TED演讲：重新定义字典(5)

 　　So, if you have a ham butt¹ problem, and you're thinking about the ham butt problem, 所以如果你知道火腿屁股这事儿，而你又正在考虑这个问题，

　　the conclusion that it leads you to is inexorable and counterintuitive: paper is the enemy of words. 它引向的结论是决绝又有违直觉的：纸张是文字的敌人。

　　How can this be? I mean, I love books. I really love books. 怎么可能？我爱书，非常的爱书。

　　Some of my best friends are books. 我的一些最好的朋友就是书。

　　But the book is not the best shape for the dictionary. 但是书本并不是字典最好的载体。

　　Now they're going to think "Oh, boy. People are going to take away my beautiful, paper dictionaries?" 有人会疑惑：“不要吧，人们不是要把优美的纸质字典拿走吧？”

　　No. There will still be paper dictionaries. 不是。纸质的字典还是会存在的。

　　When we had cars -- when cars became the dominant² mode of transportation, 当我们有了车，当车成了主要的交通工具，

　　we didn't round up all the horses and shoot them. 就不见得要把所有的马匹都毙了。

　　You know, there're still going to be paper dictionaries, 纸质的字典还是会存在的，

　　but it's not going to be the dominant dictionary. 只是不会再是主要的载体了。

　　The book-shaped dictionary is not going to be the only shape dictionaries come in. 书本形式的字典不将是唯一形式的字典，

　　And it's not going to be the prototype for the shapes dictionaries come in. 而且不会是将来字典的原型。

　　So, think about it this way: if you've got an artificial constraint³, 设想一下，如果你有人为的制约，

　　artificial constraints⁴ lead to arbitrary distinctions and a skewed worldview. 这种制约就会引致一个武断的区分和一个倾斜的世界观。

　　What if biologists could only study animals that made people go, "Aww." Right? 如果生物学家只研究人们喜欢的动物，对吧，

　　What if we made aesthetic⁵ judgments⁶ about animals, 如果我们以审美角度来判断动物，

　　and only the ones we thought were cute were the ones that we could study? 只研究我们觉得可爱的动物，这会怎样？

　　We'd know a whole lot about charismatic megafauna, and not very much about much else. 我们就只能了解那些有魅力的大群落，对其它的物种就不太了解了。

　　And I think this is a problem. I think we should study all the words, 我认为这是一个问题。我们应该研究所有的词，

　　because when you think about words, you can make beautiful expressions from very humble⁷ parts. 因为使用词可以创造出美丽的表达，即使是从非常卑下的部分。

1 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

2 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

3 constraint   

n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物

参考例句：

• The boy felt constraint in her presence.那男孩在她面前感到局促不安。
• The lack of capital is major constraint on activities in the informal sector.资本短缺也是影响非正规部门生产经营的一个重要制约因素。

4 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

6 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

7 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。