Euphemism in
Sherlock
Serial TV Season 3
A ThesisSubmitted to Faculty of Letters and Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One (S1)
BY LIYON AKBAR
1110026000066
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
i
ABSTRACT
Liyon Akbar, Euphemism in Sherlock Serial TV Season 3. Thesis: English
Letters Department, Letters and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University SyarifHidayatullah, Jakarta, 2014.
This research is aimed at findingthe euphemismsused by John and Sherlock in Sherlock serial TV season 3 and explaining their meanings. The analysis of euphemism is conducted by using Rawson’s theory (1981) while the meaning is explained with Leech’s theory (1985) and Hyme’s Theory of context (as cited in Brown 1983).
In conducting this research the writer usesqualitative method and descriptive analysis technique for data analysis. The data are collected by watchingall episodes of Sherlock season 3and taking notes of dialogues that might contain euphemismand then compiling them in one word file.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First and foremost, the writer would like to thank Allah SWT, the lord of the world for giving him the best guidance, brightest lights and deepest mercy. The pour of blessing lead him to finish this thesis. Shalawat and salam always devoted
to our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who has guided us from the darkness to enlightenment in theworld.
The writer would like to express his gratitude for his advisors,Drs. H. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed. and DhuhaHadiyansyah, M.Hum., who always giveinspirations, encouragements,critiques,andsincere guidance for him in finishing thethesis. The writer also would like to takethis opportunity for expressing his deep and sincere gratitude and thankfulness to:
1. Prof. Dr. Oman Fathurahman, M.Hum., the Dean of Faculty of Letters andHumanities.
2. Drs. Saefuddin, M.Pd., the Head of English Letters Department. 3. ElveOktafiyani, M.Hum., the Secretary of English Letters Department. 4. All the lectures of English Letters Department for their valuable knowledge. 5. His parents for their limitless support and endless love.
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THE LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: List of Types of Meanings……….. 24
ii
THE LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Encoding and Decoding……… 18
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT………. i
APPROVAL SHEET………... ii
LEGALIZATION……… iii
DECLARATION... iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………... v
THE LIST OF TABLES... vi
THE LIST OF FIGURES... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS... viii
CHAPTER IINTRODUCTION... 1
A. Background of the Study………... 1
B. Focus of the Study…...…………... 6
C.ResearchQuestion...….………..…... 6
D. Significance of the Study…...…….. 6
E. Research Methodology…...……... 7
1. The Objectives of Research...………... 7
2. The Method of Research... 7
3. The Technique of Data Analysis…... 8
4. The Instrument of the Research…...………... 9
F. Unit of Analysis.………... 9
G. Place and Time….…………...…… 9
CHAPTER II THEORETICALFRAMEWORK…...… 10
ix
B. Euphemism………...….………...…...12
1. Definition of Euphemism... 12
2. Types of Euphemism…...…. 14
a. Borrowing....…...….. 14
b. Shortening……...….. 15
c. Abstraction…...……. 15
d. Indirection…...…….. 16
e. Understatement…... 16
f. Circumlocution...… 17
C. Theory of Meaning………...…….. 17
1. Semantics…...…...…….... 17
2. Types of Meaning...…… 18
a. Conceptual Meaning……...….. 18
b. Connotative Meaning…...………. 19
c. SocialMeaning…... 20
d. Affective Meaning…...…... 21
e. Reflected Meaning…...…..…... 21
f. Collocative Meaning……...……. 22
g. Thematic Meaning.…... 22
D. Context………...……...……..….... 24
CHAPTER IIIRESEARCH FINDINGS………... 26
A. Data Description…...…….…... 26
B. Data Analysis…....…...…..……….. 27
A. Conclusions………...…..………...…. 49
B. Suggestions…..……...……...……. 49
BIBLIOGRAPHY……..…...…..……..……..………..…...….... 51
1 Language plays a great role in our life, for we cannot live without it. We use language in order to communicate with each other, to give or to get information, to interact with other humans, and also to express thoughts.
When speaking to other people, we often choose carefully the words that we want to say because sometimes there are certain words, in certain situations that we cannot speak about or taboo. Taboo is “the prohibition or avoidance in any society of behavior believed to be harmful to its members in that it would cause them anxiety, embarrassment, or shame.”1 These words “are not to talk about, not because they cannot be, but because ‘people don’t talk about those things.”2
Then, how do we talk about the things that we are not supposed to talk about? This is when euphemism takes part. If we imagine taboo words as
Ronald Wardhaugh, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics 5th ed. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), p. 239
2
2
poisons become ineffective. Euphemism, generally speaking, is the way to talk about things considered taboo in an acceptable way, so we can safely talk about them without being frowned upon by society.
In this modern era where we can easily share our thoughts in social media, euphemism becomes more and more important to study. Everything that we tweet on Twitter, and everything that we post in our Facebook page can be accessed by all eyes around the world. Just because we have the rights of free speech, it does not mean we can talk anything we like without having any consequences, instead we need to be extra careful in using our rights of free speech. If we, somehow, write something that some people considered offensive or insulting, they can sue us, and it is not possible that we spent our time in prison “just” because of the things that we write on our personal page on the internet.
everything related to sex because in Indonesian culture, talking about sex to little kid is taboo. The kids in Indonesia are expected to know about sex by themselves, for the parents think that it is inappropriate to talk about sex to little kids. So, the reason behind the euphemism is because the culture of the speaker which forbid to talk about sex to little kids.
The two examples above are the reason behind the writer’s interest in analying euphemism because euphemism is not simply a substitute word
for taboo expression, but also related to the context, like: the situation, the background of the speaker, the people that the speaker talk to, and so on.
Euphemism happens everywhere, in every part of our life. When our neighbor dies, we don’t say the word die, but we say the word passed aa.
In school, teachers don’t call their students stupid, but they call them la.
