A fan blows a vuvuzela before the 2010 World Cup second round soccer match between Spain and Portugal at Green Point stadium in Cape Town June 29, 2010.(Agencies) |
The World Cup, global warming and the credit crunch have all inspired the latest additions to the English language. The vuvuzela, the horn instrument which provided the soundtrack to this summer's football extravaganza in South Africa, is one new entry in the Oxford Dictionary of English, which is based on how language is really used. The battle to deal with climate change has given us carbon capture and storage - the process of trapping and storing carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels - and geo-engineering - manipulation of environmental processes in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming. The credit crunch has introduced toxic debt to the language - debt with a high risk of default - and quantitative easing - the pumping of new money into the national supply by a central bank. Cyberspace produces a constant supply of words and phrases. The dictionary now offers social media - websites and applications used for social networking - and microblogging, or posting short entries on a blog. In all there are more than 2,000 new items in the third edition of the dictionary, which was originally published in 1998. Other new entries are : * wardrobe malfunction: when someone exposes an intimate part of their body after clothing slips; * chill pill: a notional pill to make someone calm; * bromance: a close but non-sexual relationship between two men; * LBD (little black dress): This refers to the simple evening or cocktail dress that, it is claimed, should be part of every womans wardrobe; and * frenemy: a person that one is friendly with despite a fundamental dislike. (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
世界杯、全球變暖和信貸危機催生了一批新的英語詞匯。 在今年夏天的南非世界杯上一鳴驚人的喇叭“嗚嗚祖拉”近日被《牛津英語詞典》收錄,該詞典主要根據(jù)語言在現(xiàn)實生活中的使用情況而編撰。 應(yīng)對氣候變化行動催生出了“碳捕獲和存儲”(捕獲和存儲礦物燃料燃燒所產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳的過程)和“地球工程”(操控環(huán)境過程以抵消全球變暖的影響)等新詞。 信貸危機中出現(xiàn)的新詞有“有毒債務(wù)”,指的是信貸違約風(fēng)險較高的債務(wù);以及“定量寬松”,指的是央行擴大全國貨幣的供應(yīng)量。 互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域也不斷涌現(xiàn)出新的詞匯和短語。新版《牛津英語詞典》收錄了“社交媒體”(用于社交的網(wǎng)站和應(yīng)用程序)和“微博”(撰寫篇幅短小的博客)等該領(lǐng)域的詞匯。 《牛津英語大詞典》第三版共收錄了兩千多個新詞。該詞典于1998年首版。 其它入選的新詞包括: 走光:衣服滑落導(dǎo)致身體私密部位外露。 冷藥丸:引申為“讓人鎮(zhèn)靜下來”。 兄弟情:兩個男性之間非性愛的親密關(guān)系。 小黑裙:簡單的晚禮服或正式場合穿的短裙,是女士人手一件的時尚單品。 “友敵”:盡管不喜歡,但表面上仍表現(xiàn)得很友好的一種關(guān)系。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Julie 編輯蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: extravaganza: any lavish or opulent show, event, assemblage, etc.(盛典,鋪張華麗的表演) |