with cooperative principle, politeness principle should be followed during social communication. Generally speaking, politeness principle is used to make communication politer and ensure successful communication. 2.2 Previous study on euphemism Zheng Yaru (2018) researches the characteristics of euphemism in English. She probes into the two most important characteristics and functions of euphemism: to avoid taboos and to make the speech more polite and elegant. Kristen Lucas and Jeremy P. Fyke (2014) conduct a study on euphemism and ethics. It is a language-centered analysis based on the court documents and internal investigative reports of Pen State#8217;s sexual abuse scandal. The study demonstrates how euphemistic language impairs ethical decision-making, particularly by framing meaning and visibility of acts. They hold the opinion that euphemism may serve as a disguised retort to critical upward communication in organizations. Terri L. Rittenburg, George Albert Gladney and Teresa Stephenson (2016) carry out a meaningful research which studies the effects of euphemism usage in business contexts. They give out two versions of questionnaires with 20 brief scenarios provided. One version gives euphemistic condition and the other one gives non-euphemistic conditions. Through comparison, they find that people are more willing to do something when it is stated euphemistically. Besides these studies, many researchers also focus on the functions of euphemism. In Li Qingya#8217; s (2017) study, it researches the humorous function of English euphemism in different contexts, such as in social interaction, in advertisement and in professions and the conclusion is that euphemism can make a serious and rigid speech turn into comfortable and witty words. In the study of Wang Jian (2009), he analyzes eight kinds of usage of euphemism, euphemism for death, old age, cheap goods, sweat, small size, political disguise, poverty, marriage and divorce, revealing the cultural connotation. As Gui Hongmei (2015) has pointed out, the communicative function of euphemism are in agreement with those of taboo, politeness, substitution and disguise, which avoids causing the unpleasantness of two communicative sides and damaging their relationship. Similar studies also have been done. For example, Wu Bian and Xia Lin (2011), Zhang Kai and Sun Yanan, Yu Jie (2010) all study these functions as well, but from the perspective of pragmatics. Besides, the study of Zhang Kai, Sun Yanan and Yu Jie (2010) also analyze euphemism and indirect speech act theory. Jiang Weiping (2018) connects euphemism to politeness principle, and researches euphemism#8217;s pragmatic characteristics and communicative function. To conclude, the studies on euphemism focus on its effects and functions. Though its four main functions have been researched from all kinds of perspectives, the research which analyzes euphemism in the aspect of cooperative principle and politeness principle in detail still needs to be conducted. References Dai, W. D., He, Z. X. (2017). A new concise course in linguistics for students of English. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Grice, H. P. (1975) Logic and conversation. New York: Academic Press. Gui, H. M. (2015). The communicative function of English euphemism. English on Campus, 9, 208. Hao, X. [郝煦], 2016, 英语委婉语的功能. 人力资源管理, 6: 162-163. Jiang, W. P. [蒋伟平], 2018, 从礼貌原则看英语委婉语的使用. 怀化学院学报, 37(7): 106-108. Leech, G. (1983). Principles of pragmatics. London: Longman. Li, Q. Y. (2017). The humorous function of English euphemism. English on Campus, 8, 161-163. Lucas, K., Fyke, J. P. (2014). Euphemism and ethics: a language-centered analysis of Penn State#8217;s sexual abuse scandal. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(4), 551-569. Rittenburg, T. L., Gladney, G. A., Stephenson, T. (2016). The effects of euphemism usage in business contexts. J Bus Ethics, 137, 315-320. Wang, J. (2009). An elementary introduction to euphemisms in English. Thinking, 35, 56-58. Wen, H. R. [温洪瑞], 2002, 委婉语的使用动机与特点. 山东外语教学, (6): 71-74. Wu, B., Xia, L. (2011). The pragmatic analysis of English euphemism. Overseas English, 12, 656-657. Yu, Y. Q. (2008). The comparative study of English and Chines taboo. Time Education, 10, 272-273. Zhang, K., Sun, Y. N., Yu, J. (2010). A pragmatic study on euphemism. SCIENCETECHNOLOGY INFORMATION, 9, 253-254. Zheng, Y. R. (2018). A study on the characteristics of euphemism in English. Overseas English, 10, 230-237. Outline 1. Introduction 1.1 Need for the study 1.2 Research purpose 2. Literature review 1.1Introduction 1.1.1 Introduction of euphemism 1.1.2 Introduction of cooperative principle 1.1.3 Introduction of politeness 1.2Previous study on euphemism