VOA慢速英語：這一年用什么詞形容？

這一年用什么詞語形容？

The American English dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster announces their word of the year for 2014. The word is culture.

英語詞典出版商梅里亞姆—韋伯斯特公司宣布2014年他們選擇的詞匯——文化。

The publisher bases its choice on how many people look up the word in its online dictionary. Many search for these words after major news events or stories on entertainment and sports.

出版商選擇詞匯是基于人們在線查閱的詞匯。許多人在一些重大新聞事件發(fā)生或者娛樂新聞、體育新聞報道后會查閱這些詞匯。

The editors at Merriam-Webster say “culture is a big word at back-to-school time each year.” But this year the search for culture has extended beyond the school year. A wider use of the word culture might be taking place in daily lives.

梅里亞姆—韋伯斯特公司的編輯說：“文化是每年重返學(xué)校時的一個大詞匯。”但是今年搜索“文化”這個詞已經(jīng)遠遠超過了開學(xué)那短時間了。在日常生活中更廣泛地使用文化這個詞匯。

The word culture appears more these days in combination with other words to identify behavior, issue, idea or even a group. For example,

“文化”這個詞與其他詞匯搭配使用形容我們的行為、問題或者是一個觀點，這些天出現(xiàn)的次數(shù)更頻繁。例如：

· He says American pop culture is one reason for English’s popularity as a foreign language.

他說美國流行文化是英語作為外語受歡迎的原因之一。

· Sula Vineyards in India opened a tasting room to create a wine culture among its people.

印度的蘇拉葡萄園開放一個品酒房間來創(chuàng)立一種酒文化。

· The new Ukraine leaders will have to reform the corrupt political culture that led to the Euromaidan revolution.

烏克蘭新領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人會對腐敗政治文化進行改革，這會導(dǎo)致“歐洲廣場運動”。

The second most-frequently searched word, according to Merriam-Webster, is nostalgia. The word comes from a Greek word meaning "to return home"; it once meant "homesickness" in English. It explains the popularity of Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and Downton Abbey.

根據(jù)梅里亞姆—韋伯斯特公司發(fā)布的消息稱，第二位頻繁搜索的詞匯是“鄉(xiāng)愁、懷舊”這個詞匯來自于希臘詞語，意思是“回家”，在英語中，曾經(jīng)是“思念家鄉(xiāng)”的意思。這個詞匯闡釋了《廣告狂人》、《大西洋帝國》和《唐頓莊園》的受歡迎程度。

Number three is insidious, which was on the title of a horror movie. It described malware, computer virus attacks, and Ebola this year.

搜索排名第三位的是“潛伏”，這是一個恐怖電影的名字。描述了電腦病毒惡意軟件的攻擊和今年的埃博拉病毒。

Coming in at number four is legacy. Changes in the past year made us aware of "lasting impact"; it can mean something we receive from the past or something we leave for the future.

搜索排名第五的是“遺產(chǎn)、遺贈”。過去幾年的變化使我們意識到“持久的影響力”。這個詞是指我們從過去那里獲得的財物或者為下一代留下來的東西。

Word number five is something of a legacy itself: feminism. Time magazine used the term “pop feminism” to describe the popularity of female entertainers Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus.

排名第五的詞是“女權(quán)主義”。時代周刊使用“大眾女性主義”來描述一些女性藝人碧昂斯和麥莉·塞勒斯的受歡迎程度。

Merriam-Webster’s sixth word is not even in English. It is Je ne sais quoi. It is a French expression that means "a pleasant quality that is hard to describe." In French, the phrase literally means "I know not what."

而排名第六位的甚至不是英語單詞，是一個法語表達：It is Je ne sais quoi.意思是很難描述合心意的質(zhì)量。在法語中，字面意思是“我不知道選擇什么。”

You may not know what is going to happen next. The seventh word is innovation. The rapid pace of change in our lives was a topic of more than one best-selling book and public discussion about the topic of innovation.

也許你并不知道接下來會發(fā)生什么。排名第七位的是“創(chuàng)新”，我們生活快節(jié)奏的變化不僅僅是一本暢銷書談?wù)摰脑掝}，公眾也會討論創(chuàng)新這個主題。

We cannot hide the eighth word, surreptitious. In 2014, we have the 40^th anniversary of Watergate with the Nixon resignation. There were many news stories about government data collection, stolen passwords and credit card security.

我們不能掩藏第八個詞匯“隱瞞、偷偷摸摸”2014年是尼克松因為“水門事件”辭職的第40周年。對于政府搜集數(shù)據(jù)、竊取密碼和信用卡安全的事件有很多新聞報道。

You are on your own with word number nine, autonomy. The referendum in Scotland, political changes in the Ukraine and Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong reminded us of this idea of independence and the power to govern oneself.

排名第九的詞匯是“自主權(quán)”。蘇格蘭的公投、烏克蘭政變和香港的“占中運動”，這些提醒我們獨立的想法和要求自主統(tǒng)治的主張。

The list comes to a sad end with morbidity. The word morbidity comes from the Latin word for "disease" (morbus) and means "the relative incidence of disease." The word appeared in reports about Ebola.

最后一個詞匯是一個讓人難過的詞“發(fā)病率”。這個詞來自于拉丁詞語“疾病”這個詞語出現(xiàn)在埃博拉病毒的報道中。

What do you think? Do you have a favorite new word for this year??

你認為呢？有沒有你最喜歡的一個詞來表達這一年呢？

Jill Robbins reported and wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Jim Tedder read it.

吉爾·羅賓斯報道，編寫這篇文章，編輯Hai Do，吉姆·泰德朗讀。

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Merriam-Webster’s 2014 Word of the Year

1. culture - n. the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time

2. nostalgia - n. pleasure and sadness that is caused by memory of something from the past and the desire to experience it again

3. insidious - adj. causing harm in a way that is gradual or not easily noticed; especially of a disease: developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent

4. legacy - n. something (such as property or money) that is received from someone who has died; something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past

5. feminism - n. the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

6. je ne sais quoi - n. English, a pleasant quality that is hard to describe. In French, the phrase literally means "I know not what."

7. innovation - n. a new idea, device, or method; the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods

8. surreptitious - adj. done in a secret way

9. autonomy - n. the state of existing or acting separately from others; the power or right of a country, group, etc., to govern itself

10. morbidity - n. the proportion of sickness or of a specific disease in a geographical locality