揭秘：韦氏词典是怎样收录历年新词？

 　　During last year’s presidential debates, and through this year’s inauguration¹, Merriam-Webster has been an active presence on Twitter, sharing words experiencing an uptick in search, or funny, relevanttrivia.

　　在去年总统竞选辩论以及今年的就职典礼期间，韦氏词典一直在推特上很活跃，分享着那些搜索量增加的词汇或是一些相关趣事。

　　You might even say the dictionary provided a safe space on social media, or “a place (as on a college campus) intended to be free of bias², conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations.”

　　你可能会说这本词典在互联网上提供了一个安全空间，或“一个(像大学校园一样的)场所，(那里)没有偏见、冲突、指责，或是潜在的危险活动，可以自由地交流思想或进行对话。”

　　It’s fitting, then, that “safe space” is among the 1,000 new additions Merriam-Webster made to its online dictionary today. The word was first used in 1970, and has been used by colleges post-election to describe themselves as campuses that will protect students who might feel in danger due to their religious beliefs, sexual orientation³, race or gender⁴.

　　后来，韦氏词典就把“safe space”(安全空间)这个词收录到现今在线词典的1000个新增词条中，这也是十分恰当的。1970年，这个词被第一次使用，大选后，大学就用这个词来称自己为“保护那些因个人宗教信仰、性取向、种族或性别而感到危险的学生的校园”。

　　Not all of the added words have been around for decades. Some of them, like “binge-watch” and “photobomb,” are products of newer technologies, but saw big spikes⁵ in recent use.

　　不是所有的新增词汇都已使用了几十年。像“binge-watch”(刷剧)和“photobomb”(照片炸弹)这样的一些词汇是新兴技术的产物，而最近其使用率迅速增长。

　　In an announcement, Merriam-Webster explained its methodology: “In some cases, terms have been observed for years and are finally being added; in others, the fast rise and broad acceptance of a term has made for a quicker journey.”

　　在一则声明中，韦氏词典解释了它的方法论：“在某些情况下，一些词被观察多年，最后被收录到新词中;在其他情况下，一个词，其使用率迅速增长，且被广泛接受，这个词就会更快地被收入词典中。”

　　In a statement to The Huffington Post, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski added that the words announced today were added to the dictionary’s digital pages. “The online dictionary gives us both more space to expand entries and a way to add them more quickly,” he said.

　　在发给赫芬顿邮报的一则声明中，韦氏词典的特约编辑彼得·索科洛夫斯基补充道，如今发表的新词被添加到字典的数字页面中。“在线词典既为我们提供了更多的空间来扩展词条，又为我们提供了一个迅速补充词条的方法。”

　　Other entries are updates of pre-existing words, such as “ghost” used as an informal verb, and “train wreck” used metaphorically⁶ to describe “an utter disaster or mess.”

　　其他词条是对现有词汇的更新，如“ghost”(悄悄地行进)这个词被用作一个非正式的动词，而“train wreck”则被比喻为“一场彻底的灾难或混乱”。

　　The new additions come from medicine, sports, literature, fashion, politics and technology. One even comes from the name of a prolific⁷ word inventor ― “Seussian,” meaning “suggestive of the works of Dr. Seuss.”

　　新增词汇出自医药、运动、文学、时尚、政治以及技术领域。甚至还有一个词汇出自一个富有创造力的词汇发明家的名字，“Seussian”，意为“瑟斯博士提出的词汇”。

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

3 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

4 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

5 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

7 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。