VOA慢速英语2021--2021年度词汇Vaccine和Vax

The word "vaccine¹" can bring out emotions and discussions in ways it never did before the start of the pandemic.

In some countries, new variants² are spreading as COVID-19 vaccines³ have yet to arrive. In others, shots are wasted as citizens fight against the government's vaccination⁴ requirements.

"Vaccine" has come to represent not just scientific progress but also political divisions around the world. That is why two major dictionary publishers have chosen "vaccine" and "vax" as the 2021 words of the year.

Peter Sokolowski is an editor with American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster. He told The Associated Press the word "vaccine" represents two stories.

"One is the science story, which is this remarkable⁵ speed with which the vaccines were developed. But there's also the debates regarding policy, politics and political affiliation⁶. It's one word that carries these two huge stories," he said.

Lookups, or searches, for the word vaccine increased 1,048 percent on Merriam-Webster's website from 2019 to 2021. Debates over who is able to get the vaccine, vaccine requirements and additional shots kept interest high, Sokolowski said. So did concern about the safety of the vaccines and vaccine passports.

Although people looked up the word on the internet a lot all year, searches rose 535 percent in August, Merriam-Webster said. At that time, there was a lot of news about vaccine requirements and vaccination rates, the publisher said.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Britain's Oxford⁷ English Dictionary named "vax" as its word of the year for 2021. "Vax" is an informal word that can mean the noun "vaccine" or the verb "vaccinate⁸."

Researchers at the Oxford University Press released a report about how "vaccine" affected⁹ the English language over the past year. The report said it is rare for a subject to affect language so much in such a short period of time.

"Vaccine" comes from the Latin word "vacca," which means "cow." The word was first used to describe inoculation¹⁰. That word described a process of using small amounts of cowpox to prevent small pox, explained Merriam-Webster on its website. In English, the word "vaccine" started being used in the 1880s.

Some say the word "vax" started to appear in the 1980s. Oxford researchers found that the word was not used often until this year. By September, "vax" was being used over 72 times more often than at the same time last year. "Vax" is used in informal ways, in terms such as "vax sites" and "to get vaxxed." The word "anti-vaxxer" refers to a person who is against receiving a vaccine.

Last year, Merriam-Webster chose "pandemic" as the word of the year. It had the highest number of lookups on Merriam-Webster's website in 2020. The company bases its choice on searches, paying close attention to large increases. The company has been naming a word of the year since 2008.

Britain's Cambridge dictionary chose the word "perseverance¹¹" as the 2021 word of the year. Perseverance is a continued effort to do something, even when it is difficult or takes a long time.

The word "perfectly¹² captures the undaunted will of people across the world to never give up, despite the many challenges of 2021," Cambridge said on its website. Lookups of the word also greatly increased in February when NASA's Perseverance Rover landed on Mars.

Collins Dictionary, however, selected "NFT," which has nothing to do with the pandemic, as its word of the year. "NFT" is a short form for the words: non-fungible token. The term means a unique electronic identifier that records ownership of electronic property. NFTs have grown in popularity in 2021.

Words in This Story

dictionary — n. a book that contains words listed in alphabetical¹³ order and that gives information about the words' meanings, forms, how to say them

remarkable — n. unusual or surprising; likely to be noticed

regarding — prep. about; relating to something

dramatically — adj. sudden and extreme

inoculation — n. to give (a person or animal) a weakened form of a disease to prevent infection by the disease

undaunted — adj. not afraid to continue doing something or trying to do something even though there are problems, dangers

unique — adj. unlike anything else

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

6 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

7 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

8 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 inoculation   

n.接芽；预防接种

参考例句：

• Travellers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 提醒旅游者接种预防黄热病的疫苗是明智的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Travelers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 旅客们被提醒，注射黄热病预防针是明智的。 来自辞典例句

11 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 alphabetical   

adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的

参考例句：

• Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
• There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。