2013.08.14
每个人都依靠词典学习词汇。我们问过一位专家，从人们查阅的词汇中能了解到他们的哪些情况。
梅里亚姆-韦伯斯特公司（Merriam-Webster）是美国最普及的词典的出版机构，1996年推出了韦氏网上词典。这家出版机构第一次有办法了解到人们在查找哪些词汇以及何时查字典。
韦氏词典的特约编辑彼得•索科罗斯基（Peter Sokolowski）跟踪分析人们查找词汇的情况。
有些词不管什么时候都有很多人查。被查得最多的两个单词是“affect”和“effect”。它们太相近了，人们要查字典才能记住“affect”通常用作动词（How
will that affect me?这会如何影响我？），而“effect”通常用作名词（What effect will that
have on me?这将对我有什么样的影响？）。
但索科罗斯基注意到，人们查找的词汇与世界上正在发生的事件往往存在着某种联系。索科罗斯基说，在戴安娜王妃（Princess
Diana）去世后，“‘affect’和‘effect’一下子从榜首掉下来。我们发现，有三个单词查找的人次多得令人难以置信：‘paparazzi’（狗仔队，即跟踪名人拍照再把照片卖给媒体的摄影师）；‘cortege’（送葬行列，在葬礼中徐徐前行的一行人或车队）；以及‘princess’（王妃、公主，也许是人们搞不清已经离婚的戴安娜的王室头衔）。当时人们在新闻报道中不断听到这几个词并上网查找它们的意思。”
从那时起，索科罗斯基一直根据人们查找的词汇来跟踪分析美国人心中在想什么。在3月中旬的时候，一贯用来形容3月20日春分的词“vernal”（春天的、属于春天或出现于春天的）的查找量出现了猛增。人们有时会查找熟悉的词，为的是澄清他们对其释义的认知。近年来，随着美国多个州和法院就支持或反对同性婚姻的法律展开争论，“marriage”（婚姻）一词的查找量已有所增加。而在每年2月14日的情人节（Valentine’s
Day），查找最多的词是我们大多数人以为我们已经知道的那个词“love”（爱）。
有时候，要弄清楚为什么某个词在一天中的某个特定时间查找量陡增，还需要进行一点演绎推理。为什么会
有异常多的美国人在傍晚时分查找来自中国哲学的一种空灵物质的定义呢？还有，为什么大部分此类搜索来自于手机呢？索科罗斯基说，在工作之余，在美国人离开了他们的台式电脑之后，许多人喜欢玩拼字游戏（Scrabble）。由于已经离开电脑，他们很可能在手机上查“Xi”，希望能在流行的填字游戏中轻松地拿到11分。
词汇事件（Vocabulary Event）
索科罗斯基说：“自从我开始跟踪分析以来，我所目睹的最大的单一‘词汇事件’是迈克尔•杰克逊（Michael
Jackson）去世，有六个词可以讲述在这个三或四天的过程中发生的事。‘Stricken’[遭受疾病、烦忧、悲伤的沉重打击]发生在周六上午，当晚出现了‘Resuscitate’[使失去知觉或垂死的人重新恢复知觉]。周日出现‘RIP’[是“rest
in
peace”（安息）的缩写，常见于墓碑铭文]。周日晚上出现‘Condolences’[感到或表达同情和悲伤之情]。‘Icon’[广为人知的标志象征]是所有讣告中都使用的词，而‘emaciated’[因饥饿或疾病而非常消瘦]是新闻报道描述他的身体状况时使用的词。”
Read more:
http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/publication/2013/08/20130814280980.html#ixzz2dthGWbIH
Word for Word
24 June 2013
Everyone relies on dictionaries to learn about words. We asked an
expert what the words people look up say about them.
In 1996, Merriam-Webster, publisher of the most widely read
dictionary in the United States, put its dictionary online. For the
first time, the publisher had a way to tell what users were looking
up and when they were doing it.
Peter Sokolowski, an editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, tracks
the words people look up.
Some words, regardless of when, just get looked up a lot. The top
two are “affect” and “effect,” which are so close people look them
up to remind themselves that “affect” is most often used as a verb
(“How will that affect me?”) and “effect” is usually used as a noun
(“What effect will that have on me?”).
But Sokolowski noticed that often there is a relationship between
the words people look up and what is going on in the world.
Following the death of Princess Diana, “suddenly ‘affect’ and
‘effect’ weren’t at the top of the list,” Sokolowski said. “What we
noticed was an incredible amount of traffic around three words:
“paparazzi” (photographers who follows famous people to take their
pictures and then sell them to the media), “cortege” (a line of
people or cars moving slowly at a funeral) and “princess” (perhaps
because of confusion about the divorced Diana’s royal title).
People were hearing these words in news coverage and going online
to find out what they meant.
Since then, Sokolowski has tracked what’s on Americans’ minds by
the words they’re looking up. In mid-March, there was a spike in
the word “vernal” (of, relating to, or occurring in the spring)
consistently used to describe the equinox on the 20th. Sometimes
people are looking up familiar words to clarify their sense of the
definition. In recent years, as states and judicial courts in the
U.S. have debated laws for or against same-sex marriage, the word
“marriage” has had an increased number of look-ups. And every
February 14, Valentine’s Day, the most looked-up word is one most
of us imagine we already know: “love.”
Sometimes a little deductive reasoning is needed to figure why
look-ups of a word spike at a specific time of day. Why would an
inordinate number of Americans in the evening hours be looking up
the definition of an ethereal substance from Chinese philosophy?
Furthermore, why would most of those searches originate from mobile
phones? Sokolowski said that in the post-work hours, after
Americans have stepped away from their desktop computers, many
enjoy playing Scrabble. Away from their computers, they’re likely
looking up “Xi” on their mobile phones in hopes of scoring an easy
11 points in the popular crossword game.
A Vocabulary Event
“The largest single ‘vocabulary event’ that I’ve witnessed since
I’ve been watching these things,” said Sokolowski, “is the death of
Michael Jackson, and six words tell this story over the course of
three or four days. ‘Stricken’ [powerfully affected by disease,
trouble, sorrow] was Saturday morning. ‘Resuscitate’ [to bring
someone who is unconscious or close to death back to a conscious
state again] was in the evening. ‘RIP’ [short for “rest in peace,”
often written on a gravestone] was Sunday. ‘Condolences’ [feelings
or expressions of sympathy and sadness] by Sunday night. ‘Icon’ [a
widely known symbol] was the word used in all the obituaries, and
‘emaciated’ [very thin because of hunger or disease] came out in
the news accounts of the reported condition of his body.”
Read more:
http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2013/06/20130619276849.html#ixzz2dthMCMMl
