【雅思课外精读】史无前例！《牛津英语词典》也选不出2020的年度词汇

　　【雅思课外精读】史无前例！《牛津英语词典》也选不出2020的年度词汇    *注：本文选自12月3日Times Live

　　Oxford Languages announces Words of an Unprecedented Year 2020

　　牛津词典公布2020年度词汇

图片来源网络

　　1.Just like our daily lives, the English language has undergone enormous change over the past year, adapting rapidly and repeatedly to world events. Words that 12 months ago we couldn’t have imagined ourselves using are now part of the everyday lexicon. The Words of an Unprecedented Year report allows the team at Oxford Languages to share the evidence-based data we have at our fingertips to track and analyse the unfolding story. While we all hope for more stability next year, recording and analysing new words and their uses offers unique insight into understanding the current situation and navigating these “unprecedented times”.

　　过去的这一年，我们的生活发生了很大变化，为适应这个变化万千的世界，英语也发生了巨大的变化。那些12个月前我们想都没想到的词汇现在成了我们生活的一部分。《史无前例的2020年度词汇》报告中，牛津语言团队向大家分享了2020年的词汇数据。我们都希望明年能更稳定一点，分析和记录这些新词及其用法有助于我们更好理解当前的形势，也能为我们更好地应对这前所未有的时代带来一些启迪。

　　2.Previously, the Oxford Word of the Year has been selected as a word or expression shown through usage evidence to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the past 12 months, and to have potential as a term of lasting cultural significance. Using this as a starting point for considering the themes that have dominated 2020, there’s perhaps only one place to begin.

　　之前，牛津年度词汇是通过词汇使用来反映过去一年的社会风气，使用证据来反映过去12个月的社会环境和社会焦点，有的词汇甚至能成为具有持久文化意义的词汇。这可能就是讨论2020年的年度话题的一个开端。

　　THE LANGUAGE OF COVID-19

　　新冠语言

　　3.Dating back to the 1960s, coronavirus was previously mainly used by scientific and medicalspecialists but, by April 2020, it had become one of the most frequently used nouns in the English language, exceeding even the usage of the word time. By May, it had been surpassedby Covid-19.

　　20世纪60年代，” 冠状病毒”这个词主要出现在科学和医学界，就但到2020年四月，这个词却成为英语中使用最频繁的词汇之一，其使用频率甚至超过了“时间”一词。到今年五月，” 新冠病毒”的使用频率已经超过了“时间”一词。

　　4.The arrival of the pandemic (a word which has seen usage increase by more than 57,000% this year) has undoubtedly brought with it a language of its own, revitalising existing words and introducing us to new ones. Depending on where you are in the world, you may have experienced a circuit breaker, lockdown, or have been asked to shelter-in-place, all words that saw huge increases in usage from March. Many of us formed support bubbles or pods, started to wear face masks or face coverings, and became familiar with calling medics, delivery drivers, and supermarket staff key workers, frontliners, or essential workers.

　　“疫情”一词，今年的使用频率上升了五倍不止。毫无疑问，疫情带来了一种新的语言，给语言带来了新的活力，也为我们带来了新的词汇。无论你在何地，你都有可能经历封路，封锁，就地避难等等，所有这些词汇的使用频率从今年3月份开始都大幅增加。我们中的很多人都开始建立自我保护机制，开始戴口罩，并慢慢将医务工作者，快递员，超市员工等视为一线工作者和重要工作者。

　　TECHNOLOGY & REMOTE WORKING

　　科技&远程办公

　　5.The pandemic has also sparked a revolution in our working habits. Two words that have seen more than a 300% usage growth since March are remote and remotely. Got a meeting? Best ensure you are not on mute (along with unmute, this has seen a significant rise in usage this year). Need a change of scene? Take a workation (a holiday in which one also works) or book a staycation, holidaying at home or in your home country. Both words have seen increase in usage, almost 500% and 380% respectively.

　　疫情还引发工作习惯的革命。“远程”和“远程地”这两个词的专用频率自三月以来增长了3倍多。要开会？请先确定你没有开静音？（和“解除静音”一样，“静音”这个词今年的使用频率也有了明显提升。）想换工作环境？来一个工作假期吧——边工作边度假。你也可以选择宅家度假。这两个词的使用频率分别上升了5倍和3.8倍。

　　SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, SOCIAL MEDIA & POLITICS

　　社会运动，社交媒体&政治

　　6.Despite our inability to gather in large numbers in 2020, the year saw a surge in demonstrations and activism that is reflected in our language. In June, Black Lives Matter, and the abbreviated BLM, surged in usage and their use has remained high since. Use ofconspiracy theory has almost doubled between October 2019 and October 2020 and use of the term QAnon has increased by a massive 960% over the same period. Which brings us to the language of politics. While the early months of the year saw large peaks in the usage ofimpeachment and acquittal, the latter has been dominated by words such as mail-in (which has seen an increase of 3,000% compared to 2019). And what goes up must come down ... Brexit saw an 80% reduction in usage this year.

　　2020年我们没法大规模集会，但是，这一年的示威游行活动却大幅增加，我们的语言中对此也有所反应。今年6月，“Black Lives Matter” （BLM）的使用频率激增，此后就一直居高不下。2019到2020年间，“阴谋论”一词的使用频率翻了一番，而 “匿名者Q”一词的使用频率上升了9.6倍。政治语言也是如此。今年头几个月，“弹劾”和“无罪释放”的使用率达到高峰，而与“无罪释放”一词紧密关联的“邮寄”一词使用频率也比2019年增加了30倍。有升必有降，今年“脱欧”一词的使用频率下降了80%。

　　THE ENVIRONMENT

　　环境

　　7.The pandemic has meant that climate change has not received nearly the amount of media coverage it has in previous years. However, precisely because of Covid-19, we have seen the introduction of a new word - anthropause, referring to the global slowdown of travel and other human activity and the subsequent welcome consequences, such as a decrease in light and noise pollution.

　　此次疫情也使得气候变化的媒体报道大大减少。然而，正是由于“新冠病毒“一词，我们得以认识一个新词，即” 人类活动暂停“，指的是全球人类活动放缓以及随之而来的光线和噪音污染减少。

　　8.Casper Grathwohl, president, Oxford Dictionaries, says, “I’ve never witnessed a year in language like the one we’ve just had. The Oxford team was identifying hundreds of significant new words and usages as the year unfolded, dozens of which would have been a slam dunk for Word of the Year at any other time. It’s both unprecedented and a little ironic - in a year that left us speechless, 2020 has been filled with new words unlike any other.”

　　牛津词典主席Casper Grathwohl说:“我从没见过哪一年语言的变化和今年一样剧烈。2020年，牛津语言团队发现了数百个重要新词和用法，其中几十个在其他一年都可能成为年度词汇。这是前所未有的，同时也有一点讽刺，在这个我们无法言说的年份，产生了如此多的新词。”