鑽石舞台

'Vax' is Oxford English Dictionary publisher's 2021 Word of the Year

來源：

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/01/world/word-of-the-year-2021-scli-intl-gbr/index.html

Written by Jack Guy, CNN

整理 | Penny

"Vax" is the Word of the Year for 2021, according to the annual report from Oxford Languages.

vax [ˈvæks] n. 疫苗；v. 接種疫苗

Defined as "a colloquialism meaning either vaccine or vaccination as a noun and vaccinate as a verb," vax wasrelatively rare until this year, the company, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, said Monday.

colloquialism [kəˈləʊkwiəlɪzəm] n. 口語

relatively [ˈrelətɪvli] adv. 相對地

In September, vax appeared more than 72 times more frequently than the year before, said Oxford Languages, which analyzes news content to track changes in the English language.

track [træk] v. 追蹤，跟蹤

The word first appeared as a noun in the 1980s and then started to be used as a verb in the early 21st century, according to the report.

"It has generated numerous derivatives that we are now seeing in a wide range of informal contexts, from vax sites and vax cards to getting vaxxed and being fully vaxxed, no word better captures the atmosphere of the past year than vax," Oxford Languages said.

generate [ˈdʒenəreɪt] v. 產生，生成

derivative [dɪˈrɪvətɪv] n. 派生詞

capture [ˈkæptʃə(r)] v. 充分體現；捕獲；吸引；拍攝，錄製

Data analysis shows that vax is most commonly used in North America, Australia and South East Asia, the company said, but usage is increasing in the UK and othervarieties of English.

variety [vəˈraɪəti] n. 種類；多樣化

"As a short pithy word, it appeals, perhaps especially to mediacommentators, when more formal alternatives are much more long-winded," the report said.

pithy [ˈpɪθi] adj. 簡練的，簡潔的

commentator [ˈkɒmənteɪtə(r)] n. 評論員，解說員

alteernative [ɔːlˈtɜːnətɪv] n. 替代物

long-winded [ˌlɒŋ ˈwɪndɪd] adj. 冗長的，囉嗦的

In 2020, the company was unable to name its traditional word of the year, instead exploring how far and how quickly the language had developed.

The 2020 report moved through the year, detailing the most important words in certain months, based on spikes in use, from "bushfire" in January, when Australia suffered its worst fire season on record, to "acquittal" in February, when former US President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial ended.

spike [spaɪk] n. 猛增，急升

bushfire [ˈbʊʃˌfaɪə] n. 森林火災

acquittal [əˈkwɪtl] n. 無罪判決

impeachment [ɪmˈpiːtʃmənt] n. 彈劾，控告

trial [ˈtraɪəl] n. 審判，審理

In June, use of the phrase "Black Lives Matter" exploded following the police killing of George Floyd in the US, followed by "cancel culture" and "BIPOC," an abbreviation of "Black, indigenous and other people of color."

Black Lives Matter 黑人的命也是命

explode [ɪkˈspləʊd] v. 激增，暴漲；爆炸

cancel culture 抵制文化：因公眾人物的不良言論或行為而對其進行全面的抵制

abbreviation [əˌbriːviˈeɪʃn] n. 縮寫，縮寫詞

indigenous [ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs] adj. 本土的，當地的

背景知識：

「vax」（疫苗，接種疫苗）被《牛津英語詞典》評選為2021年度詞彙。

《牛津英語詞典》高級編輯菲奧娜·麥克弗森稱，「vax」是年度詞彙最合適的選擇，因為這個詞的「影響是最大的」。她說：「vax的出現至少可以追溯到20世紀80年代，但根據我們的語料庫，直到今年人們才開始大量使用它。加上vax能夠組成很多詞彙，它就在眾多詞彙中脫穎而出了。」

Vax和vaxx這兩種拼寫都可以使用，但vax更常見。相關的詞彙包括：

（1）Vax (n.) 疫苗 (v.) 接種疫苗

（2）Vaxxie (n.) 在接種疫苗期間或接種疫苗前後的自拍照片；接種疫苗自拍

（3）Anti-vax (adj.) 反對接種疫苗的

（4）Anti-vaxxer (n.) 反對接種疫苗的人

（5）Double-vaxxed (adj.) 接種過兩劑疫苗的

今年的牛津詞典年度詞彙「vax」於1799年首次出現在英語中，其衍生詞「vaccinate」和「vaccination」首次出現於1800年。這些單詞都源於拉丁語單詞「vacca」，意思是奶牛。根據《牛津英語詞典》，這要歸功於英國醫生兼科學家愛德華·詹納在18世紀90年代末和19世紀初在天花疫苗接種方面的開創性工作。

（來源：中國日報網）