年度词汇：顽童、脑腐、两极分化
📖 逐句对照翻译
From “brat” to “brain rot” and “polarization,” word experts agree that social media and politics have driven conversations that use these terms.
从“小鬼”到“脑腐”再到“两极分化”，词汇专家一致认为，社交媒体和政治推动了这些词汇的使用。
Here are their selections for word of the year.
以下是他们选出的年度词汇。
Polarization
极化
The American dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster selected polarization as its word of the year for 2024.
美国词典出版商韦氏词典将“极化”选为2024年度词汇。
The dictionary publisher defines polarization as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society…become concentrated at opposing extremes.”
词典出版商将极化定义为“分裂成两个截然不同的对立面；尤指一个群体或社会的观点、信仰或利益……集中于对立两极的状态”。
As divided as Americans appear, Merriam-Webster says polarization “happens to be one idea that both sides of the political spectrum agree on.”
尽管美国人看起来分歧严重，但韦氏词典表示，极化“恰好是政治光谱两端都认同的一个观点”。
The word was widely used in news stories and broadcasts to describe the presidential election in the United States.
这个词在新闻报道和广播中被广泛用来描述美国的总统选举。
Supporters of both candidates, president-elect Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, voiced the opinion that the opposing candidate was a threat to the nation.
两位候选人的支持者——当选总统唐纳德·特朗普和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯——都认为对方候选人对国家构成威胁。
The U.S. election also brought attention to two other words: pander and weird.
美国大选还让另外两个词受到关注：pander和weird。
Trump’s supporters accused Harris of pandering, in other words, changing her policy positions to get votes.
特朗普的支持者指责哈里斯迎合选民，换言之，就是改变她的政策立场以获取选票。
And Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz called his opponents weird, meaning strange or unusual.
民主党副总统候选人蒂姆·沃尔兹称其对手很怪异，意思是奇怪或不寻常。
Brain rot
脑腐
The editors at Britain’s Oxford University Press say usage of its word of the year selection, brain rot, increased by 230 percent from 2023 to 2024.
英国牛津大学出版社的编辑表示，其年度词汇“脑腐”的使用量在2023年至2024年间增长了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.”
牛津词典将“脑腐”定义为“一个人心理或智力状态的所谓退化，尤其被视为过度消费被认为是琐碎或缺乏挑战性的材料（如今尤指网络内容）的结果”。
The phrase likely first appeared in written form in Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden about his experiences living a simple lifestyle.
这个短语很可能最早以书面形式出现在亨利·戴维·梭罗1854年的著作《瓦尔登湖》中，该书讲述了他体验简朴生活方式的经历。
He wrote: “While England endeavors to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot – which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”
他写道：“当英格兰努力防治马铃薯腐烂病时，难道不应该努力去防治脑腐烂病吗？这种病流行得更为广泛，也更为致命。”
In 2024, the phrase has been used to describe concerns about the harm of overconsuming, or watching and reading too much, online material.
2024年，这一短语被用来描述人们对过度消费、过度观看和阅读网络内容所带来危害的担忧。
Casper Grathwohl, President of Oxford Languages, noted, “I find it fascinating that the term ‘brain rot’ has been adopted by Gen Z and Gen Alpha, those communities largely responsible for the use and creation of the digital content the term refers to.”
牛津语言部总裁卡斯珀·格拉斯沃尔斯指出：“我觉得很有意思的是，‘脑腐’一词被Z世代和阿尔法世代所采用，而这两个群体正是该词所指数字内容的主要使用者和创造者。”
Politics and social media come together in the Collins Dictionary’s selection of brat as its word of the year.
政治与社交媒体在柯林斯词典将“brat”选为年度词汇时交汇在一起。
The most recent usage of brat started as the title of an album by pop singer Charli XCX.
brat一词最近的用法源于流行歌手Charli XCX的一张专辑名称。
Then it went viral as a campaign slogan “Kamala IS Brat” for the Democratic presidential candidate.
随后，它作为民主党总统候选人卡玛拉·哈里斯的竞选口号“卡玛拉就是‘小鬼’”而走红。
The word means different things to different people.
这个词对不同的人有不同的含义。
Traditionally, brat describes an immature person or an unruly child.
传统上，brat 形容的是一个不成熟的人或一个不守规矩的孩子。
But Collins says it is now used to describe a person with “confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude.”
但柯林斯表示，现在这个词用来形容具有“自信、独立和享乐主义态度”的人。
Collins says the term brat “has clearly captured something of the spirit of the age.”
柯林斯表示，“brat”一词“显然捕捉到了某种时代精神”。
And for a short time, the word brat summer even “established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life.”
而短时间内，“顽童夏天”一词甚至“确立为一种美学和一种生活方式”。
Demure
端庄
The online Dictionary.com selected demure as its word of the year for 2024.
在线词典网站Dictionary.com将demure选为2024年度词汇。
Between January and the end of August, Dictionary.com said the word “saw a nearly 1200 percent increase in usage in digital web media alone.”
Dictionary.com表示，从1月到8月底，该词“仅在数字网络媒体上的使用量就增长了近1200%”。
The sharp rise is credited to several videos on TikTok by Jools Lebron.
这一急剧增长归功于Jools Lebron在TikTok上发布的几段视频。
“You see how I do my makeup for work?” she asked.
“你看到我上班时怎么化妆了吗？”她问道。
“Very demure, very mindful.”
非常端庄，非常用心。
Demure is another example of how popular word usage changes over time.
端庄是流行词汇用法随时间变化的另一个例子。
In the 14th century, demure was used to describe people who avoid bringing attention to themselves.
在14世纪，demure一词被用来形容那些避免引人注目的人。
Today, the word is used to describe someone who brings attention to themselves with “refined and sophisticated appearance or behavior.”
如今，这个词用来形容那些以“优雅精致的外表或举止”引人注目的人。
And those are the Words of the Year for 2024.
这些就是2024年的年度词汇。
I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.
我是小马里奥·里特。
Hai Do wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
海杜为VOA英语学习频道撰写了本课内容。
