VOA慢速英語：韋氏辭典新收錄的單詞

New 'Words to the Wise' from Merriam-Webster

韋氏辭典新收錄的單詞

The American English dictionary Merriam-Webster recently added a lot of new words to its online site.

美國韋氏詞典最近在其網(wǎng)站上新收錄了很多新的單詞。

Learning English reporter Bryan Lynn looked into the changes. He's joined me in the studio to talk about some of the new words.

慢速英語的記者布萊恩·林恩(Bryan Lynn)研究了這些變動。他將和我在播音室一起討論這些新的單詞。

Hi Bryan.

嗨，布萊恩。

Hi Ashley.

嗨，阿什利。

First off, how often does Merriam Webster add words? Is this a yearly event?

首先，韋氏詞典多久收錄一次單詞?每年一次?

No, actually it's not. The last time the company added new words online was 2014. But an editor at large, Peter Solokowski, said Merriam Webster had been "watching" some of the added words for many, many years. Others, he said, were much newer in use.

不，實際上不是的。該公司上次收錄新詞是在2014年。但是自由編輯Peter Solokowski表示，韋氏詞典已經(jīng)觀察了其中一些新收錄的單詞很多年。他說，其它新收錄的單詞都比較新。

So where do they come from?

這些單詞都出自哪里呢?

Everywhere, really. I mean the new terms cover areas including science, technology, sports, pop culture. Most will probably be familiar to you.

來自四面八方。我的意思是這些新的術(shù)語涵蓋了科學、技術(shù)、體育、流行文化等領域。其中大多數(shù)你可能會很熟悉。

Okay. So, for example...

好的，那么舉個例子?

Well, how about the verb "binge-watch?"

嗯，例如binge-watch這個動詞。

Oh yes. I binge watch television shows sometimes...always! That means to watch many episodes of a series in a short period of time. To binge, in this case, means to do a lot of something in a short amount of time.

哦，是的。我有時候會狂看電視，意思是在短時間內(nèi)觀看很多集電視劇。To binge在這里的意思是在短時間內(nèi)做很多事情。

Right...so in this case, I guess, watching one after the other for a few hours straight. Some people might watch a whole season of a show over a few days.

對的，我想在這個例子中是指連續(xù)幾個小時看了一集又一集電視節(jié)目。有些人可能會在幾天時間內(nèi)看完一整季的電視節(jié)目。

So here's another from the list you collected: Seussian. Some Learning English fans outside America might not know this one.

以下是你整理的另一個單詞：Seussian。慢速英語節(jié)目一些國外的粉絲可能不知道這個單詞。

Yeah, so Seussian is an adjective that refers to the American children's book writer known as Dr. Seuss. He wrote these fantastical books for young children that included fun rhymes and colorful pictures.

是的，Seussian是一個形容詞，涉及到美國兒童書籍作家蘇斯博士。他給幼兒寫了很多夢幻的書籍，里面包括了有趣的童謠和多彩的圖片。

Like "The Cat and the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham."

像是“小貓和帽子”以及“綠雞蛋和火腿”。

"‘I will not eat them, Sam-I-Am.'" The books made you laugh but they also helped a lot of kids learn to read. So anything that reminds a person of a Dr. Seuss world could be Seussian."

“‘我可不吃，Sam-I-Am。’”這些書籍讓你發(fā)笑了，但是它們幫助了很多孩子學會閱讀。所以任何會讓人想起蘇斯博士世界的東西都可以稱之為Seussian。

Okay. "Green Eggs and Ham" was the first book I ever read, actually. Another one on your list is photobomb. That's when someone jumps in front of a camera uninvited. It's usually done as a joke. I've seen some pretty funny photos that were the result of a really good photobomb!

嗯。“綠雞蛋和火腿”實際上是我讀過的第一本書。你列出的另一個單詞是photobomb。這是指有人未經(jīng)邀請?zhí)界R頭前，通常是開玩笑。我看過一些非常有趣的照片，就是非常好的搶鏡頭的結(jié)果。

Right, yeah. Photobombing is more of a prank. But, you know, it's not meant "to throw shade on anyone."

對，是的。搶鏡頭更多的是惡作劇。但是你知道，它不是指"to throw shade on anyone."

Oh, so I guess that is another newly added phrase, to throw shade?

哦?所以我猜這是另一個新收錄的短語to throw shade?

Yes, it is. So, it is a slang expression that means to publicly express disrespect or dislike for someone. But to "throw shade" the insult or offense has to be subtle or understated.

是的。這是一種俚語表達，意思是公開對某人表示蔑視或嫌棄，但是這種冒犯必須微妙或是低調(diào)。

Okay. So, among the new words are slang expressions, as well...

所以在新收錄的單詞中也有俚語表達?

Correct. So, one of those is ghost.

對，其中一個單詞就是ghost。

We all know what that means as a noun, but...

我們都知道這個單詞作為名詞是什么意思，但是呢......

Right, but as a verb it means to abruptly cut off contact.

對，但是它作為動詞是指突然失去聯(lián)系。

Mhmm. I have friends who have been quite hurt by people who have just ghosted on them, without any explanation. It's not a very nice thing to do.

嗯，我有些朋友就受到了一些人的嚴重傷害，這些人不做任何解釋就突然跟他們失去了聯(lián)系。這樣做不好。

Right, so I mean, with the slang words you could even pile on top, right? You could throw shade and also ghost the same person.

對的，你甚至可以把這些俚語加在一起用。你可以嫌棄某人并且跟這同一個人突然失去聯(lián)系。

Oh...Okay, so here is another word on this list: microaggression. So is ghosting an example of microaggression?

哦，好吧。這是列出來的另一個單詞：microaggression。那么ghosting就是一種microaggression嗎?

Well, microaggression is a noun. It's a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a minority group.

嗯，microaggression是個名詞。它是指微妙地、并且經(jīng)常是下意識地表達對少數(shù)派成員偏見態(tài)度的言行。

Okay, so that sounds a little more serious than "ghosting."

好吧，這聽起來比“突然失去聯(lián)系”還更可怕。

It is.

是的。

Alright, so this next word is not slang and I'm not really sure most people know what this one means: prosopagnosia.

好吧，下一個單詞不是俚語，我不是非常確認大多數(shù)人都知道它的意思，這個單詞就是prosopagnosia。

Yes, so this is a noun and it does have a scientific meaning -- the inability to recognize faces.

是的，這是一個名詞，它的學術(shù)含義就是沒有能力識別面孔。

Okay, so like a face-blindness.

就像是臉盲癥?

Exactly, that's what it would be. Blind to faces.

就是這個意思，不認臉。

Well, this has been really interesting, Bryan. Thanks for joining me in studio here. And to our listeners, let us know if you liked this and maybe we can do more of this in the future.

好吧，布萊恩，這真有趣。感謝你加入這次播音。聽眾朋友們，如果你喜歡這期節(jié)目，請告訴我們，也許我們未來可以做更多這類節(jié)目。

I'm Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·湯普森報道。

And I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩報道。