每周一词第161期

2020年度词汇

 The Word of the Year 2020

【背景信息】

每一年，各大英语词典都会评选出一个最具代表性的年度词汇，今年，《柯林斯词典》宣布“封锁”（lockdown）成为其选出的2020年度词汇，《剑桥词典》则选择了“隔离”（quarantine）一词，《牛津英语词典》却史无前例的没有选出来传统的年度词汇。

【详细介绍】

《柯林斯词典》将“封锁”定义为“对旅行、社交互动和公共空间出入实施严格限制”，该词的使用量在过去一年间飙升。拥有45亿个词的柯林斯语料库的记录显示，“封锁”的使用量增加了6000%。柯林斯语料库的素材来自网站、书籍、报纸等书面材料以及广播、电视和谈话的口语材料。2019年，语料库记载了4000个使用“封锁”的例子。2020年，使用“封锁”一词的例子暴增至逾25万个。

Lockdown is defined by Collins as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”, and its usage has boomed over the last year. The 4.5bn-word Collins Corpus, which contains written material from websites, books and newspapers, as well as spoken material from radio, television and conversations, registered a 6,000% increase in its usage. In 2019, there were 4,000 recorded instances of lockdown being used. In 2020, this had soared to more than a quarter of a million.

冠状病毒、社交隔离、自我隔离和强制休假等其他疫情相关词汇也入选了《柯林斯词典》的年度十大词汇。同样入选的还有关键岗位工作人员。据《柯林斯词典》介绍，关键岗位工作人员的使用量在过去一年增加了60倍，反映出“今年对社会必不可少的职业的重视”。

Other pandemic-related words such as coronavirus, social distancing, self-isolate and furlough were on the dictionary’s list of the top 10 words. So was the term key worker. According to Collins, key worker saw a 60-fold increase in usage over the last year, which reflects “the importance attributed this year to professions considered to be essential to society”.

“黑人的命也是命”的缩写BLM也跻身年度十大词汇。 《柯林斯词典》将BLM定义为“反对种族暴力和压迫的运动”，数据显示，该词的使用量增加了581%。

The abbreviation BLM, for Black Lives Matter, also made the shortlist. Defined by Collins as “a movement that campaigns against racially motivated violence and oppression”, it registered a 581% increase in usage.

而剑桥词典的编辑们说，“隔离”在今年的搜索量中排名第三，但如果去掉“你好”和“词典”这类几乎每年都出现的词，“隔离”就跃居榜首。

The Cambridge Dictionary’s editors said that quarantine was the third most searched-for word of the year, but comes in at number one once you discount words that recur almost every year, such as “hello” and “dictionary”.

《剑桥词典》称，在封锁期间，“隔离”有了新的含义，因此也有了新的定义。《剑桥词典》中写道，疫情期间的“隔离”指的是“禁止人们离家或自由旅行的一段时间，这样人们就不会感染或传播疾病。”

Cambridge Dictionary has said that the word acquired new meaning during lockdown and has therefore been given an added definition. "A general period of time in which people are not allowed to leave their homes or travel freely, so that they do not catch or spread a disease," it reads.

《剑桥词典》在民意调查中询问读者，认为哪些词今年应该被添加进词典。最常见的词汇有quaranteen（封锁措施下的青少年）、lockstalgia（对封锁的怀念）和coronnial（新冠疫情期间出生的人）。

In a poll, readers were asked which words they think should be added to the dictionary this year. Among the most common words were “quaranteen” - a teenager in lockdown, “lockstalgia”, feeling nostalgic about lockdown, and “coronnial”, a person who was born during the coronavirus pandemic.

此前，《牛津英语词典》公布其年度词汇，这是该词典首次宣布，当年的年度词汇无法选出。

Cambridge Dictionary’s announcement comes after Oxford English Dictionary revealed its words of the year, announcing for the first time that it has found it impossible to name any single “word of the year”.

今年入选《牛津英语词典》的年度词汇包括“暂时休假”、“丛林火灾”、“居家办公”、“ 登月”（英国政府给大规模新冠测试项目取的名字），以及“新冠肺炎”、“模糊日”和“新冠白痴”（指新冠疫情中过度囤货或到处走动散播病毒的人）等新造词汇。

Among the words chosen this year were furlough, bushfires, WFH, moonshot and new coinages like Covid-19, blursday and covidiot.

《牛津英语词典》称，每年的年度词汇评选反映了前一年的“社会风气、情绪或关注点”，但今年的语言变化无法用一个词来概括，这是史无前例的一年。

The annual selection reflects “the ethos, mood or preoccupations” of the preceding year, the OED said, but this year the tribute to linguistic change could not be encapsulated in a single word. It is an  Unprecedented Year.

【相关词汇】

coinage     新造的字及词语

quaranteen   封锁措施下的青少年（居家小神兽）

lockstalgia   怀念封锁时光

coronial     新冠疫情期间出生的人（“疫”一代）

blursday     模糊日（在家隔离期间，已经记不清今天是周几）

doomscrolling  阴暗刷屏（刷社交媒体，看见一屏又一屏的愁云惨淡）

（英文来源：中国日报，卫报，独立报）

  撰稿：李天宇