TED演讲:短信是语言杀手(6)

 It's used to change the scene.  它被用来转换话题。

So for example, this Sally person says,  比如说，这个萨莉说，

So I need to find people to chill with and Jake says, Haha,you could write a dissertation¹ about Haha too, but we don't have time for that.Haha so you're going by yourself? Why?  我想找个伴儿来陪我然后，杰克说，哈哈你也可以写一篇关于哈哈的论文，但是我们没有时间聊它了。哈哈，所以你自己去？为什么？

For this summer program at NYU.  是今天夏天在纽约的项目。

Haha. Slash² I'm watching this video with suns players trying to shoot with one eye.  哈哈。对了，我正在看这个视频，太阳队的球员正试着用一只眼投篮。

The slash is interesting.  这个Slash在这里很有趣。

I don't really even know what Jake is talking about after that,  我都不知道杰克这之后到底在说些什么，

but you notice that he's changing the topic.  但是大家注意到他在转换话题。

Now that seems kind of mundane,  这看上去很平常，

but think about how in real life,  但是想想我们的现实生活，

if we're having a conversation and we want to change the topic,  如果我们在谈话中想转换话题，

there are ways of doing it gracefully³.  有很多很好的方式。

You don't just zip right into it.  你不会随便地单刀直入。

You'll pat your thighs⁴ and look wistfully off into the distance,  你会拍拍大腿然后若有所思的看着远方，

or you'll say something like, Hmm, makes you think when it really didn't, but what you're really what you're really trying to do is change the topic.  或者你会说，嗯...来假装你在思考着，但实际上，实际上你正在试图切换话题。

You can't do that while you're texting,  你没有办法在短信里这么做，

and so ways are developing of doing it within this medium.  所以在这个交流媒介里产生了各种转换话题的方法。

All spoken languages have what a linguist⁵ calls a new information marker-or two, or three.  任何口语都有语言学家称作的一个或者两到三个的新信息标记词（话题转换词）。

Texting has developed one from this slash.  短信用这个slash（斜线）作为一个新信息产生的标记。

So we have a whole battery of new constructions that are developing, and yet it's easy to think,  于是我们有了这些充满活力的新语言结构，然而人们还是很容易的认为，

well, something is still wrong.  还是有问题。

There's a lack of structure of some sort.  它（短信）缺乏某种结构。

It's not as sophisticated  它不像华尔街日报上使用的语言

as the language of The Wall Street Journal.  那么有深度。

Well, the fact of the matter is,  实际上，

look at this person in 1956,  看看这个人在1956年写的，

and this is when texting doesn't exist,  那时短信还没有出现，

I Love Lucy is still on the air.  我爱露西（美国50年代当红肥皂剧）还在热播。

Many do not know the alphabet or multiplication⁶ table,  很多人都不会拼写字母或者背乘法口诀表，

cannot write grammatically We've heard that sort of thing before,  也不会按照语法写作—我们以前就听到这种抱怨，

not just in 1956. 1917, Connecticut schoolteacher.  并不仅仅在1956年。1917年，康涅狄格州的教师也这样。

1 dissertation   

n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文

参考例句：

• He is currently writing a dissertation on the Somali civil war.他目前正在写一篇关于索马里内战的论文。
• He was involved in writing his doctoral dissertation.他在聚精会神地写他的博士论文。

2 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

3 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

4 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 linguist   

n.语言学家；精通数种外国语言者

参考例句：

• I used to be a linguist till I become a writer.过去我是个语言学家，后来成了作家。
• Professor Cui has a high reputation as a linguist.崔教授作为语言学家名声很高。

6 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。