TED演讲：重新定义字典(8)

 　　So if you think of the word "set," a set can be a badger's burrow¹, 当你想到一个词“set”—“set”可以指獾的穴，

　　a set can be one of the pleats in an Elizabethan ruff, and there's one numbered definition in the OED. 也可以指伊利沙白时代衣领上的褶--在OED里就有好几个定义，

　　The OED has 33 different numbered definitions for set. Tiny, little word, 33 numbered definitions. 在OED里“set”共33种定义。小小的一个单词，33种定义。

　　One of them is just labeled "miscellaneous technical senses." Do you know what that says to me? 其中一个只是说“不同的技术时态。”你知道这对我来说意味着什么？

　　That says to me, it was Friday afternoon and somebody wanted to go down the pub. 那就是说周五下午某人想去酒吧。

　　That's a lexicographical cop out, to say, "miscellaneous technical senses." 用字典编纂学的术语来说，就是“不同的技术时态。”

　　So, we have all these words, and we really need help! 有那么多词，我们真的很需要帮助！

　　And the thing is, we could ask for help -- asking for help's not that hard. 事实上，我们可以寻求帮助--要求帮助并不困难。

　　I mean, lexicography is not rocket science. 字典编纂不是开发火箭。

　　See, I just gave you a lot of words and a lot of numbers, and this is more of a visual explanation. 看，我刚给了你很多词和很多数字，这里是个更形象的解释。

　　If we think of the dictionary as being the map of the English language, 我们可以把字典当作代表英语的地图，

　　these bright spots are what we know about, and the dark spots are where we are in the dark. 这些亮点是我们已知的，黑点是未知的。

　　If that was the map of all the words in American English, we don't know very much. 如果这个地图指美国英语的所有单词，我们还有很多不知道。

　　And we don't even know the shape of the language. 我们连整个语言的轮廓也不知道。

　　If this was the dictionary -- if this was the map of American English -- 如果这个是字典，美国英语地图——

　　look, we have a kind of lumpy idea of Florida, but there's no California! 看，我们有个大致的佛罗里达州了，可是还没有加州！

　　We're missing California from American English. 连加州都还没有，

　　We just don't know enough, and we don't even know that we're missing California. 我们知道的确实很不够，我们甚至连缺了加州这个事情也不知道。

　　We don't even see that there's a gap on the map. So again, lexicography is not rocket science. 我们连地图里有个空白也不知道。再强调，字典编纂不是开发火箭。

　　But even if it were, rocket science is being done by dedicated² amateurs these days. You know? 即使是火箭开发科学，当今也有热诚的业余爱好者参与其中了。是吧？

　　It can't be that hard to find some words! 发现词语不可能有那么难！

1 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。