5. 委婉 (euphemism)
用温和的、间接的词语代替生硬的、粗俗的词语，以免直接说出不愉快的事实冒犯别人或者造成令人窘迫、沮丧的局面。例如：
用to fall asleep; to cease thinking; to pass away; to go to heaven; to leave us 代替 to die
用senior citizens代替old people
用 a slow learner或者an under achiever代替a stupid pupil
用weight watcher代替 fat people
用mental hospital 代替 madhouse或者 asylum
用emotionally disturbed代替mad
用washroom, men's / women's room代替 lavatory
用 handicapped代替 crippled
用low income brackets; underprivileged; disadvantaged 代替 poor people
6. 双关 (pun)
用同音异义或者一词二义来达到诙谐幽默的效果：表面上是一个意思，而实际上却暗含另一个意思，这种暗含的意思才是句子真正的目的所在。例如：
a cannonball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. (arms可指手臂或者武器)
一发炮弹打断了他的腿，所以他缴械投降了。
“can i try on that gown in the window?” asked a would-be customer.
“certainly not, madam!” replied the salesman. 我可以试穿一下橱窗里的那件睡袍吗？或者：我可以在橱窗里试穿那件睡袍吗？
seven days without water make one weak (week). 七天没有水使一个人虚弱。或者：七天没有水就是一周没有水。
7. 反语 (irony)
使用与真正意义相反的词，正话反说或者反话正说，从对立的角度运用词义来产生特殊的效果。下面就是莎士比亚的戏剧 julius caesar 中的一个运用反语的很好的例子，brutus出于野心刺杀了 caesar, caesar 的好友antony 讥讽brutus 说：
here, under leave of brutus and the rest—
for brutus is an honorable man;
so are they all, all honorable men—
come i to speak in caesar's funeral.
he was my friend, faithful and just to me:
but brutus says he was ambitious;
and brutus is an honorable man.
在 antony 的话里反复使用 honorable这个词就是一个反语的例子。
8. 矛盾修饰 (oxymoron)
把相互矛盾的两个词用在一起的修辞方法。它利用词义表面的相互矛盾使表层的不和谐统一在思想内容的深层，从而揭示事物对立统一的本质特征，达到加深印象的目的。例如：
she read the long-awaited letter with a tearful smile. 她带着含泪的微笑读那封盼望已久的信。
the coach had to be cruel to be kind to his trainees.教练为了对他的受训者仁慈就要对他们残酷。
during his useful life he often felt he was useless. 在他大有作为的一生中他老是感到自己无用。
其他还有sweet pain; thunderous silence; luxurious poverty; heavy lightness; living death; impossible hope 等等。