When soldiers killed in battle, we don’t say the word die, but we say fall. In hospital, when an operation failed and the patient died, the surgeons didn’t say he died, but they said e lost him. These are some examples of people
trying to “tame” the taboo words because if they say what they really intend to say, it can possibly hurt other people’s feeling. Thus, it breaks apart their social relationship with other humans.
Relations and Semantic Change. (Jakarta: State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, 2007),
4
respectively.4 On the other hand, the examples from television that will be shown in this research are from Sherlock Serial TV season 3, for it is the corpus that will be discussed in this research.
Sherlock is a famous British Serial TV presenting a modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes detective novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story of Sherlock revolves around Sherlock Holmes, a consulting detective, assisting the Metropolitan Police Service to solve various crimes with the help of his best friend and roommate, Dr John Watson, who has returned from war in Afghanistan.
There are many adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, such as; comic strip, movies, and Serial TV; but the writer decided to analye this particular
Sherlock season 3 because this one is the latest adaptation and very famous worldwide, so the writer expected this series can represent the nature of British TV.
British TV has one of the toughest rules in term of censorship since the infamous murder of a 2-year-old boy, James Bulger by two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in 1993. There were several experts linking the murder with violent videos aired on TV and it made British government tighten the rule of TV censorship related to sexual impropriety, blasphemy, and foul language.
Sherlock Serial TV season 3 are interesting to discuss because there are many euphemistic terms in it. For example, in episode 02, Sherlock said “She (his mother) understands er little.” when talking to Mrs. Hudson.
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His utterance implies that he thinks that his own mother is stupid. He euphemies his sentence because no matter how stupid his mother is
(according to his own judgment), she is still his mother. Therefore, he softens his sentence into an acceptable sentence to be heard by Mrs. Hudson. Another example, also from episode 02, John describes ‘butt itch’ as afferent neurons in the peripheral nerous sstem. John said this, when
talking to Sherlock, as a euphemism as well as to make pride himself as a doctor.
Those are two examples of euphemisms in Sherlock Serial TV season 3 which will be the corpus of this thesis entitled Euphemism in Sherlock Serial TV Season 3. This research is limited to euphemisms used by John Watson and Sherlock Holmes because these two have the most screen time in the whole Sherlock season 3. It means that their chances to speak or mention euphemisms are higher compared to the other characters. The writer did not find any euphemism used by John or Sherlock in episode 03, so analysis will be focused on episode 01 and 02.
In analying the euphemism, the writer used theory proposed by Hugh
Rawson from the book A Dictionar of Euphemisms & Other Doubletalk
(1981) while meaning of those euphemisms will be analyed using the
theory proposed by Geoffrey Leech from the book Semantics: the Stu of
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theory. After analying the euphemisms, the writer analyed the meanings
of those euphemisms using Leech’s theory of meaning and Hyme’s theory of context.
B. Focus of the Study
This research focuses on finding the euphemisms used by the main characters, John and Sherlock, in Sherlock Serial TV season 3 using Rawson’s theory (1981) and explaining their meanings using Leech’s Theory of meaning (1985) and Hyme’s theory of context (as cited in Brown 1983).
C. Research Question
Based on the background of the study above, the research questions are: 1. What are the types of euphemism used by the main characters, John
and Sherlock, in Sherlock Serial TV season 3?
2. How are the meanings of those euphemisms described according to the context of those characters in the story?
D. Significance of the Study
Practically, this research will give contribution to society in giving a better understanding about euphemism. Knowledge of euphemism is important, so that we can make a proper communication without using taboo or offensive words which can hurt other people’s feeling.
E. Research Methodology
1. The Objectives of Research
These are the principle aims of this research:
a. Finding the euphemisms used by the main characters, John and Sherlock, in Sherlock Serial TV season 3.
b. Explaining the meanings of those euphemisms according the context of those characters in the story.
2. The Method of Research
The data found in Sherlock Serial TV season 3 will be analyed
through descriptive qualitative method. Descriptive qualitative method is a research procedure that produces descriptive data in a form of written or spoken expression of people or their behavior.5
From the explanation above, all the compiled data will be analyed
qualitatively without using any numerical system.
5
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3. The technique of Data Analysis
The technique applied in this research is descriptive qualitative technique based on Rawson’s euphemism theory and Leech’s theory of meaning. The technique will be applied by using the following steps:
a. Collecting the data.
The data collection will be achieved through:
(1) Watching all three episodes of Sherlock season 3.
(2) Taking notes of phrases or sentences that possibly contain euphemism while watching the film.
(3) Compiling the notes that have been taken into one word file. b. Data Analysis.
The collected data will be analyed using the following steps:
(1) Writing some notes about euphemism theory offered by Rawson and theory of meaning proposed by Leech.
(2) Classifying the data into types of euphemism.
(3) Analying the meaning of those euphemisms, and including
classifying their types of meaning based on the context of the main characters in the story. In analying the meaning,
the writer used Cambridge Adance Learner’s Dictionar
3rd edition and Concise Oford English Dictionar 11
th
Edition.
4. The Instrument of the Research
The instrument of the research is the writer himself by conducting several steps, which are: watching episode 01 and 02 of Sherlock Serial TV season 3; taking notes of phrases or sentences that possibly contain euphemism; classifying the data into types of euphemism and analying
their meanings based on the context of the characters in the story; and writing a report of the study.
F. Unit of Analysis
The data of analysis is Sherlock Serial TV season 3 released on 1 January 2014, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, and produced by Hartswood Films.
G. Place and Time
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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A Previous Research
There were several researchers who studied about euphemism before this research is conducted. Here are two of them:
1. Euphemism of American High School Movie: The Study of
Meaning Relation and Semantic Changes
This research was conducted by Mida Sulfiana, a student of State Islamic University of Syarif Hidayatullah, in 2012. Her research focused on Meaning Relation and Semantic change of taboo words and their euphemism terms. She used Allan and Burridge’s euphemism theory and several theories of meaning proposed by Saed, Leech, and O’Grady. She also used Nida’s componential analysis theory to analye Meaning
Relation and Semantic Change. In her research, she found eight types of euphemism, they are: metaphore, circumlocution, quasi-omission, remodeling, abbreviation, metonymy, hyperbole, and clipping. She also found six data that have Meaning Relation and ten data that have Semantic Change.
2. Euphemism Used in Language of Politic in Padang Express
Newspaper
of meaning. She used William, Shipley, Rawson, Neaman and Silver, and Allan and Burridge’s euphemism theories and Leech’s theory of meaning. From her analysis, she found two types of euphemisms, which are: semantic change and borrowing. She also found two types of meaning, they are: conceptual meaning, and affective meaning.
From the two researches above, it can be concluded that euphemism is an interesting study. We can analye their meanings, and we can find out
the relation between taboo words and their euphemism terms. We can also find out the types of meaning of all those euphemism terms. Euphemism is also important to study because the knowledge of euphemism can help us survive in our social life.
However, there are some differences between this research and the two other researches above.
This research focuses on finding the euphemisms used by the main characters, John and Sherlock, in Sherlock Serial TV season 3 and explaining their meanings according to context of those characters. It is different compared to Mida’s research where she focused on finding Meaning Relation and Semantic Change of the taboo expressions and their euphemisms.
This research, however, has similarities with Dina’s research. Both researches use Leech’s theory to analye the meaning of the euphemism
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this research is a Serial TV. Second, the languages are different. Dina’s research analyed Indonesian while in this research English. Euphemisms
in Indonesian and English are different, for euphemisms are bound to cultures and languages of the speaker. It means the approaches of this research and Dina’s are different.
In short, there are three differences between this research and the other two previous researches. First, the focus of the study is different compared to Mida’s research. Second, the unit of analysis is different with Dina’s research. Third, the approaches and focuses of study are different with both previous researches. It means this research fulfill one of the condition of good research which is novelty.
B Euphemism
1. Definition of Euphemism
According to Concise Oford English Dictionar, the term euphemism
comes from the Greek euphêmismos. Eu means ‘well’ and phêmê means ‘speaking’. The word euphemism means a mild word substitute for one that is coarse or blunt to refer to unpleasant subject.1 Then, Rawson defines euphemism as a mild, agreeable, or roundabout word used in place of a harsh, painful, or offensive one.2 On the other hand, Fromkin said that
1
Concise O ford English Dictionar!11
th
ed. (Oxford University Press, 2004)
2
Hugh Rawson, A Dictionar! of Euphemisms & Other Doubletalk (New York: Crown Publishers,
euphemism is a term that is used to substitute a taboo word to avoid frightening or unpleasant subject.3
From the definitions above, we can conclude that euphemism is something to be used as softener of other thing considered taboo, offensive, or unpleasant. By using euphemism we can talk about the thing that is not supposed to talk about in a way that is acceptable.
Euphemism is also important because it helps us to avoid hurting other’s feeling or embarrassing ourselves. As Keith Allan and Kate Burridge said:
“A euphemism is used as an alternative to a dispreferred expression, in order to avoid possible loss of face: either one’s own face, or though giving offense, that of the audience or of some third party.”4
As quoted above, we can conclude that euphemism exists as an alternative for dispreferred expression to prevent the possibility of loss of face, either that is other people’s face or our own. With euphemism one can prevent oneself from hurting other people’s feeling, or avoid the harm of punishment.
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Euphemism has become a part of our everyday life, but in the past, euphemism is used to cover things related to religion. For example, the Greeks changed the Furies into the Eumenides (the Kindly Ones). And for the Jewish, not calling the name of God is part of their culture, so they transformed it into Adonai. This euphemism is called negative euphemism, a euphemism which is defensive in nature, offsetting the power of tabooed terms and is used to prevent bad omen.6
In the modern society, positive euphemism is more likely to happen. Positive euphemism is a euphemism which is used to inflate and magnify, making the euphemi#ed items grander and more important than they really
are. For example: custodian for ‘janitor’, counsel for ‘lawyer’, help for ‘servant’, hooker and $orking girl for ‘whore’, and so on.
7
In short, euphemism is a milder alternative word/phrase used to cover up or soften the term considered taboo, unpleasant, or simply dispreferred, so the speaker/writer can avoid the loss of face, hurting other’s feeling, embarrassing oneself because of religious factor or social reasoning.
2. Types of euphemism
Rawson classified euphemisms into six types:
a. Borrowing
When expressing risky ideas, English speakers/writers can soften them by borrowing foreign language. The two foreign languages which are most commonly used as euphemisms are French and Latin.
6
Hugh Rawson, op.cit., (1981), pp. 1-2
French is usually used to cover up things related to: love (affair, amour, and liaison); war (matériel, personnel, sortie, and triage); women’s underwear (brassiere, chemise, and lingerie); and dining (che%on, filet mignon, and %enison). On the other hand, Latin is
commonly used to soften expressions related to body sexual, such as: copulation, fellatio, masturbation, pudendum, and urination.8
b. Shortening (Abbreviation and Acronym)
Bad words can be acceptable when shortened. There are two ways to shorten bad words, they are: abbreviation and acronym.
Abbreviation happens in cases like: B.S. for ‘bullshit’; S.O.B. for ‘Son of a Bitch’; S&M for ‘Sadomasochism’, while acronym
euphemism happens in cases like: fubar (‘Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition’); janfu (‘Joint Army-Navy Fucked Up’); tarfu ‘(Things Are Really Fucked Up’); and tuifu (‘The Ultimate In Fucked Up’).9
c. Abstraction
Another way to soften taboo or dispreferred expression is
abstraction. The strength particular taboos might be disappeared by removing ideas in the most general possible terms. For example: economic thing (‘slump’, ‘recession’, or ‘depression’); energ& release
8
Ibid., p. 8
9
16
for ‘radiation release’ (as from a nuclear reactor); and episode and e'ent
for ‘disasters’ of different sorts and si(es.
10
d. Indirection
Sometimes when we have to speak about sensitive objects, it is better to speak them using indirection. We can start by mentioning one aspect of the subject, a circumstance involving it, a related subject, or even by saying what it is not. For example: assembl) center for ‘prison’
and break off contact *ith the enem) for ‘retreat’. Many of the common
anatomical euphemisms also depend on indirection. For example: behind, bottom, and rear are indirection for ‘butt’. There is also other way to euphemi(e human anatomy, where the "unmentionable" parts of
the human body are euphemi(ed by referring to nearby "mentionable"
parts, e.g., chest for ‘breasts, tail for ‘penis’, and thigh, a biblical euphemism for ‘balls’.11
e. Understatement
Understatement is another way to conceal taboo expression by making the apparent meaning of a word seems better than the actual meaning. This type of euphemism happens in cases like: ab+'e
critical for ‘out of control’; acti'e defense for ‘attack’; area bombing
10
Ibid., p. 9
for ‘terror bombing’, collateral damage for ‘civilian damage’, senior citi,en for ‘old person’, and so on.
12
f. Circumlocution
Circumlocution is a kind of euphemism which is usually longer than the words they replace. They have more letters, more syllables, and frequently, two or more words will be used rather than single one. Thus, Middle Eastern dancing sounds better than ‘belly dancing’; medication gives faster relief than ‘medicine’; the writers of financial reports replace ‘drop’ with adjustment do-n-ard, and those who are
required to give testimony under oath like at this point in time better than ‘now’.13 sentences.14 Or, if we want to get a more detailed explanation, we can use the definition proposed by Fromkin, which is, “…the study of the linguistic meaning of morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences.”15 Semantics is also concerned with the meanings of words, and the meaning
John L. Saeed, Semantics 2nd ed. (Malden: Blackwell Publisher Ltd, 2004), p. 3
15
18
relationships among words; and phrasal or sentential semantics, which is concerned with the meaning of syntactic units larger than the word.16
From the definitions above, we can conclude that semantics is a branch of linguistics study that concerns on the meanings of a language whether it is a word, a phrase, or a sentence.
2. Types of Meaning
Leech divided meaning into seven types:
a. Conceptual Meaning17
Conceptual meaning is the logical sense of an utterance or a sentence which can be recogni.ed by its phonological, syntactic, and
semantic component. It means that for analy.ing a sentence we need
to establish a phonological representation, a syntactic representation, and a semantic representation, and the stages by which one level of presentation can be derived from another.
The aim of conceptual semantics is to give, for any interpretation of a sentence, a configuration of abstract symbols which is its semantic representation, and which shows exactly what we need to know if we are to distinguish that meaning from all other possible sentence meanings in the language, and to match that meaning with the right syntactic and phonological expression. The ability to match levels operates in one direction (Look Diagram) (AàBàC) if we are
decoding, i.e. listening to a sentence and interpreting it; and the opposite direction (CàBàA) if we are encoding, i.e. composing and speaking a sentence. Conceptual meaning is an essential part of what language is, such that one cannot easily define language without referring to it.
b. Connotative Meaning
Connotative meaning is the communicative value an expression has by virtue of what is refers to, over, and above its conceptual content. For example, the word 2oman is defined conceptually as (+HUMAN, –
MALE, +ADULT), then the three properties ‘human’, ‘female’, and ‘adult’ must provide a criterion of the correct use of that word. These properties, when translated into real world terms, become attributes of the referent. However, there are plenty of additional, non-criterial properties that we have learnt to expect a referent of 2oman to have.
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instinct’); and even features which are typical rather than invariable concomitants of womanhood (‘capable of speech’, ‘experienced in cookery’, ‘skirt-or-dress-wearing’). Connotative meaning can embrace the ‘putative properties’ of the referent, due to the point of view adopted by an individual, or a group of people or a whole society.19
c. Social Meaning20
Social meaning is that which a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use. We recogni3e some words or
pronunciation as being dialectical, i.e. as telling us something of the geographical or social origin of the speaker; other features of language tell us something of the social relationship between the speaker and hearer (polite, colloquial, slang, etc.). These variations of language can be divided according to:
1. Dialect (The language of a geographical region or a social class)
2. Time (The language of eighteenth century, etc.) 3. Province (Language of law, science, advertising, etc.) 4. Status (Polite, colloquial, slang, etc.)
5. Modality (Language of memoranda, lectures, jokes, etc.) 6. Singularity (The style of Dickens, Hemingway, etc.)
19
Ibid., p.12
20
d. Affective Meaning
Affective meaning reflects the personal feelings of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about. We can directly show our emotion by saying (1) “Shut up!” when we want someone to be quite, or we can use a less direct way like: (2) “I’m sorr4 to interrupt, but I 5onder if 4ou 5ould be so
kind as to lo5er 4our 6oice a little.” Factors such as tone of voice are
also important here. The impression of politeness in (2) can be reversed by a tone of biting sarcasm; sentence (1) can be turned into a playful remark between intimates if delivered with the intonation of a mild request.21
e. Reflected Meaning
Reflected meaning is the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense.
The case where reflected meaning intrudes through the great strength of emotive suggestion is most likely illustrated by words which have a taboo meaning. For example, the words like intercourse, ejaculation, and erection are connected to physiology of sex; therefore, it is hard to use those words in innocent senses without their sexual association.22
21
Ibid., pp. 15-16
22
22
f. Collocative Meaning23
Collocative meaning consists of the associations a word acquires on account of the meanings of words which tend to occur in its environment. Prett7 and handsome share common ground in the
meaning ‘good-looking’, but may be distinguished by the range of nouns with which they are likely to co-occur.
