韦氏词典公布2024年度词汇：Polarization

去年，韦氏词典（Merriam-Webster）2023年度词汇为：Authentic（真实的；真正的）。

今天，韦氏词典公布了2024年度词汇：Polarization（两极分化）。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Based on the article, what might be a paradox in the use of “polarization”?

A) Both sides of a divide see the same phenomenon but blame different causes.

B) The word is widely understood yet rarely searched online.

C) Politicians avoid using it while the public embraces it.

D) It originally meant unity but now signifies division.

无注释原文：

'Polarization' is Merriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year

From: AP NEWS

The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world — or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”?

“Polarization means division, but it's a very specific kind of division,” said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement. “Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center.”

The election was so divisive, many American voters went to the polls with a feeling that the opposing candidate was an existential threat to the nation. According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters, about 8 in 10 Kamala Harris voters were very or somewhat concerned that Donald Trump's views — but not Harris' — were too extreme, while about 7 in 10 Trump voters felt the same way about Harris — but not Trump.

The Merriam-Webster entry for “polarization” reflects scientific and metaphorical definitions. It's most commonly used to mean “causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groupings.” Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million pageviews a month on its site, chooses its word of the year based on data, tracking a rise in search and usage.

Last year's pick was “authentic.” This year's comes as large swaths of the U.S. struggle to reach consensus on what is real.

“It's always been important to me that the dictionary serve as a kind of neutral and objective arbiter of meaning for everybody,” Sokolowski said. “It's a kind of backstop for meaning in an era of fake news, alternative facts, whatever you want to say about the value of a word's meaning in the culture.”

It's notable that “polarization” originated in the early 1800s — and not during the Renaissance, as did most words with Latin roots about science, Sokolowski said. He called it a “pretty young word,” in the scheme of the English language. “Polarized is a term that brings intensity to another word,” he continued, most frequently used in the U.S. to describe race relations, politics and ideology.

“The basic job of the dictionary is to tell the truth about words,” the Merriam-Webster editor continued. “We've had dictionaries of English for 420 years and it's only been in the last 20 years or so that we've actually known which words people look up.”

“Polarization” extends beyond political connotations. It's used to highlight fresh cracks and deep rifts alike in pop culture, tech trends and other industries.

All the scrutiny over Taylor Swift's private jet usage? Polarizing. Beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Polarizing. The International Olympic Committee's decision to strip American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal after the Paris Games? You guessed it: polarizing.

Paradoxically though, people tend to see eye to eye on the word itself. Sokolowski cited its frequent use among people across the political spectrum, including commentators on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.

“It's used by both sides,” he said, “and in a little bit ironic twist to the word, it's something that actually everyone agrees on.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

'Polarization' is Merriam-Webster's 2024 word of the year

From: AP NEWS

The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election rattled the country and sent shockwaves across the world — or were cause for celebration, depending on who you ask. Is it any surprise then that the Merriam-Webster word of the year is “polarization”?

2024年美国总统大选的结果在国内外引发了巨大反响——有人震惊，有人欢庆，这取决于立场不同。因此，《韦氏词典》（Merriam-Webster）将“Polarization”（两极分化）选为年度词汇，似乎也在意料之中。

polarization /ˌpəʊ.lə.raɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ 表示“（尤指人或观点）两级分化”，英文解释为“the act of dividing something, especially something that contains different people or opinions, into two completely opposing groups”举个🌰：The polarization of society into rich and poor can clearly be seen in urban areas. 在都市地区可以清楚地看到社会贫富两极分化的现象。

rattle /ˈrætəl/ 1）表示“使慌乱，使紧张”，英文解释为“to make someone lose confidence or become nervous (informal)”举个🌰：His mocking smile rattled her more than his anger. 他那种嘲讽的微笑比他的愤怒更让她慌乱。

2）表示“（使）发出咔嗒咔嗒的声音”，英文解释为“to make a series of short loud sounds when hitting against sth hard; to make sth do this”举个🌰：Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里，窗户都格格作响。

shock wave /ˈʃɒk ˌweɪv/ 表示“（对惊人的消息或不幸事件的）激烈反应”，英文解释为“a very strong reaction that spreads through a group of people when something surprising or bad happens”举个🌰：The assassination of the president sent shock waves across the world. 总统被刺杀的消息震惊了全世界。

“Polarization means division, but it's a very specific kind of division,” said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor at large, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement. “Polarization means that we are tending toward the extremes rather than toward the center.”

