文化
2018 年“有毒”？《牛津词典》年度词出炉！
Lala2018-12-02
Lala
职业双语播音员
资深美音口语培训师
今日导读
2018 年对你来说，是怎样的一年？快乐？平淡？充实？悲伤？或许很难找到一个精准的词来形容，但可以确定的是，你应该不会想到“有毒”。然而，就在最近，《牛津词典》把“有毒（toxic）”选为今年的年度词，同时入围候选名单的还有“incel”、“techlash”等等，它们各自的背后都有着怎样的故事？让我们跟着 Lala 老师来学习吧！
带着问题听讲解
Q1: “toxic”和“poisonous”有何区别？
Q2: “gaslighting”该如何理解？
Q3: 你认为 2018 年的年度词是什么？
新闻正文
‘Toxic’ is Oxford’s word of the year. No, we’re not gaslighting you.
《牛津词典》2018年度词汇：“有毒”，我们不是在忽悠你
Oxford Dictionaries has chosen “toxic” as its international word of the year, selecting it from a short list that included such politically inflected contenders as “gaslighting,” “incel” and “techlash.”
《牛津词典》从一份候选名单中选择了“有毒”作为 2018 年度全球热词，该名单上与其相竞争的还有诸如“煤气灯操纵法”、“非自愿独身者”和“科技抵制”等颇具政治色彩的词汇。
Katherine Connor Martin, the company’s head of U.S. dictionaries, said there had been a marked uptick of interest in the word on its website over the past year. But the word was chosen less for statistical reasons, she said, than for the sheer variety of contexts in which it has proliferated, from conversations about environmental poisons to laments about today’s poisonous political discourse to the #MeToo movement, with its calling out of “toxic masculinity.”
该公司的美国版词典负责人凯瑟琳·康纳·马丁说，过去一年中，人们在牛津词典网站上对 “有毒” 一词的兴趣明显增加。但她说，之所以选择这个词，与其说是出于数据统计方面的原因，不如说是因为它在各种各样的语境中大量涌现：从关于环境中有毒物质的讨论、对现今恶毒的政治话语的哀叹，到指控那些“有毒的男子气概”的 #我也是# 运动，都与之息息相关。
Oxford’s word of the year is chosen to reflect “the ethos, mood or preoccupations” of a particular year, but also to highlight that English is always changing. Last year’s winner was “youthquake.” In 2016, it was “post-truth.”
《牛津词典》的年度词汇是被挑选出来反映出该年份的“精神特质、情绪或关注焦点”的，同时也是为了强调英语是一门不断变化的语言。去年的年度词汇是“青年震荡”，而在 2016 年，则是“后真相”。
“Toxic” derives from the Greek “toxikon pharmakon,” meaning “poison for arrows.” The current entry in the online Oxford English Dictionary dates its earliest known printed occurrence to 1664.
“有毒”源自希腊语中的“toxikon pharmakon”，含义是“箭上的毒药”。目前在线牛津英语词典上关于该词的条目可追溯到 1664 年，它最早于此年出现在印刷品中。
Other words on the short list highlight different ways words emerge or evolve. While “toxic” is an old and very common word that has expanded in usage, “incel” — short for “involuntarily celibate” — is an example of jargon used by a limited group that suddenly enters widespread usage. And then there’s “techlash,” defined as “a strong and widespread negative reaction to the growing power and influence of large technology companies, particularly those based in Silicon Valley.”
候选名单上的其他单词突出了单词起源或演变的不同方式。虽然“有毒”是一个古老、很常见且应用语境很广的单词，但“incel”——“非自愿单身者”的缩写，却是一个小群体内行话突然被广泛使用的例子。然后是“科技抵制”，该词被定义成“对科技巨头（尤其是硅谷公司）日益增长的权力和影响的强烈且广泛的抵制”。
————— 文章来源 / 纽约时报
重点词汇
short list
入围名单，候选名单（shortlist v.）
e.g.
He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for literature. （v.）
inflected /ɪnˈflektɪd/
adj. 词形屈折变化的；有...风格的（inflect v.）
contender /kənˈtendər/
n. 竞争者
gaslight /ˈɡæslaɪt/
n. 煤气灯
uptick /ˈʌptɪk/
n. 上涨，增加（downtick n.）
sheer /ʃɪr/
adj. （用于强调某物）的大小、程度等
e.g.
The area is under threat from the sheer number of tourists using it.
proliferate /prəˈlɪfəreɪt/
v. 大量涌现，激增
e.g.
Small businesses have proliferated in the last ten years.
lament /ləˈment/
n. 悲痛，哀悼（lament v.）
e.g.
He lamented the death of his only son. （v.）
discourse /ˈdɪskɔːrs/
n. （尤指严肃的口头或书面）话语（discourse v.）
e.g.
to discourse on sth （v.）
call out
大声喊叫；指控
masculinity /ˌmæskjuˈlɪnəti/
n. 男子气概（masculine adj.）
ethos /ˈiːθɑːs/
n. 精神特质
e.g.
His drama captures the ethos of Elizabethan England.
preoccupation /priˌɑːkjuˈpeɪʃn/
n. （时常想的）事情，关注的事
e.g.
Their chief preoccupation is how to feed their families.
derive from
来源
date to
追溯到
involuntarily /ɪnˌvɑːlənˈterəli/
adv. 非志愿地
celibate /ˈselɪbət/
adj. 独身的，禁欲的
e.g.
I am celibate.
jargon /ˈdʒɑːrɡən/
n. 内行话
拓展内容
除了toxic以外，今年入围年度词汇的还有：
1. Big Dick Energy：低调却笃定的自信
2. Orbiting：亡魂不散，指的是“退出群聊”却“潜水”暗中观察的行为
3. Overtourism：过度的旅游开发
4. Techlash：科技抵制
5. Cakeism：蛋糕主义，指想要鱼和熊掌兼得
6. Gammon：原指烟熏猪肉，现指中年男子表达观点时涨红双脸
7. Gaslighting ：操纵别人的心理，使其接受歪曲的事实
8. Incel：非志愿的独身主义者
