Saturday, November 26, 2011

牛津詞典的年度詞彙:squeezed middle "受壓榨的中產階級"

每年的感恩節前,就是牛津詞典 (Oxford Dictionaries) 發佈年度詞彙 (Word of the Year) 的時刻。今年的年度詞彙是 squeezed middle "受壓榨的中產階級",這個詞彙是由英國工黨領袖 Ed Miliband 所創,所描述的情況在大西洋彼岸的美國也感同身受,因此牛津詞典年度詞彙委員會經過討論後決定,squeezed middle 獲選為 2011 年的年度詞彙。

牛津詞典給 squeezed middle "受壓榨的中產階級" 下的定義如下:

Squeezed middle 受壓榨的中產階級

the section of society regarded as particularly affected by inflation, wage freezes, and cuts in public spending during a time of economic difficulty, consisting principally of those people on low or middle incomes. 在經濟困頓期間,明顯受到通貨膨漲、薪資凍結、公共支出刪減影響的部分社會大眾,主要是中低收入者 [曾泰元 譯]

根據牛津詞典年度詞彙委員會的說法,年度詞彙是發佈當年引起社會大量關注的詞彙,反映的是整個時代與社會的脈動,但不表示將來就能夠進入牛津的英文詞典。詞典對一個新詞的收錄與否有其嚴謹的標準,新詞必需要有足夠的強度和持續性,才有可能進入英文詞典的殿堂。

今年美國年度詞彙的入圍名單還有:

Arab Spring n.: a series of anti-government uprisings in various countries in North Africa and the Middle East, beginning in Tunisia in December 2010. [After Prague Spring, denoting the 1968 reform movement in Czechoslovakia.]

Bunga bunga n.: used in reference to parties hosted by the former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, at which various illicit sexual activities were alleged to have taken place.

Clicktivism n.: the use of social media and other online methods to promote a cause. [Blend of click and activism.]

Crowdfunding n.: the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet. [After crowdsourcing.]

Fracking n.: the forcing open of fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure, especially to extract oil or gas. [Shortened < hydraulic fracturing.]

Gamification n.: the application of concepts and techniques from games to other areas of activity, for instance as an online marketing technique.

Occupy n.: the name given to an international movement protesting against perceived economic injustice by occupying buildings or public places and staying there for an extended period of time. [From the imperative form of the verb occupy, as in the phrase Occupy Wall Street.

The 99 percent: the bottom 99% of income earners, regarded collectively.

Tiger mother n.: a demanding mother who pushes her children to high achievement using methods regarded as typical of Asian childrearing. [Coined by Amy Chua in her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.]

Sifi n.: a bank or other financial institution regarded as so vital to the functioning of the overall economy that it cannot be allowed to fail. [Acronym from systemically important financial institution. Pronounced "SIFF-ee", rhyming with "jiffy".]

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