[ti:New 'Words to the Wise' from Merriam-Webster] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The American English dictionary Merriam-Webster recently added a lot of new words to its online site. [00:07.96]Learning English reporter Bryan Lynn looked into the changes. [00:12.76]He's joined me in the studio to talk about some of the new words. [00:18.00]Hi Bryan. [00:18.92]Hi Ashley. [00:20.16]First off, how often does Merriam Webster add words? Is this a yearly event? [00:26.60]No, actually it's not. The last time the company added new words online was 2014. [00:33.28]But an editor at large, Peter Solokowski, [00:37.48]said Merriam Webster had been "watching" some of the added words for many, many years. [00:43.56]Others, he said, were much newer in use. [00:46.34]So where do they come from? [00:48.77]Everywhere, really. I mean the new terms cover areas including science, technology, sports, pop culture. [00:57.72]Most will probably be familiar to you. [01:00.60]Okay. So, for example... [01:03.12]Well, how about the verb "binge-watch?" [01:07.28]Oh yes. I binge watch television shows sometimes...always! [01:15.72]That means to watch many episodes of a series in a short period of time. [01:21.80]To binge, in this case, means to do a lot of something in a short amount of time. [01:27.48]Right...so in this case, I guess, watching one after the other for a few hours straight. [01:33.52]Some people might watch a whole season of a show over a few days. [01:37.68]So here's another from the list you collected: Seussian. [01:42.52]Some Learning English fans outside America might not know this one. [01:48.00]Yeah, so Seussian is an adjective that refers to the American children's book writer known as Dr. Seuss. [01:57.92]He wrote these fantastical books for young children that included fun rhymes and colorful pictures. [02:06.00]Like "The Cat and the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham." [02:09.24]"‘I will not eat them, Sam-I-Am.'" [02:13.04]The books made you laugh but they also helped a lot of kids learn to read. [02:18.00]So anything that reminds a person of a Dr. Seuss world could be Seussian. [02:23.80]" Okay. "Green Eggs and Ham" was the first book I ever read, actually. [02:28.80]Another one on your list is photobomb. [02:31.96]That's when someone jumps in front of a camera uninvited. [02:35.92]It's usually done as a joke. [02:38.20]I've seen some pretty funny photos that were the result of a really good photobomb! [02:43.84]Right, yeah. Photobombing is more of a prank. [02:48.32]But, you know, it's not meant "to throw shade on anyone." [02:52.64]Oh, so I guess that is another newly added phrase, to throw shade? [02:58.76]Yes, it is. So, it is a slang expression that means [03:03.84]to publicly express disrespect or dislike for someone. [03:09.08]But to "throw shade" the insult or offense has to be subtle or understated. [03:16.96]Okay. So, among the new words are slang expressions, as well... [03:21.20]Correct. So, one of those is ghost. [03:25.52]We all know what that means as a noun, but... [03:28.40]Right, but as a verb it means to abruptly cut off contact. [03:34.60]Mhmm. I have friends who have been quite hurt [03:38.29]by people who have just ghosted on them, without any explanation. [03:42.64]It's not a very nice thing to do. [03:45.08]Right, so I mean, with the slang words you could even pile on top, right? [03:50.04]You could throw shade and also ghost the same person. [03:54.74]Oh...Okay, so here is another word on this list: microaggression. [04:01.08]So is ghosting an example of microaggression? [04:05.16]Well, microaggression is a noun. [04:08.88]It's a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally [04:15.48]expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a minority group. [04:21.01]Okay, so that sounds a little more serious than "ghosting." [04:25.24]It is. [04:26.44]Alrigh [04:29.50]t, so this next word is not slang and I'm not really sure most people know what this one means: prosopagnosia. [04:35.87]Yes, so this is a noun and it does have a scientific meaning [04:41.52]-- the inability to recognize faces. [04:45.20]Okay, so like a face-blindness. [04:49.08]Exactly, that's what it would be. Blind to faces. [04:52.72]Well, this has been really interesting, Bryan. Thanks for joining me in studio here. [04:57.84]And to our listeners, let us know if you liked this and maybe we can do more of this in the future. [05:04.32]I'm Ashley Thompson. [05:05.44]And I'm Bryan Lynn. [05:06.80]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM