On The Chinese And English Taboo Words In Intercul

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Introduction When we consider starting a conversation with other people, we should be aware of plenty of the themes and topics not to be uttered freely. The reason is that each community has its own principles when people talk about some topics. We must bear in mind what we may speak, what we should not speak, and how we may speak in a proper way. Taboo exists everywhere in all cultures and languages. Different cultures have different rules. As long as people live in this "globe village", they have to know about various taboos, which can help to develop good relationships with other countries. For instance, if A asks B about his or her salary, B may feel his privacy is invaded. Therefore, salary becomes the taboo of B. In brief, taboos differ from cultures. Understanding intercultural business communication taboos can save a company's business. With the development of science and technology, intercultural business is quite popular between countries. As a result, intercultural communication has become more and more significant since last few decades, especially in business. As we all know, the use of taboo is regarded impolite and offensive. As one of the biggest export and import countries, the Chinese need to comprehend taboos of their foreign business partners. The familiarity of taboos can help intercultural business people to reduce misunderstandings caused by cultural differences. Definition and origin of taboo 2.1 Definition of taboo The most common definition of taboo can be found on the Wikipedia site: Taboo is the prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behavior is either too sacred and consecrated or too dangerous and accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake. It involves dangerous supernatural powers. The Macmillan English Dictionary explains "taboo" as something that people do not do or talk about because it is very
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