Figure 2:Example of Collocative Meaning24
girl boy
8oman are both acceptable although they suggest a different kind of
attractiveness because of the collocative associations of the two adjectives. Further examples are quasi-synonymous verbs such as
8ander and stroll (cows may 8ander but not stroll) or tremble and
qui9er (one trembles with fear, but qui9ers with excitement.)
g. Thematic Meaning25
focus, and emphasis. It is often felt, for example, an active sentence such as (1) has a different meaning from its passive form (2) although in conceptual content they seem to be the same:
(1) Mrs. Smith donated the first pri;e.
(2) The first pri;e was donated by Mrs. Smith.
These sentences have different communicative values where they suggest different context: sentence (1) seems to answer a question ‘What did Mrs. Smith donate?’ while sentence (2) seems to answer a question ‘Who donated the first pri;e?’. In contrast to sentence (2),
sentence (1) suggests that we know who Mrs. Smith is. The same truth condition, however, apply to each: it is impossible to find a situation where (1) is an accurate statement while (2) is not, or vice versa.
Thematic meaning is mostly a matter of grammatical construction preferences, as in:
(3) A man is waiting in the hall. (4) There is a man waiting in the hall.
In other cases, it is stress and intonation that highlight information in one part of a sentence. If the word electric is given stress in (5):
(5) Bill uses an electric ra;or.
(6) The kind of ra;or that Bill use is an electric one.
24
somewhat different communicative value; they will not each be equally appropriate within the same context.
From the explanation above, the seven types of meaning can be summari<ed as follows:
Table 1: List of Types of Meaning26
1. Conceptual Meaning or Sense Logical, cognitive, or denotative content. to occur in the environment of another word.
7. Thematic Meaning
What is communicated by the way in which the message is organi<ed
in terms of order and emphasis.
context.27 While Schiffrin (as cited in Nurlatifah 2009, p. 22) stated that context is primarily viewed as “knowledge”, although the key part of that knowledge is “knowledge of situation”. The term of knowledge guides the uses of language and the interpretation of utterances.28
From two definitions above, it can be inferred that context is a shared knowledge that the speaker and the interlocutor have regarding the topic that they are talking about and the situation they are in to help them understand each other and make a good communication.
Hymes (as cited in Brown 1983, p. 38) identified the relevant context as addressor (the speaker), adresse (the hearer), topic (what is being talked about), setting (where and when the event situated), channel (how is the contact is done – speech, writing, signing, smoke signals), code (dialect or style), message form (what form is intended – chat, debate, sermon, etc.), event (the nature of the communicative event).29
27
Victoria Fromkin, et.al, op.cit., (2011), p. 212
28
Nurlatifah, A Pragmatic Approach to The Incongruit= of Humor in the Dialog of Kung Fu Panda Mo>ie. (Jakarta: State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, 2009), p. 22
29
Gillian Brown and George Yule, Discourse Anal=sis (Cambridge: Cambridge University
26
easy indirection affective hard
3. playing hide
and seek circumlocution affective faking death 4. terrorist
thing abstraction conceptual terrorist threat
5. note abstraction conceptual death note
6. affair borrowing
(French) reflected cheating 7. give his life indirection affective die
very little indirection affective stupid 12. erectile
13.
high-functioning sociopath
circumlocution affective psychopath
14. body odor
problem abstraction conceptual stink 15. behinds indirection conceptual butt
B. Data Analysis
1. I have met someone (Episode 01)
J: “Well, I've got some news.” H: “Oh, God, is it serious?”
J: “What? No, no, I'm not ill. I've, well, I'm... moving on.” H: “You're emigrating?”
J: “Nope. Er, no, I've er… I have met someone.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Mrs. Hudson (H)
(2) Setting : InJohn and Sherlock’s former room
28
b. Euphemism and Meaning
The type of this euphemism is indirection because the sentence I
have met someone is a euphemism for a more direct sentence like ‘I
am in a relationship.’, or ‘I have a girlfriend.’, or any sentence that means that the speaker currently has a special relationship with certain someone. Indirection is sometimes used to deal with topics that are too touchy to talk about.
The type of meaning of the sentence is affective meaning. Affective meaning “reflects the personal feelings of the speaker, including his attitude to the listener, or his attitude to something he is talking about.”1 The way John constructs his sentence shows that he, as mentioned above, is afraid that if he tells Mrs. Hudson about his new girlfriend in a direct way, she will think that he has forgotten his best friend, Sherlock, who died two years ago, and just continue on living.
2. Haven’t been easy (Episode 01)
J: “Listen, um... I know it hasn't been long, and I know we haven't known each other for a long time...”
M: “Go on.”
J: “Yes, I will. As you know, these last couples of years haven’t been easy for me… and meeting you... yeah, meeting you has been the best thing that could have possibly happened.”
1
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Mary (M)
(2) Setting : In a French restaurant
(3) Context of situation: John is about to propose to Mary and before he goes to the main topic, John talks about what happened to him in the last two years before meeting Mary. Then, he talks about Sherlock’s death. Although it has been two years since Sherlock’s death, it still hurts him to talk about his death. Moreover, death is not really a good topic to pick when proposing to a woman. Therefore, he euphemi?es
his words into haven’t been easy, so that Mary does not worry about him when he is mentioning what he’s going through in the last two years.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
The type of this euphemism is indirection, for indirection is “mentioning one aspect of the subject, a circumstance involving it, a related subject, or even by saying what it is not.”2 It means that we can euphemi?e a word by saying the negative form of the opposite
word. The phrase haven’t been easy is a euphemism for the word ‘hard’, or ‘difficult’, or any antonym of the word ‘easy’.
