最近，《剑桥词典》公布了自己的2020年度词——“隔离”（quarantine）。


 
数据显示，“隔离”一词成为《剑桥词典》一年搜索量最多的词汇，从而击败“封锁”（lockdown）和“全球大流行病”（pandemic），成为2020年度词。

“Quarantine” has defeated “lockdown” and “pandemic” to be crowned Word of the Year 2020 after data showed it to be one of the most highly searched for on the Cambridge Dictionary.

“隔离”也是唯一一个在搜索高峰数量和总体浏览量两项统计中都名列前五的词汇，分别为28545次和超过18.3万次（截至11月初）。最明显的搜索高峰出现在3月18至24日的一周，当时很多国家受疫情影响启动了封锁政策。

Quarantine was the only word to rank in the top five for both search spikes (28,545) and overall views (more than 183,000 by early November), with the largest spike in searches seen the week of 18-24 March, when many countries around the world went into lockdown as a result of COVID-19.

10月30日，在法国尼斯，街道上的餐馆关门歇业。为遏制新冠疫情蔓延，法国从30日起再度全国“封城”。新华社发 塞尔日•阿乌齐摄 图源：新华网

《剑桥词典》的编辑们还追溯了用户使用“隔离”一词的方式，并发现了新含义：人们不允许离家或者随意出行的一段时间，从而避免感染或传播疾病。研究表明，“隔离”一词与“封锁”搭配连用，特别是在美国，是指人们留在家中避免染病的状态。

The Cambridge Dictionary editors have also tracked how people are using quarantine, and have discovered a new meaning emerging: a general period of time in which people are not allowed to leave their homes or travel freely, so that they do not catch or spread a disease. Research shows the word is being used synonymously with lockdown, particularly in the United States, to refer to a situation in which people stay home to avoid catching the disease.

这个新含义也被收入《剑桥词典》中，同时也见证了这一词汇现存意义的变迁——把可能有传染性的人或动物控制起来。

This new sense of quarantine has now been added to the Cambridge Dictionary, and marks a shift from the existing meanings, which relate to containing a person or animal suspected of being contagious.

此外，《剑桥词典》方面称，人们对词汇的搜索不仅仅反映出世界正发生的事情，也体现出和大家最息息相关的事件。

The words that people search for reveal not just what is happening in the world, but what matters most to them in relation to those events.

无论是冠状病毒（coronavirus）还是新冠肺炎（COVID-19），这两个词都不是《剑桥词典》今年以来搜索量最多的。词典方面认为，这显示出用户们已经很自信的认为自己对于病毒足够了解。同时，用户一直在搜索疫情对于社会经济产生的影响词汇，年度词汇榜单中排在“隔离”之后的，则是“封锁”和“全球大流行病”。

”Neither coronavirus nor COVID-19 appeared among the words that Cambridge Dictionary users searched for most this year. We believe this indicates that people have been fairly confident about what the virus is. Instead, users have been searching for words related to the social and economic impacts of the pandemic, as evidenced not just by quarantine but by the two runners-up on the shortlist for Word of the Year: lockdown, and pandemic itself.“


10月28日，在比利时布鲁塞尔大广场，一家餐馆的室外区域被拉上了锁链，禁止使用。新华社记者 郑焕松 摄 图源：新华网

今年也有新词加入到词典中，比如“HyFlex”，即“hybrid flexible（混合灵活式教学）”的拼接，指的是部分学生通过线上视频方式上课，而部分学生通过线下方式上课。

There were also several new words added to the dictionary, including “HyFlex”, which is short for hybrid flexible, a term used to describe a style of teaching that sees some students participating in a class virtually while others are also there physically.

“碰肘”也是新加入词汇，指的是在保持安全社交距离的前提下，人们采用的打招呼方式。

"Elbow bump" was also added as a way of referring to a friendly greeting that allows people to maintain social distancing.


3月21日，在塞尔维亚首都贝尔格莱德，塞尔维亚总统武契奇（左）欢迎中国援助塞尔维亚抗疫医疗专家组，并和专家组成员“碰肘”。新华社记者石中玉 摄 图源：新华网

《剑桥词典》进行了调查提问，看看读者们希望加入什么样的新词汇。被提及最多的词汇包括“quaranteen（隔离青少年）”——处于隔离的青少年；“ lockstalgia（封锁怀旧）”——对封锁生活的怀旧；“coronnial（新冠一代）”——出生在新冠疫情期间的人。

In a poll, readers were asked which words they think should be added to the dictionary this year. Among the most common words were “quaranteen” - a teenager in lockdown, “lockstalgia”, feeling nostalgic about lockdown, and “coronnial”, a person who was born during the coronavirus pandemic.

此前，《牛津词典》宣布：无法选出一个总结2020年的年度词汇。（戳这里回顾）

Cambridge Dictionary’s announcement comes after Oxford English Dictionary revealed its words of the year, announcing for the first time that it has found it impossible to name any single “word of the year”.

文章来源：21世纪英文报