尋找失落的語言：學者“救回”30個英語單詞

近日，約克大學的專家們發(fā)起了一個尋回失落語言的活動，列出了30個已被廢棄但仍和今天的生活有關(guān)聯(lián)的英語單詞，希望人們能夠重拾這些舊時代的語言。來猜猜這30個單詞都是什么意思?

 

Jodie Whittacker in the BBC series "Trust Me" - the story of a "Quacksalver"

如果有人說你snout-fair，你是會高興還是生氣呢?

那么被稱為dowsabel或percher呢?

這些單詞是約克大學專家尋回的30個遺失的英語單詞的其中幾個，這些專家認為這些單詞至今仍然有用。

Dominic Watt, senior lecturer in Language and Linguistic Science at the university, said he hoped people would re-engage with the language of old.

約克大學語言和語言學專業(yè)的高級講師多米尼克•瓦特說，他希望人們能夠重新使用舊時代的語言。

The researchers have drawn up the list in an effort to persuade people that these defunct words can still have a relevance.

研究人員擬出了這份清單，試圖說服人們這些被廢棄的單詞仍然和今天的生活有關(guān)聯(lián)。

The team spent three months searching through old books and dictionaries to create the list.

該團隊花了三個月時間搜遍了舊書舊詞典，創(chuàng)建了這個列表。

先來見識幾個“失落”的單詞：

Nickum: A cheating or dishonest person

Nickum：作弊或不誠實的人

Peacockize: To behave like a peacock; esp. to pose or strut ostentatiously

Peacockize：表現(xiàn)得像只孔雀，尤其是招搖賣弄、大搖大擺

Rouzy-bouzy: Boisterously drunk

Rouzy-bouzy：醉酒吵鬧

Ruff: To swagger, bluster, domineer. To ruff it out / to brag or boast of a thing

Ruff：虛張聲勢、夸口、盛氣凌人。To ruff it out：吹噓某事

Tremblable: Causing dread or horror; dreadful

Tremblable: 令人恐懼的;可怕的

Awhape: To amaze, stupefy with fear, confound utterly

Awhape: 使驚呆，使驚慌失措

Mr Watt wants to bring these words back into modern conversations.

瓦特想將這些詞重新帶回現(xiàn)代會話中。

"We've identified lost words that are both interesting and thought-provoking, in the hope of helping people re-engage with language of old," he said.

他說：“我們認定了一些又有趣又發(fā)人深思的失落的詞語，希望幫助人們重新拾起舊時代的語言。”

"Snout-fair", for example, means "having a fair countenance; fair-faced, comely, handsome", while "sillytonian" refers to "a silly or gullible person, esp one considered as belonging to a notional sect of such people".

比如，Snout-fair意思是“面容姣好、漂亮、清秀、英俊”，而sillytonian指的是“易受騙的傻瓜，尤其是被認為屬于某一派別的人”。

"Dowsabel" is "applied generically to a sweetheart, 'lady-love'".

Dowsabel是對情人的稱呼，相當于lady-love(情婦)。

Margot Leadbetter, the snobby neighbour from 1970s BBC sitcom, The Good Life, could be seen as an arch example of a "percher" - someone "who aspires to a higher rank or status; an ambitious or self-assertive person".

20世紀70年代BBC情景喜劇《美好生活》中的勢力鄰居瑪戈特•利百特可以看作是percher的典型例子，指那種“想謀高位、攀高枝的人，野心勃勃、孤行專斷的人”。

The BBC series Trust Me is the story of a "quacksalver" - a person who "dishonestly claims knowledge of, or skill in, medicine; a pedlar of false cures".

BBC電視劇《相信我》講的就是quacksalver的故事——一個“謊稱自己懂醫(yī)的人、賣假藥的江湖郎中”。

The list of 30 "lost words" are grouped into three areas the researchers feel are relevant to modern life: post-truth (deception); appearance, personality and behaviour; and emotions.

這30個“失落的單詞”被劃入研究人員認為和現(xiàn)代生活相關(guān)的三個區(qū)域：后真相(欺騙);外表、人格和行為;情感。

The final list also includes the words "ear-rent" - described as "the figurative cost to a person of listening to trivial or incessant talk", "slug-a-bed" - meaning "a person who lies in late", and "merry-go-sorry" - a phrase used to describe "a mixture of joy and sorrow".

最終版清單還包括ear-rent，指“碎碎念給人帶來的象征性傷害”，slug-a-bed意思是“睡懶覺的人”，merry-go-sorry形容“悲喜交加”的情緒。