《韦氏辞典》宣布2016年年度词汇

    The American dictionary Merriam-Webster has named "surreal" its 2016 Word of the Year.
    美国 《韦氏词典》确定超现实(surreal)为该词典2016年年度词汇。

    Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary defines the adjective as "very strange or unusual" or "having the quality of a dream."
    《韦氏学习词典》将这个形容词解释为“非常离奇或不寻常的”或是“梦幻般的”。

    The word entered the English language in the 1930s, following the artistic movement known as surrealism.
    这个词于上世纪30年代由于被称之为超现实主义的艺术运动而进入英语语言。

    Merriam-Webster says searches for "surreal" rose after several world events and tragedies in the past year.
    《韦氏词典》表示,在去年发生的数起世界大事和悲剧之后,这个单词的搜索量有所增加。

    Major increases in the number of lookups directly followed the terrorist attacks in Belgium and France, the overthrow attempt in Turkey, the Brexit vote, and the death of American musician Prince.
    在比利时和法国的恐怖袭击、土耳其政变企图、英国退欧公投以及美国音乐家普林斯去世之后,直接查找量大幅增加。

    But, Merriam-Webster reports, the largest increase in searches for "surreal" came just after the United States presidential election last month.
    但是《韦氏词典》报告称,查找“超现实”这个单词最大幅的增加是在上个月美国总统大选之后。

    Its meaning comes from the word's two parts. The word "real" comes after the preposition "sur," which means "above" or "over" in the French language.
    它的意义来自于这个单词的两个部分。real这个单词跟在sur这个前置词之后,sur在法语中的意思是在...之上。

    "Surreal" is often used to describe something shocking. People might use the word when they cannot believe -- or do not want to believe -- reality.
    Surreal通常用于描述令人震惊的事情。人们不相信或不愿意相信现实时就可能会用到这个单词。

    "Surreal" can have a negative or positive meaning. For example, the Grand Canyon or a trip to the Moon could be described as surreal.
    Surreal兼具负面和正面的意义。例如,大峡谷或月球旅行就可以被形容为超现实的。

    Other popular words of 2016 include revenant, icon, and bigly, Merriam-Webster says.
    《韦氏词典》表示,2016年的其它热门词汇还包括revenant,icon以及bigly。

    Revenant means "one that returns after death." It comes from the French verb for "return." The Oscar-winning Hollywood film "The Revenant" drove this word's popularity.
    Revenant意思是死而复生者。它源自法语动词中的归来这个单词。获得奥斯卡奖的好莱坞电影《荒野猎人 The Revenant》提升了这个单词的受欢迎度。

    People searched for the word "icon" in high numbers following the death of pop star Prince. It means "a person who is very successful and admired."
    人们在流行音乐明星普林斯去世后大量搜索icon(偶像)这个单词,它的意思是“非常成功和极受崇拜的人”。

    "Bigly" became hugely popular after many people thought U.S. President-elect Donald Trump used the word during a presidential debate.
    很多人以为美国候任总统川普在总统竞选期间提到了Bigly这个单词,于是这个单词开始走红。

    People questioned whether the adjective "big" can be used as an adverb in the English language.
    人们质疑在英语语言中,形容词big是否可以用作副词。

    But language experts agreed that Trump actually said "big league." This expression describes something very successful or high-level. Trump used it as an adverbial phrase.
    但是语言专家认为川普实际上说的是big league,这个词汇用于形容非常成功或高水平的东西。川普将它作为一个副词短语。

    Language experts also agreed that "bigly" is a word, although it is not often used.
    语言专家还承认bigly确实是一个单词,虽然它不常被用到。

    Other dictionaries have also announced their 2016 words of the year.
    其它词典也宣布了各自的2016年年度词汇。

    The Oxford-English Dictionary chose "post-truth," which describes situations in which "facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief." The phrase became popular during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.
    牛津字典选择了后真相(post-truth),它描述了“在影响公众舆论方面,客观事实的影响力不及诉诸于情感和个人信念”这么一种状况。这句话在2016年美国总统大选期间走红。

    Dictionary.com named "xenophobia" its Word of the Year. It means "fear or hatred of foreigners." A huge increase in searches for the word happened on June 24 -- one day after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
    Dictionary.com确定“xenophobia(仇外)”为该网站2016年年度词汇,它的意思是“对外国人的恐惧或仇恨”。6月24日,也就是英国公投退欧之后一天,这个单词的搜索量剧增。

    I'm Ashley Thompson.
    我是阿什利·汤普森。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利,未经授权请勿转载,违者必究!)