VOA慢速英语：这一年用什么词形容？

这一年用什么词语形容？

The American English dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster announces their word of the year for 2014. The word is culture.

英语词典出版商梅里亚姆—韦伯斯特公司宣布2014年他们选择的词汇——文化。

The publisher bases its choice on how many people look up the word in its online dictionary. Many search for these words after major news events or stories on entertainment and sports.

出版商选择词汇是基于人们在线查阅的词汇。许多人在一些重大新闻事件发生或者娱乐新闻、体育新闻报道后会查阅这些词汇。

The editors at Merriam-Webster say “culture is a big word at back-to-school time each year.” But this year the search for culture has extended beyond the school year. A wider use of the word culture might be taking place in daily lives.

梅里亚姆—韦伯斯特公司的编辑说：“文化是每年重返学校时的一个大词汇。”但是今年搜索“文化”这个词已经远远超过了开学那短时间了。在日常生活中更广泛地使用文化这个词汇。

The word culture appears more these days in combination with other words to identify behavior, issue, idea or even a group. For example,

“文化”这个词与其他词汇搭配使用形容我们的行为、问题或者是一个观点，这些天出现的次数更频繁。例如：

· He says American pop culture is one reason for English’s popularity as a foreign language.

他说美国流行文化是英语作为外语受欢迎的原因之一。

· Sula Vineyards in India opened a tasting room to create a wine culture among its people.

印度的苏拉葡萄园开放一个品酒房间来创立一种酒文化。

· The new Ukraine leaders will have to reform the corrupt political culture that led to the Euromaidan revolution.

乌克兰新领导人会对腐败政治文化进行改革，这会导致“欧洲广场运动”。

The second most-frequently searched word, according to Merriam-Webster, is nostalgia. The word comes from a Greek word meaning "to return home"; it once meant "homesickness" in English. It explains the popularity of Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and Downton Abbey.

根据梅里亚姆—韦伯斯特公司发布的消息称，第二位频繁搜索的词汇是“乡愁、怀旧”这个词汇来自于希腊词语，意思是“回家”，在英语中，曾经是“思念家乡”的意思。这个词汇阐释了《广告狂人》、《大西洋帝国》和《唐顿庄园》的受欢迎程度。

Number three is insidious, which was on the title of a horror movie. It described malware, computer virus attacks, and Ebola this year.

搜索排名第三位的是“潜伏”，这是一个恐怖电影的名字。描述了电脑病毒恶意软件的攻击和今年的埃博拉病毒。

Coming in at number four is legacy. Changes in the past year made us aware of "lasting impact"; it can mean something we receive from the past or something we leave for the future.

搜索排名第五的是“遗产、遗赠”。过去几年的变化使我们意识到“持久的影响力”。这个词是指我们从过去那里获得的财物或者为下一代留下来的东西。

Word number five is something of a legacy itself: feminism. Time magazine used the term “pop feminism” to describe the popularity of female entertainers Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus.

排名第五的词是“女权主义”。时代周刊使用“大众女性主义”来描述一些女性艺人碧昂斯和麦莉·塞勒斯的受欢迎程度。

Merriam-Webster’s sixth word is not even in English. It is Je ne sais quoi. It is a French expression that means "a pleasant quality that is hard to describe." In French, the phrase literally means "I know not what."

而排名第六位的甚至不是英语单词，是一个法语表达：It is Je ne sais quoi.意思是很难描述合心意的质量。在法语中，字面意思是“我不知道选择什么。”

You may not know what is going to happen next. The seventh word is innovation. The rapid pace of change in our lives was a topic of more than one best-selling book and public discussion about the topic of innovation.

也许你并不知道接下来会发生什么。排名第七位的是“创新”，我们生活快节奏的变化不仅仅是一本畅销书谈论的话题，公众也会讨论创新这个主题。

We cannot hide the eighth word, surreptitious. In 2014, we have the 40^th anniversary of Watergate with the Nixon resignation. There were many news stories about government data collection, stolen passwords and credit card security.

我们不能掩藏第八个词汇“隐瞒、偷偷摸摸”2014年是尼克松因为“水门事件”辞职的第40周年。对于政府搜集数据、窃取密码和信用卡安全的事件有很多新闻报道。

You are on your own with word number nine, autonomy. The referendum in Scotland, political changes in the Ukraine and Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong reminded us of this idea of independence and the power to govern oneself.

排名第九的词汇是“自主权”。苏格兰的公投、乌克兰政变和香港的“占中运动”，这些提醒我们独立的想法和要求自主统治的主张。

The list comes to a sad end with morbidity. The word morbidity comes from the Latin word for "disease" (morbus) and means "the relative incidence of disease." The word appeared in reports about Ebola.

最后一个词汇是一个让人难过的词“发病率”。这个词来自于拉丁词语“疾病”这个词语出现在埃博拉病毒的报道中。

What do you think? Do you have a favorite new word for this year?​

你认为呢？有没有你最喜欢的一个词来表达这一年呢？

Jill Robbins reported and wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Jim Tedder read it.

吉尔·罗宾斯报道，编写这篇文章，编辑Hai Do，吉姆·泰德朗读。

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Merriam-Webster’s 2014 Word of the Year

1. culture - n. the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time

2. nostalgia - n. pleasure and sadness that is caused by memory of something from the past and the desire to experience it again

3. insidious - adj. causing harm in a way that is gradual or not easily noticed; especially of a disease: developing so gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent

4. legacy - n. something (such as property or money) that is received from someone who has died; something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past

5. feminism - n. the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities

6. je ne sais quoi - n. English, a pleasant quality that is hard to describe. In French, the phrase literally means "I know not what."

7. innovation - n. a new idea, device, or method; the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods

8. surreptitious - adj. done in a secret way

9. autonomy - n. the state of existing or acting separately from others; the power or right of a country, group, etc., to govern itself

10. morbidity - n. the proportion of sickness or of a specific disease in a geographical locality