中英對照讀新聞》Oxford University Press has selected its word of the year 牛津大學出版社選出年度代表字
◎ 周虹汶
Many of us have felt it, and now it’s official: “Brain rot” is the Oxford dictionaries’ word of the year.
我們當中許多人都感受到這點,而現在正式宣布:「腦腐」是牛津字典年度代表字。
Oxford University Press said Monday that the evocative phrase “gained new prominence in 2024,” with its frequency of use increasing 230% from the year before.
牛津大學出版社週一說,這個令人回味的慣用語「在2024年獲得新注目」,其使用頻率比前一年增加230%。
Oxford defines brain rot as “the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging.”
牛津大學將腦腐定義為「一個人精神或智力狀態的假想退化,特別是被視為過度消費瑣碎或沒有挑戰性之材料(現在尤其是網路內容)的結果。」
Oxford Languages President Casper Grathwohl said that in its modern sense, “’brain rot’ speaks to one of the perceived dangers of virtual life, and how we are using our free time.”
牛津語言部負責人卡斯珀.格拉思沃爾說,從現代意義來看,「『腦腐』關乎虛擬生活已知危險之一,以及我們如何利用空閒時間。」
新聞辭典
prominence:名詞,指顯著、有名。例句:Most of the papers give prominence to the same story today.(今天大多數報紙在顯著位置刊登了同一條新聞。)
trivial:形容詞,指微不足道的、瑣碎的、沒有價值的、容易解決的、不費吹灰之力的。例句:Sexual harassment in the workplace is definitely not a trivial matter.(職場性騷擾絕非小事。)