Critical Literacy in memories..

Before ending the fourth semester, I think i'm going to update my blog for the last time. When Sir Mark said that this morning is the last class session with him because he will not teach Semester 5's students, truly I can said that I'm a little bit upset because I can said that I love this subject. Okay I would like to share my stories to all of you who read this blog about my first thought of Critical Literacy subject.


When I have seen the schedule of Semester 4, all my friends said that this is the most hardest subject and hard to score by the students. The first came in my mind is that 'Ok, it will be hard for me for the whole this sem as majority of the subjects are really difficult including CL.'


But after I have learned with Sir Kamaraziz aka Mr. Mark (the lecturer who I have been used whose also the lecturer in my class when I was in Semester 1), I've learned a lot from him, and from all the learning sessions.
It is true, I'm not pretending, I'm just tell the truth based on what I've experienced and felt in this 4 months of learning in Semester 4.


I learned to adapt with the new classmates, to communicate and discuss with them although we're not so familiar with each other. I still can remember all the activities we've done together in the class. We experienced being a lawyer where we conduct an experiment, find the proves, create premises and arguments for the suspect of Jack The Ripper. It is the most stressed moments for us as it takes a long time to searching the information, analyze, and many more where we apply the critical and logical thinking when doing this. It is actually have opened up my eyes on how the situation in the court really are and how big the role of a lawyer.

Besides that, we also have presented at the class about the left and right hemisphere brain where we have separated in groups and have to present regarding the four topic give. And I still keep this picture..:)


Other activities such as Plato myths, Et Tu Brute, syllogism, sarcastic, and so many more I will kept it as the best and valuable experience here..


Actually, there are a lot of things that I want to share here, but it will be so long just like an essay. So, to be conclude, I have learnt a lot of things in this subject. I think more critically, I learnt on how to work more harder as we also have to do our assignment 1 and 2 which are all about 10 rules in which needs us to criticize about the topic by using common sense and logical thinking. 


Last but not least, I would like give thousands of thank SIR KAMARAZIZ who have teach us a lot along this Semester with him. I will remember the last class where all of us need to snap our own photo and put our quote there as our gift for the farewell. Although there is actually another 1 mission that not accomplish yet, that is VIVA, the biggest task to do in this subject, but it will coming soon, and I hope all the classmates can work more harder and work together to make the last memories, the last presentation for this subject becomes the precious moments and memorable..^_^

              LET'S BE CRITICAL TO CRITICIZE THINGS....


CRITICAL THINKING SUBJECT IS SO ANNOYED UNTIL IT MADE ME BECOME OVER-EXCITED TO FINISH EVERY TASK GIVEN (in terms of blog and assignments)..^ ^

  BY THINKING CRITICALLY, MY THINKING BECOMES CRITICAL... 

Sarcastic Words

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF SARCASTIC?

The word “sarcastic” refers to a way of speaking. You can say that someone “is being sarcastic” or “has a lot of sarcasm.”

"Sarcastic" is saying something in a cutting, often ironic way which is intended to wound. Sarcasm is a witty way of insulting someone without using obscene language. 

When someone is being sarcastic, it often means they are referring to something that is the opposite of what is obvious. 

EXAMPLE OR SARCASTIC WORDS

Groucho Marx

“A man is as young as the woman he feels.”

“I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.”

“If you find it hard to laugh at yourself, I would be happy to do it for you.”

Mark Twain

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it a remove all doubt.”

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.”

Winston Churchill

“I am easily satisfied with the very best.”

“It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.”

Oscar Wilde (prominent Irish aesthete) 

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”

Often, sarcasm is meant to be funny, But other times, people might use sarcasm in a rude way – it usually depends on the situation and the tone a person uses. 

If you say something sarcastic with a smile and a laugh in an appropriate situation, it’s usually different than saying something sarcastic with a sneer in the wrong situation.

When it comes to sarcasm, it’s important to remember the circumstances. 

Everyone likes a laugh, but it can sometimes be disrespectful to use sarcasm towards certain people or in a certain situation. Because it has a lot to do with context, a great way to learn is to observe! 

SYLLOGISMS

Syllogisms are arguments that take several parts, typically with two statements which are assumed to be true (or premises) that lead to a conclusion. This takes the general form:

Major premise: A general statement.
Minor premise: A specific statement.
Conclusion: based on the two premises.

There are three major types of syllogism:

• Conditional Syllogism: If A is true then B is true (If A then B).
• Categorical Syllogism: If A is in C then B is in C.
• Disjunctive Syllogism: If A is true, then B is false (A or B).

Also of note for syllogisms is:

• Categorical Propositions: Statements about categories.
• Enthymeme: a syllogism with an incomplete argument.
• Modus Ponens: If X is true then Y is true. X is true. Therefore Y is true.
• Modus Tollens: If X is true then Y is true. Y is false. Therefore X is false.
• Set Theory: The basics of overlapping groups.

Syllogisms are particularly interesting in persuasion as they include assumptions that many people accept which allow false statements or (often unspoken) conclusions to appear to be true. There is a difference between truth and validity in syllogisms. A syllogism can be true, but not valid (i.e. make logical sense). It can also be valid but not true.



EXAMPLE OF SYLLOGISMS


1) I am nobody.
Nobody is perfect.
Thefore, I must be perfect.

2) No fish is a mammal.

Some mammals are aquatic.

Some (aquatic) animals are not fish.

3) 

All well paid people are educated.

All teachers are educated.

All teachers are well paid. 4)

All students are bright.

No bright person is a litterer.

No litterer is a student.

The Young Brutus

• Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio (c.85-42) often referred to as Brutus was a politician of the late Roman Republic, murderer of Gaius Julius Caesar and one of the last defenders of the republic. Father Brutus was killed in 78 by Gnaeus Pompey, a young general who was to become famous. 
• The boy was educated by the half-brother of his mother Servilia, Marcus Porcius Cato, and later adopted by a relative of his mother, Quintus Servilius Caepio.
•  To honor his adoptive father, the young man started to call himself Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio. He is best known in modern times for taking a leading role in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
• Brutus was considered to be a friend of Caesar, who sent him on an important mission to the east, made him governor of Cisalpine Gaul (i.e., the Po plains) in the years 46-45, choose him as praetor for the year 44 and promised him the consulate in 41. No man had received similar, extravagant honors.

~ In February 44, Caesar showed clearly that he would never restore the republic that he had overthrown. He received the senators as a king (not rising from his seat when they entered the room), wanted himself to be crowned (text) and had himself proclaimed dictator for ever. All this was extremely unrepublican, and Brutus decided that he had to act.

~ Some 60 senators conspired to assasinate the dictator, and Brutus, who was close to Caesar, became one of the leaders of the plot. His brother Decimus and his friend Cassius were also involved. It would be easy to kill Caesar, who had disbanded his bodyguard, trusting that nobody would like to run the risk of a new civil war (Sulla had done the same).

~ As he took his seat, the conspirators gathered about him as if to pay their respects, and straightway Tillius Cimber, who had assumed the lead, came nearer as though to ask something. When Caesar with a gesture put him off to another time, Cimber caught his toga by both shoulders. As Caesar cried, 'Why, this is violence!', one of the Cascas [two brothers in the Senate] stabbed him from one side just below the throat. Caesar caught Casca's arm and ran it through with his stylus, but as he tried to leap to his feet, he was stopped by another wound. 


~When he saw that he was beset on every side by drawn daggers, he muffled his head in his robe, and at the same time drew down its lap to his feet with his left hand, in order to fall more decently, with the lower part of his body also covered. And in this wise he was stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, though some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, 'You too, my child?'

~ Brutus is invariably connected to the sudden changes which brought to an end the Roman royal era - the banishment of the kings and the creation of one of the earliest republican institutions. The new form of government was so successful in governing that even the Caesars of later Rome, when the republic fell into decline, could not entirely separate themselves from it. 


~ Monarchy continued to be deeply unpopular in Rome and its people believed that only barbarians could still accept the concept of kingship. All these facts explain why the emperors felt the need to hide their royal status behind republican titles and forms. - One can go as far as saying that the empire created by Caesar and Augustus was a republic led by a monarch.

~ It was claimed that the name Brutus had been an old Italic term meaning "rebel slave". That could explain the name Brutium which was given to the southern extremity of Italy, which served as a refuge to fugitive slaves.

Marc Antony, the Roman Politician & General

Born: c. 83 B.C.E. 
Rome (now in Italy) 
Died: 30 B.C.E. 
Alexandria, Egypt 
Roman politician and general

Cleopatra's ill-fated lover

Latin name: Marcus Antonius

• The Roman politician and general Mark Antony was the chief rival of another prominent Roman politician, Octavian (63 B.C.E. –14 C. E.), seeking leadership of the Roman Empire. 
• Both men desired to assume power after the assassination (political murder) of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E. The man who came out on top of this struggle would go on to become perhaps the most powerful figure in the world at that time.
• Mark Antony came from a distinguished Roman family. His grandfather had been one of Rome's leading public speakers, and his father, Marcus Antonius Creticus, had died in a military expedition against pirates when Antony was young.

Career with Caesar

• Antony received his first overseas experience in the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, when, during 57 to 55 B.C.E. , he served with the Roman governor of Syria, which was a province (territory) of Rome. 
• From there he went to serve with Caesar (100–44 B.C.E. ) in Gaul (a region of Europe that included what is now modern-day France, as well as parts of modern-day Germany, Belgium, and Italy). 
• Caesar conquered Gaul for Rome, and Antony assisted him in suppressing local rebellion against the Romans. 
• In 50 B.C.E. , after returning to Rome, Antony was elected a tribune, an office that represented the people's interests. 
• Tribunes were expected to stand up for the rights of individuals and for those who were not members of the highest classes of Roman society. 
• By contrast, the Senate, Rome's primary governing and advisory body, was composed primarily of members from a small hereditary aristocracy (political upper class).

• Antony came into the office at a critical time. Caesar's command in Gaul was coming to an end, and a group in the Senate was set on bringing Caesar to trial for what they saw as his misuse of his power. 
• Caesar depended upon the tribunes to look after his interests in Rome, and Antony did so when he vetoed a decree that required Caesar and the men he commanded to lay down their arms. 
• However, when the Senate gave its officers special powers to "preserve the state," Antony felt that the measure would be used against him and he fled to Caesar. 
• By doing so, he gave Caesar the opportunity to assert his power, because he could claim he was defending the people's representatives—the tribunes—against the power of the Senate.

• Antony was a daring general in the army of Julius Caesar who rose to become one of Caesar's closest colleagues. 
• After Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., Antony jumped into the struggle for control of Rome. (At the funeral of Caesar he spoke out strongly against the assassins; William Shakespeare later dramatized this moment in the play Julius Caesar, with the famous oration beginning "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.") Antony joined forces with Caesar's adopted heir Octavian to purge Rome of their common enemies. 
• They formed the so-called Second Triumvirate with general Marcus Lepidus and divided the empire, with Antony being given control of Egypt. 
• There he met and became the lover of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Their meeting, with Cleopatra dressed as the love goddess Venus and arriving on a lavishly decorated barge, is a famous story recorded by Plutarch and others. 
• Antony and Cleopatra joined forces and the triumvirate dissolved. At the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. the naval forces of Antony and Cleopatra were routed by those of Octavian. (Cleopatra fled the scene while the battle was still underway, and Antony followed; their departure is often regarded as one of naval history's great blunders.) 
• A year later, with Octavian's forces nearing Alexandria, Antony committed suicide by falling on his sword. Cleopatra followed suit (allegedly killing herself with the self-inflicted bite of a poisonous snake) and Octavian was left in final control of Egypt and Rome.
•  Antony's life and tragic end was immortalized by Shakespeare in his play Antony and Cleopatra.

Julius Caesar - The Most Famous Roman of All

 "General, Statesman, Dictator - the most famous Roman of them all" 


Name commonly known as: Julius Caesar, Dictator of Rome during the era of the Republic


What was the Republic? Definition: The Roman republic was the form of government maintained by Rome whose authority was based on popular consent and governed by popular representation and control.


Latin Roman Name: Gaius Julius Caesar

Position of Consul: 49 BC–March 15, 44 BC


Dynasty / Historical Period: The Royal House Julio-Claudian during the Roman Republic


Place and Date of Birth: Rome, 12 July 100 BC or 102 BC

Name of Father: Gaius Julius Caesar


Name of Mother: Aurelia Cotta


Married: Cornelia Cinna minor 84 BC–68 BC


              Pompeia 68 BC–63 BC


              Calpurnia Pisonis 59 BC–44 BC


Cleopatra:  Julius was the lover of Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, but they were never married as this was forbidden by Roman Law. In Ancient Rome a marriage was only recognised between two Roman citizens


Why was Julius Caesar famous? Accomplishments, achievements and important events: He conquered Gaul (modern France and Belgium - 58-50 BC). The reforms of Caesar stabilized the Mediterranean world. Julius Caesar was dictator for ten years and consul for five, and was also imperator or commander of an army he was not made to disband, so that he nearly was as powerful as any king


Julius Caesar was a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, a jurist, an orator, a poet, a historian, a philologer, a mathematician, and an architect.


Place and Date of Death: Died 15 March 44 BC on the Ides of March (aged 56). The place of death was Rome during the period of the Roman Republic


Name of successor:  The successor to Julius Caesar was eventually Augustus Caesar who became the first Emperor of Rome


Interesting facts about the life of Julius Caesar


Fact 1: Julius Caesar was not an Emperor. He was given the title 'Dictator perpetuus' (Latin for dictator in perpetuity). between January 26 and February 15 of the year 44 BCE


Fact 2: He was assassinated within one month of being given the title of 'dictator perpetuus' by the Roman Senate.


Fact 3: Julius Caesar was a real ladies man and another of his lovers was Servilia, who was the mother of Brutus


Fact 4: He enjoyed honors and ceremonies when he would wear a laurel crown, because it covered his baldness, which was believed a deformity. The Ancient Romans went went with their heads bare except at sacred rites, games, festivals, on journey or in war


Fact 5: Julius Caesar was the first to print his own bust on a Roman minted coin


Fact 6: Julius Caesar was also distinguished as an author, and wrote several works which related the history of the first seven years of the Gallic War and the history of the Civil War.


Fact 7: Julius Caesar is said to have entrusted his will and testament to the oldest of the vestal virgins


Fact 8: He killed Pharnaces in battle in Tarsus, Asia Minor. The success was announced to the Senate in the following brief words, "Veni, vidi, vici"—"I came, I saw, I conquered."


Fact 9: The familiy of the Julii were said to be descended from aeneas and Venus


Fact 10: The successor of Julius Caesar was his great nephew, Octavian, who took the name Augustus Caesar and was the first Roman Emperor


The Julian-Claudian Dynasty spanned 27 BC to AD 68. This dynasty is known as the Julio-Claudians because its Emperors belonged to the patrician families called the Julii and the Claudii. Some of the most famous of all of the emperors belonged to this dynasty including Julius Caesar, the Dictator and the first Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar who was followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

LOVERS ARE PRETENDERS??

Is that true people become pretentiousness when they are in love?


"I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations. And you are not here to live up to mine. You are you. And I am I, and if be chance we find each other, it's beautiful."


~ This is exactly the true. Each one of us have their own specialty and weaknesses. No need to be just the same like the one you love. No need to like what he/she likes although you might hate it the most. No need to  sacrifice all things in your life just to be with him/her. And the most important no need to be someone else just because of you want to be the best and perfect in the eyes of the lovers. Just be the way you are..  


What is unconditional love?

Love is the one of the strongest emotions a person can have. It is a tender feeling of affection that you feel for another person. 

Unconditional love 

• when you love someone the way he or she is without rules, not the way you want him or her to be
• is the only kind of love that fills you up. Unconditional love is when you love without expecting anything in return. 
• when you love without trying to change someone’s behavior and personality.
• when you love your partner without trying to affect him or her.

For example, don’t get upset at your partner if he or she forgets to do something for you. You might get upset at behaviour, but not at your partner. You have to distinguish between the action and the one who takes the action. Being able to differentiate between the action and the doer is an important concept in every happy relationship. The action is something you might not like, but the doer is your partner whom you love with all of your heart and soul. This is one of the most important concepts in happy relationships and the basis of unconditional love. You have to distinguish between the action and the doer. You should dislike your partner’s action, not themselves.

"Love is like a plant. It needs consistent, careful attention to thrive. Without it, your relationship is destined to wither away."

Can A Love Triangle Be Healthy?

Love triangles are selfish. 

Everyone involved is satisfying their own needs, without considering anyone else's feelings. The victim must let their disillusioned lover go. The cheater should open his/her mouth and explain that he/she can't be in the relationship. The other woman or man should wait in the wings until said love interest has wrapped up the other relationship.

Life is short, be honest and save time when your relationship is flying on one engine. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Don't hold on to someone who doesn't want to be there, and don't pretend you want to be there if you don't.

Should we put aside our feelings first or our beloved's feelings first?

• When we first enter into a relationship, our desire to merge with our beloved can be so enticing that we easily put aside our own individual needs as we begin to blend into a single entity with our partner. 
• As time progresses in the relationship, however, one or both individuals might discover that they’ve sacrificed too many of their own personal needs in order to please the other. 
• And in doing so, they’ve lost themselves in the process. Or in another very common scenario in which couples have been feeling merged, one partner suddenly asserts their need for personal space. 
• While this assertion is typically an attempt to re-establish one’s own personal identity, the way in which a request for personal space is made can often leave the other person feeling threatened, rejected, or abandoned.

Dr. Greer mentions that couples work to keep a relationship alive in the face of "the never-ending fight." 

~ Often, one person in a union gives up when they feel there is no solution. In fact, many relationships continue despite one person's emotional detachment. The fights stop because someone has given up, but the other person in the relationship perceives this as healing. The couple stays together because they fear that final break. Relationships with only one investor can continue but they certainly aren't healthy. 

A two-engine plane can still fly if one engine fails, but who wants to sit on that plane?

In forming a marriage, you become a “We”. This identity as a “We” is a healthy expression of yourselves as a couple. Your identity as a “We” exists separately from the distinctive identity that each of you experiences as an individual “Me”. When you learn how to balance your personal identity with your identity as a couple, you are on your way to forming a strong, long lasting relationship.

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery, from The Little Prince

Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, but his fame today is based on an 1897 play, loosely based on Cyrano's life, by Edmond Rostand. Rostand's play, Cyrano de Bergerac, spawned several film adaptations, an opera, a ballet, and is still performed regularly all over the world.

Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a Cadet in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being an incredible duelist, he is a remarkable poet and is also shown to be a musician. However, he has an extremely large nose, which is a target for his own self-doubt. This doubt prevents him from expressing his love for his cousin, the beautiful Roxane, as he believes that his ugliness forbids him to "dream of being loved by even an ugly woman." As he is debating whether or not he should propose his love to her, she comes to see him. In a moment of great dramatic irony, she tells him that she believes she loves Christian de Neuvillette, a young cadet in the same regiment as Cyrano. Although disheartened by this chain of events, Cyrano agrees to protect Christian at Roxane's request. When Cyrano confronts Christian, he sees that Christian too loves Roxane, but is intimidated by Roxane's intelligence and has no wit or intelligence of his own, even though he's a "handsome devil". Desperate to express his love for Roxane, even if it is unrequited, Cyrano offers to provide Christian with the type of dashing verse that he is associated with. Christian states that "I need eloquence, and I have none!" to which Cyrano replies "I'll lend you mine! Lend me your conquering physical charm, and together we'll form a romantic hero!" The two arrange love letters and memorize speeches to attempt to woo Roxane. Christian decides that he does not need Cyrano's help anymore, but humiliates himself in front of Roxane, and begs Cyrano to help him again. This culminates in the famous scene where Roxane is on top of a balcony believing she is speaking to Christian, but is actually speaking to Cyrano pretending to be Christian. After winning back Roxane's love through Cyrano's poetry, Christian is married to Roxane. Their brilliant plan, however, is blocked by Antoine de Guiche. De Guiche, the officer in charge of Cyrano and Christian's regiment, dislikes Cyrano and delights in ordering the Cadets to the siege upon Arras. Though Roxane attempts to keep de Guiche from sending the army away through subterfuge (and uses de Guiche's order to secure her secret marriage to Christian), she fails. In a military encampment plagued by famine, Cyrano becomes obsessed with writing love letters to Roxane and crediting them to Christian. De Guiche, who is shown to be ridiculed by the soldiers he commands, orders the regiment on a suicide mission. However, Roxane, taken by the love letters, arrives with provisions. Roxane tells Christian that she loves him just for his soul, and would love him even if he were ugly. Hearing this, Christian tries to get the resistant Cyrano to tell Roxane about the entire scheme. However, the battle starts and Christian dies before Cyrano can properly inform her. Cyrano's pride and sense of honor preclude him from telling Roxane about the secret of the man who just died. The cadets charge in a mostly fruitless attack, bringing Act IV, set in 1640, to a close. The play resumes in 1655, 15 years after the events in Arras. Cyrano has become poor because his pride prevents him from receiving aid. His brash manner, however, has continued to earn him enemies. He visits Roxane, who still mourns for Christian, every Saturday at the cloister where she now lives. Cyrano is stricken on the head by firewood thrown from an open window while walking down the street. It is suspected that the incident was set up by someone that Cyrano had insulted in the past. After being treated by a doctor "acting out of charity", Cyrano gets up out of his bed and leaves to go keep his weekly appointment with Roxane. He asks to read Christian's last letter (which Cyrano, of course, actually wrote), and Roxane gives it to him. It is a moving farewell that Christian supposedly wrote in case of his death in battle. As Cyrano reads it aloud, Roxane remembers hearing the same voice speaking words of love to her long ago and notices how he is reading within the dark. She turns and sees that Cyrano is reciting the letter from memory, and realizes that not only did he write all of Christian's letters, but that she has actually always loved Cyrano, and he her. Two of Cyrano's best friends, Le Bret and Ragueneau, enter, concerned for Cyrano's health, and tell Roxane that Cyrano has "killed himself" by going to visit her. It is then that Cyrano is forced to admit that he is dying from his wound. Roxane now declares that she loves him and begs him not to die. But Cyrano grows delirious, stands up, and imagines that he is fighting a duel with Death himself, saying that it is better to fight in vain. Declaring that the only thing that cannot be taken away from him is his "panache" (i.e., honor; the word also means "a feathered headgear"), he dies in Roxane's arms.

The love story of Cyrano and Roxane is beautiful, evocative, and heartbreaking. Cyrano did a disservice to both himself and Roxanne by not revealing himself to her sooner. Poor Cyrano's self-esteem was so low, he felt nobody, not even an ugly woman, and and much less someone as beautiful as Roxane, would or could love him, so he hid his true self, first behind the armor of his acid-tongued wit, and then behind the handsome face of his friend Christian. But Roxane, while believing she was in love with Christian, knew in her heart that she did not love Christian for his handsome face; she loved him for the beauty of his soul, beauty he expressed through his exquisite words to her.

EUPHEMISTIC & DYSPHEMISTIC LANGUAGES

# Based on the task given by the lecturer, Sir Kamaraziz, we are required to find 5 words that contains euphemistic or dysphemistic languages. From the TIME and The Bulletin's magazines, I have found some interesting words that can be share in this blog.

1) 'Though the Kremlin had no official response to the killing, the republic's governor said Aushev's murder could have been the work of local police carrying out a personal vendetta.'   

• The word 'personal vendetta' means a long argument or disagreement in which one person or a group does or says things to harm another.
• This word can be replaced with feud - to have an angry and bitter argument with somebody over along period of time

      
2)  'The admission underscored the degree to which the lawless region's moderates are caught in the cross fire between Islamist and a brutal counterinsurgency.'

• The word 'brutal counterinsurgency' means action taken against a group of people who are trying to take control of a country by force.
• This word is an euphemistic language as the meaning of the word just the same with 'terrorist' which means the use of violent action or the threat of violent action that is intended to cause fear, usually for political purposes.

3) 'The latest doubts about Chikarovski's future were provoked by Opposition frontbencher Peter Debnam calling on her to resign; he was promptly sacked as Opposition spokesman for treasury matters.

• The word 'promptly sacked' means to be quit or dismiss from a job immediately.
• This word means he or she can no longer continue on working there as being told by the company, usually because of something that have done wrong. 

4) 'Panadol and Panadeine brand painkillers valued at $50m were recalled from a shop shelves around the country after an extortionist demanding $70,000 from the manufacturer apparently laced some of the pills with strychnine.

•  The word 'extortionist' means a person who commits the crime of obtaining something from someone using force or threats.
• 'Extortionist' can be replaced with robber as it means a person who steals from a person or place, especially using violence or threats.
• These two words shared the same meaning to get something not belong to him or her from someone else by using threatening and violence.

5) 'The sin-binned branches will be reopened in six months and all members will have to rejoin.'

• The word 'sin-binned' means something that have been taken to a place away. 
• This word means that all the branches have been disbanded, not operating or not being in a same group anymore because of the separating. 

The Semantic Effects of English Euphemism

Abstract: Euphemism, one of the useful linguistic forms, exists in all kinds of languages. It is a proper form used in our social communication in order to achieve special effects. In semantic area, it is closely related with its associative meaning. The semantic meaning of euphemism employed by human is usually used as an indirect expression to avoid some inappropriate expression. Although they share the same meaning in essence, they could produce different effects respectively. Learning euphemism from semantics angle could make us further learn about semantics and its practical effects in our life.

Key words:  euphemism; semantics; effect

The Effect of Avoidance

# Every country sharing different cultures has its own taboo. These taboos have a close relationship with the meaning implied by euphemism. In communication, avoidance of taboos could be realized by using some alternative meanings. This is why the euphemism could be widely used. Employing euphemism makes the speaker to talk freely.

# With regard to death, it is common that people have no intention to talk about death which is an inevitable process in one’s life journey and a common experience for human beings. It is surely that only few people are not scare death. All these scares and unpleasant feelings have lead people to avoid talking about death. In English countries, people prefer to connect it with its affective meaning to replace death, for example, join the angels, pass away, be at peace, go to one’s long home, be gone to a better land, and join the great majority, etc. In current years, the western country people are likely to use funeral home to express the same or similar meaning of cemetery, since the cemetery will make them feel upset. 

# So euphemism has been widely used in our social communication, to some extent, without it, we cannot continue our talk smoothly, although it means the same with those unpleasant words.

The Effect of Cultivation

# Another effect connoted by euphemism, from its meaning, is the cultivation or politeness. With the development of the society, people are likely to show that they are cultivated and well-educated men. Therefore, when people have to refer to something unpleasant, they will prefer to choose some words which still have the mild and implicit meaning in an acceptable way. Those kinds of words belong to the group of euphemism.

# Politeness, in certain degree, represents the speaker’s education and is one of the vital principles to deal with social relations.

In practice, in order to achieve a politeness effect, people also use connotative meanings which are commendatory or neutral words to substitute those bad meanings. Just as we describe a person who is beautiful, we could use “handsome, charming or attractive” to portray him or her. On the contrary, when talking about someone who is not pretty, we cannot use ugly. It is advisable to use some vague words having the same meaning, such as “plain or ordinary” to instead of them. So politeness effect of euphemism can make people more cultivated in front of others, which is so important in our social interactions.

The Effect of Disguise

# Since euphemism is used as a way to express something which cannot speak directly, sometimes this may make people feel confused. Therefore, the governments or businessmen always use it to disguise the reality. Specifically speaking, it means that they use good words to beautify things which are not beautiful in reality and mask them. By means of euphemism, people can easily escape from embarrassing occasions. But using it in a false way will mislead the public and make things confused. For example, in western community, the poor is called as the needy, later it was changed as the culturally deprived, then to the underprivileged, at last to the disadvantaged. So, in this case, people may feel confused that there are no poor people in that country at all. This is the disguise effect produced by the meaning of words by employing euphemism.

The Effect of Humor

# The last but not the least effect produced by euphemism is to create a humorous atmosphere at semantic level, which could surely make language more humorous. For example, “John seems to be a very unpleasant cup of tea”, which equals the sentence “John is a very disgusting person.” In this case, the speaker uses “a very unpleasant cup of tea” to substitute “a very disgusting person”, which make the whole sentence sound more humorous and vivid. What’s more, together with the indirect and mild tone, euphemism has been given more meanings with full sense of irony. Therefore, the meanings entailed in euphemism could produce different effects in different contexts.

Conclusion

# Euphemism, as a linguistic form, has been applied in every aspects of human’s society. It is one of the useful ways people use to realize the purpose of replacing those unpleasant meanings. To some extent, resorting to it is also the speaker’s positive semantic tactics at a certain time in a certain occasion. As long as people use it in a proper way, it will produce different effects for people’s life comparing to speak directly and forthrightly. Therefore, having a detailed study on the semantic effects of English euphemism could help us have a better understanding of semantics, and we could get a general knowledge of how to use these semantic effects of euphemism to help us express what is unsuitable to say in our future days.