It's been delighting people around the world for 25 years but now formally holds a honored place in the cultural lexicon: "GIF" has been chosen as word of the year by the Oxford American Dictionary.
"GIF celebrated a lexical milestone in 2017, gaining traction as a verb, not just a noun," said Katherine Martin, head of the US dictionaries program at Oxford.
"The GIF has evolved from a medium for pop-cultural memes into a tool with serious applications including research and journalism, and its lexical identity is transforming to keep pace."
GIF is, in fact, an abbreviation of three separate words: Graphics Interchange Format. It was first released by CompuServe in 1987 but has experienced a dramatic cultural resurgence in recent years, most commonly used to make humorous commentary on topics ranging from sports to the 2017 presidential election.
The runner-up for the word of the year was also an abbreviation, "YOLO," which stands for "You only live once."
"Superstorm" was another runner-up for word of the year, after the major storm that affected the Eastern US during the first week of November.
The British Oxford Dictionaries went a different route, choosing "omnishambles," as their word of the year, which is defined as "a situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations."
Needless to say, having all three words shows how neologisms are having a growing influence in the cultural landscape.
Still, some older words have found new linguistic relevance. "Pleb," taken from the Roman word "plebs," has found a modern context in its derogatory usage to describe "a member of the ordinary people or working classes."
Interestingly, the word-of the-year distinction does not guarantee that the chosen words will actually be included in future editions of the Oxford English Dictionary.
Here's the other shortlisted words according to OUP:
1. Eurogeddon
2. Super PAC
3. Superstorm
4. Nomophobia
5. Higgs boson
6. YOLO: you only live once
7. MOOC: massive open online course
它已经让全球的人们欢笑了25年,但现在才正式在文化辞典中拥有了荣誉的一席之地。GIF正式获选为今年《牛津美国辞典》的年度词汇。
牛津大学美国辞典项目负责人凯瑟琳-马丁说:“GIF在2017年成为词汇的里程碑,作为动词当选年度词汇,而不仅仅是名词。”
“GIF已经从流行文化基因的媒介发展成为有多种用途的工具,比如用于研究和资讯业,而它在词汇方面的定位也在随之改变。”
GIF是“图形交换格式”三个英文单词首字母的缩写。最早在1987年由美国在线信息服务机构“计算机服务”公布,但近些年在文化领域强势复苏,最常用于对从体育到美国大选等热门话题的诙谐评论。
年度词汇榜单的第二位也是一个缩写YOLO,意思是“你只有一辈子可活”。
入选年度名单的还有“超级风暴”,该词因为在11月的第一周横扫美国东岸的桑迪飓风大量曝光。
英国版的牛津辞典今年的年度词汇则是“一团糟”,含义是“由于管理非常不当,出现大量的错误和误差,导致的混乱局面。”
毫无疑问,以上三个词汇都表明了新词正对文化景观产生越来越大的影响。
另外,一些旧有词汇也被赋予新的语义。源自罗马词汇plebs(平民、民众)的Pleb在现代语境中用来形容普通人或者工人阶级,含有贬义。
有趣的是,即便当选年度词汇,也不能保证入选的词汇将来都会收录进《牛津英语辞典》。
其他入选的词汇还有:
1. 非常严峻的欧洲危机。由 Euro和 Armageddon合成而来。
2. 超级政治行动组织
3. 超级风暴
4. 无手机焦虑症
5. 希格斯玻色子,或称“上帝粒子”
6. YOLO:“你只有一辈子可活”,
7. MOOC: 大量的网络公开课程
两个月雅思5.5到6.5的备考的历程
从0到5.5 一个大专生的雅思备考的路程
乌鲁木齐雅思考场考试的流程及经验
三战雅思口语从5.5到7分经验教训
雅思听力8.5高分考生备考经验
雅思总分7.5分学员备考的心得分享
40天自学雅思8分心得分享经验+资料
雅思7分心得参加培训班的经验
首战裸考二战备考23天拿下雅思6.5分的详细经验
雅思听力满分考生备考的经验谈
雅思6分菜鸟的写作的经验分享
一个月备考拿下雅思7分心得体会
假期回国恶补雅思在国内熟悉环境下学语言
看美剧提高雅思的听力和口语
雅思口语9分考生谈暑假备考的方法
找到感觉踏实练习才能成就雅思高分
雅思7.5分经验写作掌握时间最重要
高中生备考雅思三个缺点
非英专业托福转雅思备考经验
雅思备考两个月东京首战拿7分
牛人分享雅思口语的答题公式
雅思8.5分学员成长历程兴趣是最好的老师
雅思8分应考建议基础是才是决胜之道
一战雅思阅读满分的经验分享
雅思听读双8.5听力看老友记阅读掐时间
雅思7分考生分享阅读备考的心经
雅思湖北大学考场经验的分享
雅思成都考场十条详细经验
离校一年艰苦两战雅思7分经验谈
雅思阅读8.5分知识助我一臂之力
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |