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、全球变暖和信贷危机催生了一批新的英语词汇。 在今年夏天的南非世界杯上一鸣惊人的喇叭“呜呜祖拉”近日被《牛津英语词典》收录,该词典主要根据语言在现实生活中的使用情况而编撰。 应对气候变化行动催生出了“碳捕获和存储”(捕获和存储矿物燃料燃烧所产生的二氧化碳的过程)和“地球工程”(操控环境过程以抵消全球变暖的影响)等新词。 信贷危机中出现的新词有“有毒债务”,指的是信贷违约风险较高的债务;以及“定量宽松”,指的是央行扩大全国货币的供应量。 互联网领域也不断涌现出新的词汇和短语。新版《牛津英语词典》收录了“社交媒体”(用于社交的网站和应用程序)和“微博”(撰写篇幅短小的博客)等该领域的词汇。 《牛津英语大词典》第三版共收录了两千多个新词。该词典于1998年首版。 其它入选的新词包括: 走光:衣服滑落导致身体私密部位外露。 冷药丸:引申为“让人镇静下来”。 兄弟情:两个男性之间非性爱的亲密关系。 小黑裙:简单的晚礼服或正式场合穿的短裙,是女士人手一件的时尚单品。 “友敌”:尽管不喜欢,但表面上仍表现得很友好的一种关系。 相关阅读 (中国日报网英语点津 Julie 编辑蔡姗姗) |
Vocabulary: extravaganza: any lavish or opulent show, event, assemblage, etc.(盛典,铺张华丽的表演) |