The meaning of this euphemism is classified as affective meaning
because it reflects John’s feeling about the topic (Sherlock’s death
2
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and all the hardship that he has been through in the last two years), and it also reflects his attitude towards Mary (not wanting Mary to worry about him).
3. Playing hide andseek (Episode 01)
J: “Did they know too? Hmm? That you spent the last two years
playing hide and seek?” S: “Maybe.”
J: “Ah, so that's why they weren't at the funeral!”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : In Sherlock’s room (after Sherlock
revealing his fake death, he rents Mrs. Hudson upper room again while John lives with Mary)
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Playing hide and seek is a euphemism for the phrase ‘faking
death’. The type of this euphemism is circumlocution because
playing hide and seek has more syllables (5), more words (4), and
more letters (18) than the phrase ‘faking death’ which only has 3 syllables, 2 words, and 11 letters.
Earlier in this episode, there is a scene where Sherlock suddenly appears in the middle of John proposing to Mary, and he acts like he is giving a pleasant surprise to an old friend. John is surprise, unpleasantly, and asks for explanation for why Sherlock faked his death all these two years without telling him. Sherlock does not answer, instead he insults John’s moustache. It angers John and he attacks him. In the next two scenes, Sherlock reveals that there are approximately 25 people that know his fake death, and it angers John again, and he punches him in the face.
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4. Terroristthing (Episode 01)
J: “Is it someone trying to get to you through me? Is it something to do with this terroristthing you talked about?
S: “I don't know, I can't see the pattern. It's too nebulous.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J)and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : In Sherlock’s room
(3) Context of Situation: John, after being kidnapped and almost burned alive, asks Sherlock whether or not what happened to him is related to the terrorist thing that he talked about earlier.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
The type of this euphemism is abstraction. Abstraction is a way to euphemi@e words by “removing ideas in the most general possible
terms.”3 ‘Thing’ in the phrase terrorist thing can mean many things. It can mean ‘terrorist attack’, or ‘terrorist bombing’, or anything that describes what terrorists usually do. Thing in general can also refer to an idea, an object, an action, an event, etc. Therefore, the type of meaning of the phrase is conceptual meaning because thing has several conceptual meaning depending on the context of what is talked about.
3
5. Note (Episode 01)
S: “It's a trick… just a magic trick.” J: “No. All right, stop it now.”
S: “Now, stay exactly where you are. Don't move!” J: “All right.”
S: “Keep your eyes fixed on me. Please, would you do this for me?” J: “Do what?”
S: “This phone call, it's er… It's my note. It's what people do, don't they? Leave a note.”
J: “Leave a note when?” S: “Goodbye, John.” J: “No. Don't...”
S: (Throw phone and then jump off the roof) J: “Sherlock!”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : St Bartholomew’s Hospital
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all this conspiracy, James Moriarty. Moriarty shot himself to death to make his conspiracy complete and stain Sherlock’s reputation forever.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Note is a euphemism for ‘death note’. The type of this euphemism is abstraction. When the word ‘death’ is removed, the main idea for the phrase becomes unclear, turning something which is supposed to be the last note before someone is going to die into a usual note.
The type of meaning of this euphemism is conceptual meaning
because note has several conceptual meaning. It can be a reminder note, or student’s note, or birthday note. The note spoken by Sherlock refers to his death note.
6. Affair (Episode 01)
C: “Well, absolutely no one should have been able to empty that bank account other than myself and Helen.”
S: “Why didn't you assume it was your wife?” C: “Because I've always had total faith in her.”
S: “No, it's because you emptied it. Weight-loss, hair dye, Botox.
Affair.”
a. Context
(2) Setting : in Sherlock’s room
(3) Context of Situation : Sherlock has a meeting with clients, a married couple, and talk about the disappearance of their money in a shared bank account. Using his deductive analysis skill, Sherlock solves the case on the spot.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
The word affair is a euphemism for ‘cheating’. The type of this euphemism is borrowing. The word affair comes from the French à
faire which means ‘to do’.
The type of meaning of this euphemism is reflected meaning. Reflected meaning is “the meaning which arises in cases of multiple conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense.”4 The word affair does not always mean cheating on your lover, but it can also mean several things like: ‘needing money’ in the phrase financial affair; ‘diplomacy with neighbor country’ in the phrase foreign affair; etc. However, if the word affair stands alone without its collocative, we, most of the time, will connect it to cheating, or love affair.
7. Give his life (Episode 01)
S: “Why would an agent give his life to tell us something incredibly insignificant? That's what's strange.”
4
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J: “Give his life?”
S: “According to Mycroft, there's an underground network planning an attack on London, that's all we know.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : in Sherlock’s room
(3) Context of Situation: Sherlock is telling John that according to Mycroft, there is an agent who died to get information about an underground network planning an attack on London.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
The phrase give his life is a euphemism for ‘died’. The type of this euphemism is indirection because there are more direct ways to speak about an agent who died on duty, like ‘an agent died’, or ‘an agent got killed in action’, or even ‘an agent passed away’. However, talking about someone’s death directly does not feel right, especially when this someone is an agent who died in his attempt to catch terrorists. That is why the type of meaning of this euphemism is
8. Do this sort of thing (Episode 02)
J : “I'm very very glad to see you, sir. I know you don't really do this sort of thing.”
MS: “Well, I do for old friends, Watson… John.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Major Sholto (MS)
(2) Setting : atJohn’s wedding
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b. Euphemism and Meaning
The phrase this sort of thing is abstract. It does not clearly tell us what kind thing that John talks about. Looking at Major Sholto’s situation, what John means with do this sort of thing can possibly be ‘go out and meet people’, or a more specific one like ‘come to a wedding’, or anything that is usually avoided by a reclusive man. Therefore, the type of this euphemism is abstraction because thing
shows a wider, more general idea than what it actually is. It can mean or refer to anything in this world. While the type of meaning is
conceptual meaning because thing has several conceptual meaning depending on context and the hearer’s understanding.
9. Afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system (Episode 02)
S: “Do you think they give them classes?” J: “Classes?”
S: “How to resist the temptation to scratch their behinds.” J: “Afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system.” S: (Looks confused)
J: “Bum itch.” S: “Oh.”
a. Context
(2) Setting : on a bench in front of Her Majesty's Household Guard
(3) Context of Situation: John and Sherlock are sitting on a bench, waiting for Private Bainbridge (a client), who is on duty, at Her Majesty's Household Guard. When seeing a complete motionless Private Bainbridge, Sherlock suddenly talks about how he can resist the temptation to scratch his behind.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system is a euphemism
for ‘butt itch’. The type of this euphemism is circumlocution
because it is a roundabout way of telling something which is actually simple, and it also, obviously, has more letters, more syllables, and more words than ‘butt itch’. The types of meanings of this euphemism are social meaning and affective meaning. Social meaning is “that which a piece of language conveys about the social circumstances of its use.”5 The speaker’s diction will tell us something of his social circumstances, like, where he comes from, what he does for living, etc. The phrase afferent neurons in the
peripheral nervous system is almost never used in daily
conversations. It is a language of medicine, and only doctors are familiar with it. Therefore, it shows John’s circumstances as a doctor.
5
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The reason why it is also categoriAed as affective meaning type
because the way John tells Sherlock is kind of making pride of himself for being a doctor. It is seldom to see a confused look in Sherlock’s face. Sherlock is smarter than John in almost every aspect but medicine, and he always considers people that can’t follow his way of thinking are stupid, including John. Therefore, John, once in a while, shows Sherlock that there is something that John can do better than he does.
10. Lost (Episode 02)
J: “I will be visiting, you know.” H: “Oh, I've heard that one before!”
J: “No, it's different now, though, isn't it? It's different to when we thoughtwe'dlosthim.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Mrs. Hudson (H)
(2) Setting : in Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Lost is a euphemism for ‘died’ or other words that have similar meaning. The type of this euphemism is indirection. According to Rawson, lose/loss is “discreet allusions to death”.6 It is an indirect way of speaking of death. The type of meaning of this euphemism is
affective meaning. As explained before, Sherlock’s death was a shock for both John and Mrs. Hudson. Even after they find out that Sherlock didn’t really die and only faked his own death, it is still not a pleasant thing to talk about. That is why John euphemiBes his
sentence because he is talking about a sad memory about the death of his and Mrs. Hudson’s dear friend.
11. Understands very little (Episode 02)
H: “My best friend, Margaret, she was my chief bridesmaid, we were going to be best friends forever, we always said that, but I hardly saw her after that.
S: “Aren't there usually biscuits? I've run out. Have the shops?” H: “She cried the whole day, saying, "Ooh, it's the end of an era."” S: “I'm sure the shop on the corner is open.”
H: “She was probably right, really. I remember she left early. I mean, who leaves a wedding early? So sad.”
S: “Hmm. Anyway, you've got things to do.”
H: “No, not really. I've got plenty of time to get ready...
6
42
S: “Biscuits!”
H: “Oh! I really am going to have a word with your mother.” S: “You can if you like, she understands very little.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : Mrs. Hudson (H) and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : in Sherlock’s room
(3) Context of situation: Sherlock is getting irritated when Mrs. Hudson reminiscences her past and starts to talk to herself. Sherlock tries to kick her out of his room by asking for biscuit, but she ignores him and continues talking to herself. Sherlock has had enough and shout.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Understands very little is a euphemism for ‘stupid’. The type of
this euphemism is indirection. There are several direct ways to speak about someone’s stupidity, like: ‘stupid’, ‘fool’, ‘dumb’, etc.
The type of meaning of this euphemism is affective meaning. The reason of why Sherlock euphemiCes his sentence is because no matter
12. Erectile dysfunction (Episode 02)
S: “… if that's the sort of thing you're looking for, the man over there in blue is your best bet. Recently divorced doctor with a ginger cat, a barn conversion, and a history of erectile dysfunction. Reviewing that information, possibly not your best bet.”
Jn: “Yeah, maybe not.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : Sherlock (S) and Janine (Jn)
(2) Setting : at John’s wedding
(3) Context of Situation: Sherlock is giving a deductive analysis to Janine about some man in John’s Wedding.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Erectile dysfunction is a euphemism for ‘impotency’. The type of
this euphemism is indirection while its type of meaning is reflected meaning. The reason for why it is classified as reflected meaning because when someone mentions erectile dysfunction, we, almost all the time, will connect it with ‘impotency’. This is actually not a right assumption because there is other disease related to erectile
dysfunction called Peyronie’s disease. Peyronie’s disease is a disease
44
why it is categoriDed as indirection type of euphemism is because
there is a more direct way to talk about it, like: ‘impotency’ or ‘Peyronie’s disease’. However, talking about a disease directly can possibly hurt people who have it, that is why indirection is used to avoid hurting other people’s feeling.
13. High-functioning sociopath (Episode 02)
D: “So, what exactly are my duties as an usher?” S: “Let's talk about Mary first.”
D: “Sorry, what?”
S: “Well, I think you know what. You went out with her for two years.”
D: “Er, ages ago. We're... We're just good friends now.”
S: “Is that a fact? Whenever she tweets, you respond within five minutes, regardless of time or current location, suggesting you have her on text alert. In your Facebook photographs of the happy couple, Mary takes centre frame, whereas John is always partly or entirely excluded.
