VOA标准英语2012--'Word on Street' Impacted Language in 2011

'Word on Street' Impacted Language in 2011

 

While 2011 is over, some of the words that came to define the past year are still very much with us, and may be for years to come.

Since 2011 was an especially busy year for grassroots political action, many of those new terms came from the streets.

Occupy

Grant Barrett, vice¹ president of the American Dialect Society and host of the public radio program “A Way with Words,” says even in a nation as talkative as the United States, and with a language as flexible and creative as English, the word “occupy” stood apart in 2011.
“This was used in phrases like ‘Occupy Wall Street’ or 'Occupy San Francisco,’ or frankly² ‘occupy’ just about any place," he says. "And this was a word coined by an organization in Canada called “Adbusters,” which started a campaign last summer to get people in October to protest in the streets, to protest the unfair distribution of wealth and the unfair distribution of power, and ‘occupy’ really has had a lot of legs, as they say, a lot of life.”

Barrett observes the word also has a lot of flexibility³.

“And so, in that way, ‘occupy’ has become what we call a ‘combining form.’ So it can be combined with verbs and nouns and adjectives in order to create new phrases and new expressions that filter throughout the whole movement.”

Occupy Wall Street protesters at Three World Financial Center in New York, Dec. 12, 2011.

The occupy movement is peopled by those calling themselves “99 percenters.”

“These are terms that represent the majority of Americans. These are the people who say ‘Look, I’ve worked hard. I’ve got an education. I do what I’m told to do. And yet, somehow, I’m not among the decision makers," says Barrett. "I am excluded from the political process. I’m excluded from having my voice heard.’ And there is one percent of the population - the ‘one-percenters’ - who seem to have all the money and all the power and all the control.”

Borrowing from past

The occupy movement has borrowed methods and terms from protests of the past, including the use of the so-called “human megaphone.”

“In order not to violate laws about electronic amplification⁴, what they would do is a speaker would say something," Barrett says. "They would say, ‘I would like to tell you my opinion,’ and the whole crowd repeats exactly what the speaker just said to make sure that everyone else who is farther away can hear it.”

“Occupiers” also used a variety of non-verbal communications. Holding the arms crossed in front of the chest is called a “hard block” and means “firm opposition⁵.” Barrett also saw occupiers "twinkling." The gesture is similar to a hand motion the deaf and hard-of-hearing community uses to signify applause.

While many new words and phrases occupied American speech last year, Barrett says he cannot predict which ones will become a permanent part of the American lexicon⁶.

“You just never know. It's a bit of a gamble," he says. "I would say, at least as an historical footnote, ‘occupy’ and all the related terms will continue to be talked about. It will show up in history books."

Arab Spring

As will the phrase “Arab Spring,” according to Barrett. By the end of 2011, it was a term often used by many; including protesters, journalists and humanitarian⁷ activists⁸.

Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch was one of them.

“One of the scenes that we’ve seen in many of the Arab Spring countries, first in Tunisia, then in Egypt, then in Libya and Syria are these images, usually of young men," she said in an interview late last year, "who are willing to die for ideals of freedom, for notions of rights in front of security officials with guns in city after city and this new courage to stand up to abuse we have seen, really is what has fueled the Arab Spring."

“In this two word phrase we have encapsulated, we’ve made shorthand for, a lot of really important history,” Barrett says.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

3 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

4 amplification   

n.扩大，发挥

参考例句：

• The voice of despair may be weak and need amplification.绝望的呼声可能很微弱，需要扩大。
• Some of them require further amplification.其中有些内容需进一步详细阐明。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

7 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

8 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》