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Why the Oxford English Dictionary's Newest Words Are More Than Just Slang 牛津辭典新詞為何不僅有俚語 Gretel Kauffman 格蕾泰爾·考夫曼 Welcome to the dictionary， “yolo.” 歡迎入選詞典，yolo（人生只有一次）。 The Oxford English Dictionary unveiled its most recent additions on Monday， a list of hundreds of words that includes the likes of “squee，” “fuhgeddaboudit，” and， yes， really， the acronym for “you only live once.” 周一，《牛津英語詞典》公布了最新增加的詞條，共有數(shù)百個(gè)新詞，包括squee（女孩的尖叫）、fuhgeddaboudit（想都別想）等詞，還有——是的，是真的——“人生只有一次”的首字母縮略語。 While some of the words， such as “cheese eater” （simply someone who eats cheese） and “bracketology” （predicting sports tournament winners） may strike some as silly slang， the annual tradition of updating the dictionary also serves as a reflection of notable cultural moments and trends. 雖然有些詞如cheese eater（就是指吃奶酪的人）和bracketology（預(yù)測體育比賽獲勝者的學(xué)問）可能讓某些人覺得是無聊的俚語，但每年更新詞典的傳統(tǒng)也可作為重要文化時(shí)刻和趨勢的一種反映。 One of this quarter's additions， “gender-fluid” – defined as “designating a person who does not identify with a single fixed gender” – comes at a time when half of US Millennials say gender is not limited to simply male or female but exists on a spectrum. Meanwhile， a growing number of universities are allowing students to choose their own gender pronouns. 本季度新增詞條gender-fluid（流性人）——界定為“指一個(gè)不認(rèn)同單一固定性別的人”——是在近一半美國“千禧一代”稱性別不限于簡單的男性或女性而是處于一個(gè)范圍內(nèi)的時(shí)候出現(xiàn)的。與此同時(shí)，越來越多的高校允許學(xué)生選擇自己的性別代詞。 “Uptalk，” another new addition – defined as “a manner of speaking in which declarative sentences are uttered with rising intonation at the end， a type of intonation more typically associated with questions”–has been the subject of debate among feminists， and even addressed by a US senator. 另一個(gè)新增詞條uptalk（升調(diào)說話）——界定為“以結(jié)尾升調(diào)來表述陳述句的說話方式，這種語調(diào)更常與問句相關(guān)”——一直是女權(quán)主義者爭論的話題，甚至一名美國參議員就此發(fā)表過演講。 And “clicktivism，” or “the practice of signaling support for a political or social cause by means of the Internet， through social media， online petitions， etc.， rather than by more substantive involvement，” has been both praised and criticized for its effect on politics and activism. 而clicktivism（點(diǎn)擊主義）是指“通過互聯(lián)網(wǎng)手段、社交媒體、在線請?jiān)傅榷皇峭ㄟ^更實(shí)際的參與來表明對某一政治或社會事業(yè)的支持的做法”。它對政治和行動主義所產(chǎn)生的影響一直毀譽(yù)參半。 This year， to celebrate the centenary of Roald Dahl's birth， a new word， “Dahlesque，” was added in his honor， as well as a number of new and revised entries for words that appeared in the author's works， such as “scrumdiddlyumptious” and “human bean.” 今年，為了紀(jì)念羅阿爾·達(dá)爾誕辰100周年，新詞Dahlesque（達(dá)爾風(fēng)格）被加入以示敬意，還有許多在這位作家的作品中出現(xiàn)的新詞和修訂詞語，如scrumdiddlyumptious（好吃得不得了）和human bean（豆形人）。 “It might seem romantic，” said Jonathan Dent， the senior assistant editor in the OED's new words team， when asked by The Guardian how the new words were chosen. “But it's a lot of standard research， checks and balances. Anything new that goes into the dictionary is drafted and researched by us. It's all down to evidence.” 當(dāng)《衛(wèi)報(bào)》詢問如何選擇新詞時(shí)，《牛津英語詞典》新詞團(tuán)隊(duì)的高級助理編輯喬納森·登特說：“這件事聽上去猶如天馬行空，但它需要很多規(guī)范的研究、核查和權(quán)衡。凡是進(jìn)入詞典的新內(nèi)容都由我們挑選并調(diào)研。一切都要有證據(jù)?！?/p> But not all dictionary readers are convinced all the words are deserving. 但并不是所有的詞典使用者都認(rèn)為所有這些詞語都值得入選。 “On one hand， I do appreciate feeling slightly more connected to the college students who live down the street，” wrote Lane Brown for The Christian Science Monitor in 2014： 萊恩·布朗2014年致信給《基督教科學(xué)箴言報(bào)》說：“一方面，我確實(shí)享受與住在街上的大學(xué)生們更親近的感覺?！?/p> “However， as a mom who narrates most of my mundane daily activities for the sake of a toddler just learning to speak， I don't want him anywhere near these new terms， at least not for some time to come. I personally don't think anyone should be allowed to devolve into slang and shorthand abbreviations until they've actually mastered the English language first.” “然而，作為一個(gè)為了剛牙牙學(xué)語的孩子而要把我每天大部分瑣事講述出來的媽媽，我想讓他盡可能遠(yuǎn)離這些新詞，至少在今后的一段時(shí)間里。我個(gè)人認(rèn)為，任何人在首先實(shí)際掌握英語之前都不應(yīng)該倒退回去使用俚語和簡略的縮寫。”（涂頎譯自美國《基督教科學(xué)箴言報(bào)》網(wǎng)站9月12日文章） |
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