The Top Words of 2006: ‘Sustainable’ is Top Word, ‘Stay the Course’ is Top Catchphrase, ‘Darfur’ is Top Name, and ‘Yoof Speak’ is Top Youth Speak Atop Annual List
San Diego, California (January 1, 2007) ‘Sustainable’ is Top Word, ‘Stay the Course’ is Top Catchphrase, ‘Darfur’ is the Top Name, and ‘Yoof Speak’ is Top Youth […]
今天才看到这篇报道，晚了近三个月。Better late than never.
Mouse potatoes, himbos and googling go mainstream
关键部分摘录如下：
The mouse potato (who spends as much time on the computer as his/her 1990s counterpart did on the couch), the himbo (attractive, vacuous - and male) and the excessively emotional drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America’s best-selling dictionary, […]
真是想不通，怎么会有人愿意正式改名为Jack Ass，还好意思打这样的官司：
I (Jack Ass) pray this court will punish the Defendants to the maximum the law allows and that damages are no less than $10,000,000.00 from infringing on my legal name.
这条消息再度被炒热，显然是因为最近Jackass Number Two拿下了北美票房的冠军。再想不通一下：这种类型的电影为什么总是那么吃香呢？当年的Jackass: The Movie好像也是票房冠军。
另外，Jack Ass先生让我想起另一则旧闻：PETA staffer legally changes name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com
无语。
Bonus video: Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland - SexyBack
对标点符号不太在意的朋友看看这篇报道： Comma quirk irks Rogers
The validity of the contract and the millions of dollars at stake all came down to one point — the second comma in the sentence.
Had it not been there, the right to cancel wouldn’t have applied to the first five years of the contract and Rogers would be protected from the […]
这两天纽约时报上演了不大不小的一出闹剧，起源竟然是星期一的crossword puzzle（纵横填字游戏，就是根据提示在空格里填上字母、使所有横行和纵行都成为有效单词的游戏）。这一期的游戏里，其中一个单词的线索为scoundrel，实际答案是scumbag。报纸因为这个接到了一些投诉。
这两个词都是“无赖”、“卑鄙小人”的意思，所以一个作线索一个作答案似乎合情合理。看了相关的报道，才知道原来scumbag还有别的意思，难怪会引起部分保守主义者的不满。Jesse Sheidlower（牛津词典的总编）作了解释：
The original meaning of scumbag is “condom.” The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to 1967, with 1971 as the first example of the “despicable person” sense, but current research has pushed the dates back to 1935 (based on the still earlier scum, “semen,” and bag, “a condom”) and 1950 respectively.
也就是说，scumbag最早是condom的意思。不过避孕套很普及啊，不至于要投诉吧？
原来纽约时报在用词方面一向有很严格的要求，而scumbag一直以来都被列为“粗俗”的单词，所以在一般情况下禁用。这次的crossword居然堂而皇之地出现了scumbag，而且不是因为什么情况特殊而破例，所以读者都认定是编辑的失职，因此就有了投诉的闹剧。
尽管我现在了解了来龙去脉，我还是觉得投诉没什么必要。俗话说“不知者无罪”嘛！Scumbag又不像F-word、MF-word、C-word、N-word那样人尽皆知，不知道它“粗俗”很正常啊。Sheidlower显然同意我的看法：
If you didn’t […]
2月28日新鲜出炉的榜单！
‘Brokeback’ named Top HollyWORD of 2006 Followed by ‘Brangelina’, ‘Petronoia,’ and ‘Tuxedo’
‘Brokeback’ from multi-Oscar nominated film ‘Brokeback Mountain’ was named the Top HollyWORD of the Year in The Global Language Monitor’s annual survey of words from Hollywood that profoundly influenced the English Language.
Closely following were ‘Brangelina’ from ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith,’ ‘ ‘Petronoia’ from ‘Syriana,’ […]