2.2 Taboos
In 18th century, Captain James Cook explored an island named Tonga. In the island, he found people used a word “tabu” to refer to the things they can never do. He borrowed this word back to England and used it to refer to the same phenomenon in English culture. Now taboo is used as ban and prohibition on things that is regarded for religious or other reasons not to be done, used, or touched.
In this part, please follow me and have a look at taboos in religion, death, physical fluid and animals.
在ppt呈现以下文字：
Taboos:
u Religion
u Death
u Physical fluid
u Animals
Taboos for Religions or Beliefs:
People usually wear no sleeveless dress when go to a church;
In our country, touching a person of the same gender is quite normal , but （见课件第5页）Americans feel weird when being held the shoulders for a long time. （见课件第6页）In Thailand, the head is considered sacred and should not be patted, even the head of a child. （见课件第7页）Remember do not to provide pork or alcohol to Muslims and Hui Minority.
Taboos for Death:
Death is a tragic topic which people avoid to mention directly. So when one passed away, we would say he “went to sleep, departed from the world forever, deceased, rested in peace, or breathed one’s last, went the way of all flesh, paid one’s debt to nature, or went to a better world”. If he is a christian, we would say he is in heaven or with god.
In Chinese culture, people won’t send clock to their friends, even though we sometimes give a watch as a present. Because the pronunciation of clock in Chinese sounds like to pay one’s last respect.
Taboos for physical fluid:
Physical fluid is generally regarded as taboo and should not be mentioned or done in front of others. For example, spitting in public is uncivilized. In English, some euphemisms are developed to mention these taboos.
For example, go to the men’s/ladie’s room, go to the rest room, to wash one’s hands, to relieve oneself, or to see a man about a horse, or because nature calls.
Or more politely, if a woman feels the call of nature, she can just say, ”where can I powder my nose” or “where to freshen up” .
Taboos for animals:
Throughout history, certain animals have been given special meanings by different cultures, fortunate or unfortunate. Therefore, the symbols of these animals bring people special feelings, happy or disgusting.
When in foreign trade, designing trademark or advertisements should be careful. Because, for example,Elephants in Britain is a symbol of stupid, while in Thailand and India, they have been regarded as auspicious animals, on behalf of the wisdom, strength, and loyalty.
We Chinese think peacock is a symbol of happiness, but a French see it as a her bird, a curse.
The French also regard the crane as stupid and whore, while we take crane as a symbol of longevity.
Americans believe that bats pattern on behalf of devils.
The fox and the badger are both disgusting to Japanese.
The Swiss think that owls are a symbol of the dead.
In north Africa, some countries avoid using a dog as a logo.
In order to mean well to people from a different culture, we need to have a clear idea of these taboos.