D: “Well, you can't assume from that I've still got some kind of interest in Mary…”
D: “They're right about you. You're a bloody psychopath.” S: “High-functioning sociopath, with your number. (Smirk)
a. Context
(1) Characters : Sherlock (S) and David (D)
(2) Setting : in Sherlock’s room
(3) Context of situation: Sherlock is talking to Mary’s ex boyfriend, David. From what he deduced, Sherlock knows that David still has feeling for Mary, and wants to make it clear that David will never try anything to get close to Mary anymore because she is going to marry John.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
High-functioning sociopath is euphemism for ‘psychopath’. The
type of this euphemism is circumlocution. The phrase ‘high-functioning sociopath has more letters (15), more syllables (8), and more words (2) compared to ‘psychopath’ which only has 10 letters, 3 syllables, and 1 word. As Rawson said, “the longer the euphemism the better”7. Therefore, it makes high-functioning sociopath is more polite than ‘psychopath’ despite the differences between them are not big.
The type of meaning of this euphemism is affective meaning
because when David says that Sherlock is a psychopath, Sherlock
7
46
doesn’t deny it. Instead, he polishes it and turns it into something not so different, high-functioning sociopath. It means that he is well aware of his pyscophathy, and is proud of it. Then, it can be assumed that the phrase high-functioning sociopath shows his pride as a psychopathic consultant detective who helps many people in London solving their case.
14. Body odor problem (Episode 02)
Jn: “Hmm, he's nice.”
S: “Traces of two leading brands of deodorant, both advertised for their strength, suggestive of a chronic body odor problem, manifesting under stress.”
a. Context
(1) Characters : Sherlock (S) and Janine (Jn)
(2) Setting : at John’s wedding
(3) Context of situation: Sherlock gives a deductive analysis to Janine about some man in John’s Wedding.
b. Euphemism and Meaning
Body odor problem is an abstraction for ‘stink’. It is more polite
general or abstract that it can refer to or relate to anything in this world.
The type of meaning of this euphemism is conceptual meaning. The reason for this is the world problem has plenty of conceptual meaning depending on the context of the discussion.
15. Behinds (Episode 02)
S: “Do you think they give them classes?” J: “Classes?”
S: “How to resist the temptation to scratch their behinds.” J: “Afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system.” S: (Looks confused)
J: “Bum itch.” S: “Oh.”
1. Context
(1) Characters : John (J) and Sherlock (S)
(2) Setting : on a bench in front of Her Majesty's Household Guard
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talks about how he can resist the temptation to scratch his behind.
2. Euphemism and Meaning
Behind is an indirection for the word ‘butt’. Behind is a
euphemism because it does not directly mention the “unmentionable” part of a human body, ‘butt’. The type of this euphemism is
indirection, or to be more precise, an indirection of anatomical euphemism. By saying the general location of butt, like, rear, bottom,
or behind, we can safely talk about butt without arousing other
people’s attention, embarrassment, or even disgust.
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CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
According to the purposes of this research, the writer would like to underline the conclusion of the research.
Firstly, based on the analysis, there are three types of euphemism used by John in this serial, they are: indirection (3), abstraction (2), and circumlocution (2); and those euphemisms are classified into three types of meaning; affective (5), conceptual (2), and social (1).
Secondly, the writer found four types of euphemism used by Sherlock in this serial, they are: indirection (4), abstraction (2), circumlocution (1), and borrowing (1); and those euphemisms are classified into three types of meaning; affective (3), conceptual (3), social (2).
Thirdly, the reasons why John uses euphemisms is not only to avoid losing face or cover up things considered taboo but also to protect his own feeling. In the story, it is described how he struggles to move on from Sherlock’s death. When speaking about Sherlock’s death, like when talking to Mrs. Hudson, he never mentions it directly, but always uses indirection. It is because for him the topic of the death of his best friend is too hard to handle. That is why most of his euphemisms are classified as affective meaning.
50
abstract or indirect, he will make his interlocutors confused, and then they will ask (or even beg) him to give a more clear explanation. After that, Sherlock will give a more clear explanation which a normal human being can understand, and that is when they give a shocked but impressed look at his explanation.
B. Suggestions
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Allan, K & Burridge, K 1992, Raising Gooseflesh ‘Dirty’ Words and Language
Change, viewed 20 May 2014,
Leech, G 1985, Semantics: The Study of Meaning, 2nd edn, Penguin Books Ltd, Middlesex.
Saeed, J 2004, Semantics,2nd edn, Blackwell Publisher Ltd, Malden.
Sari, D 2013, ‘Euphemism Used in Language of Politic in Padang Express Newspaper’ undergraduate thesis, State University of Padang.
Sari, Y 2007, ‘Euphemism Analysis on “American Pie 5” Script: An Approach of Meaning Relations and Semantic Change’ undergraduate thesis,State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah.
Sherlock season 3 episode 01: The Empty Hearse 2014, Serial TV, Hartswood
Films, BBC One, UK. Produced by Sue Vertue; directed by Jeremy Lovering.
Sherlock season 3 episode 02: The Sign of Three 2014, Serial TV, Hartswood
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Sherlock season 3 episode 03: His Last Vow 2014, Serial TV, Hartswood Films,
BBC One, UK. Produced by Sue Vertue; directed by Nick Hurran.
Sulfiana, M 2012, ‘Euphemism of American High School Movie: The Study of Meaning Relations and Semantic Change’ undergraduate thesis, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah.
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1. I have met someone (00:15:15,380 --> 00:15:16,820)
2. haven’t been easy (00:20:00,940 --> 00:20:04,180)
3. playing hide and seek (00:57:37,780 --> 00:57:42,980)
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5. note (00:00:40,740 --> 00:00:41,900)
6. affair (00:38:36,420 --> 00:38:39,620)
7. give his life (00:58:35,340 --> 00:58:39,820)
B. Episode 02
9. afferent neurons in the peripheral nervous system
(00:34:36,720 --> 00:34:40,840)
10.lost (00:55:08,760 --> 00:55:10,880)
11.understands very little (00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,520)
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13.high-functioning sociopath (00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:42,200)
14.body odor problem (00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,960)
