十年最具影響力英語詞google問鼎

美國方言協(xié)會作為一所權(quán)威語言研究機構(gòu)，每年都會投票選出當年最具影響力的英語詞匯。今年他們選出的當季明星詞是tweet，而十年間的明星詞則是google。

　　“Tweet” 2009 Word of the Year,“Google” Word of the Decade, as voted by American Dialect Society

　　In its 20th annual words of the year vote, the AmericanDialect Society voted “tweet” (noun, a short message sent via the Twitter.com service, and verb, the act of sending such a message) as the word of the year and “google” (a generic form of “Google,” meaning “to search the Internet) as its word of the decade. Presiding at the Jan. 8 voting session。

　　“Both words are, in the end, products of the Information Age, where every person has the ability to satisfy curiosity and to broadcast to a select following, both via the Internet。” Barrett said. “I really thought blog would take the honors in the word of the decade category, but more people google than blog, don’t they? Plus, many people think ‘blog’ just sounds ugly. Maybe Google’s trademark lawyers would have preferred it, anyway。”

　　WORD OF THE YEAR WINNER:

　　tweet, noun, a short message sent via the Twitter.com service, and verb, the act of sending such a message。

　　Other nominees for word of the year:

　　-er A suffix used in such words as birther, someone who questions whether Obama was born in the United States; deather, someone who believes the government has death panels in its healthcare reform plan; Tenther, someone who believes the Federal government is mostly illegal because it usurps rights which belong to the States, in violation of the 10th Amendment; and truther, someone who doubts the official account of the 9/11 attacks。

　　fail A noun or interjection describing something egregiouslyunsuccessful. Usually used as an interjection:“FAIL!”

　　H1N1 The virus that causes swine flu。

　　public optionA government-run healthcare insurance program, desired by some to be part of the country's healthcare reform。

　　Dracula sneezeCovering one’s mouth with the crookof one’s elbow when sneezing, seen as similar to popular portrayals of the vampire Dracula, in which he hides the lower half of his face with a cape。

　　WORD OF THE DECADE WINNER:

　　google Verb meaning “to search the Internet。” Generic form of the trademarked “Google,” the world’s dominant Internet search engine。

　　Other nominees for word of the decade:

　　9/11 The terroristattacks of September 11, 2001. Pronounced “nine eleven。”

　　blog A web site for publishing a chronologicaland ongoing series of related entries, especially when they are all by the same person(s) or on the same topic. Also a productive combining form: blogosphere, blogerati, milblog, blogola。

　　greenRelated to ecological or environmental conservationor protection. Also a productive combining form: greenwashing, green collar, etc。

　　textVerb. to send a text message via a mobile phone. Noun: such a message。

　　war on terrorA global effort to preventterror and terrorists。

　　Wi-FiabbreviationWireless Fidelity, a group of technical standards enabling the transmission of data over wireless networks。

　　American Dialect Society: Words of Previous Years

　　2008Word of the Year： bailout, the rescue by the government of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry。

　　Most Useful:Barack Obama, both names as combining forms。

　　Most Creative: recombobulation area, an area at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in which passengers that have just passed through security screening can get their clothes and belongings back in order。

　　Most Unnecesssary:moofing, from “mobile out of office,” meaning working on the go with a laptop and cell phone. Created by a PR firm。

　　Most Outrageous:terrorist fist jab, A knuckleto- knuckle fist bump, or “dap,” traditionally performed between two black people as a sign of friendship, celebration or agreement. It was called the “terrorist fistjab” by the newscaster E. D. Hill, formerly of Fox News。

　　Most Euphemistic: scooping technician, A person whose job it is to pick up dog poop。

　　Most Likely to Succeeed:shovel-ready, Used to describe infrastructure projects that can be started quickly when funds become available。

　　Least Likely to Succeed: PUMA,An acronym for Party Unity My Ass, used by Democrats who were disaffected after Hillary Clinton failed to secure a sufficient number of delegates. It was later said to stand for Party Unity Means Action。