“两极分化意味着分裂，但这是一种非常特殊的分裂，”《韦氏词典》特约编辑彼得·索科洛夫斯基（Peter Sokolowski）在周一公布之前接受美联社独家采访时说。“两极分化意味着我们正在走向极端，而不是趋向中心。”

表示“特约编辑，自由编辑（可自由选择主题为杂志、报纸或网站撰写文章或提出建议的编辑）”

📍“Editor at large”是一个特定的媒体和出版行业术语，指的是一位拥有广泛职责和自主性的编辑，通常负责特定的报道领域或专题，而不是固定在某个具体的编辑部门。这样的编辑可能负责撰写、采访、报告或编辑各种主题和故事，经常涉及不同的地点和内容。

exclusive /ɪkˈskluː.sɪv/ 1）表示“专用的，专有的；独有的，独占的”，英文解释为“limited to only one person or group of people”如：an exclusive interview 独家采访，举个🌰：This room is for the exclusive use of guests. 这个房间是专供客人使用的。

2）表示“昂贵的；高档的；豪华的”，英文解释为“expensive and only for people who are rich or of a high social class”如：an exclusive private club 豪华私人俱乐部。

The election was so divisive, many American voters went to the polls with a feeling that the opposing candidate was an existential threat to the nation. According to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters, about 8 in 10 Kamala Harris voters were very or somewhat concerned that Donald Trump's views — but not Harris' — were too extreme, while about 7 in 10 Trump voters felt the same way about Harris — but not Trump.

这次大选分歧如此之大，许多美国选民在去投票站投票时，都觉得对方候选人对国家生存构成了威胁。根据美联社VoteCast对12万多名选民的调查，约80%的卡玛拉·哈里斯（Kamala Harris）支持者非常担心或有些担心唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）的观点过于极端，但哈里斯的观点并不极端；而70%的特朗普支持者则对哈里斯持相同看法。

The Merriam-Webster entry for “polarization” reflects scientific and metaphorical definitions. It's most commonly used to mean “causing strong disagreement between opposing factions or groupings.” Merriam-Webster, which logs 100 million pageviews a month on its site, chooses its word of the year based on data, tracking a rise in search and usage.

《韦氏词典》中“Polarization”（两极分化）的词条涵盖了科学和比喻意义。最常见的解释是“在对立派别或群体之间引发强烈分歧”。作为月均浏览量达1亿的网站，《韦氏词典》根据搜索量和使用量增长数据来评选年度词汇。

1）表示“项目；条目；（一则）记录”，英文解释为“a separate piece of information that is recorded in a book, computer, etc.”举个🌰：They've updated a lot of the entries in the most recent edition of the encyclopedia. 在最新版百科全书中他们更新了很多条目。

2）表示“参赛作品；参赛答卷”，英文解释为“An entry for a competition is a piece of work, a story or drawing, or the answers to a set of questions, which you complete in order to take part in the competition.”

metaphorical /ˌmet.əˈfɒr.ɪ.kəl/ 1）表示“使用隐喻的”，英文解释为“Metaphorical language contains metaphors.”举个🌰：Her second novel is written in a very metaphorical style. 她的第二部小说中运用了大量隐喻。

2）表示“比喻性的，比喻意义上的”，英文解释为“not having real existence but representing some truth about a situation or other subject”举个🌰：A metaphorical ocean (= extremely large area of disagreement) lies between the two groups. 两方之间存在着海洋般巨大的分歧。

faction /ˈfæk.ʃən/ 表示“（大团体中的）派别，派系，小集团”，英文解释为“a group within a larger group, especially one with slightly different ideas from the main group”

log /lɒɡ/ 表示“（旅程、某段时间或事件的）日记，日志”，英文解释为“a full written record of a journey, a period of time, or an event”如：the ship's log 该船的航海日志。

作动词，1）表示“行驶，行进（若干距离或时间）”，英文解释为“to travel a particular distance or for a particular length of time”举个🌰：The pilot has logged 1000 hours in the air. 这位飞行员有1000 小时的飞行记录。

2）表示“正式记录，记载”，英文解释为“to officially record something”举个🌰：The Better Business Bureau has logged more than 100 complaints. 商务改进局已经记录下了100多条投诉。

Last year's pick was “authentic.” This year's comes as large swaths of the U.S. struggle to reach consensus on what is real.

去年的年度词汇为“Authentic”（真实的）。而今年的选择恰好反映了当下美国大部分地区在何为“真实”这一问题上普遍存在的分歧。

swath /swɑːθ/ 更常写作 swathe /sweɪð/  1）表示“长条区域，大块区域；（尤指）长条田地，大块田地”，英文解释为“a long strip or large area especially of land”举个🌰：Huge swathes of rainforest are being cleared for farming and mining. 为了耕种和采矿，大片大片的雨林被砍伐。

2）表示“部分；范围”，英文解释为“a large part of something that includes several different things”举个🌰：These people represent a broad/wide swathe of public opinion. 这些人代表了广大人民的意见。

consensus /kənˈsen.səs/ 表示“一致的意见；共识”，英文解释为“a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people”举个🌰：The general consensus in the office is that he can't do his job. 办公室成员一致认为他无法胜任工作。

📍这个词来自拉丁语“consensus”，意味着“共同感觉”或“一致同意”。近义词：agreement（协议），同根词：consent（同意），常用短语：build consensus（建立共识）

“It's always been important to me that the dictionary serve as a kind of neutral and objective arbiter of meaning for everybody,” Sokolowski said. “It's a kind of backstop for meaning in an era of fake news, alternative facts, whatever you want to say about the value of a word's meaning in the culture.”

“我一直认为，词典的意义在于为每个人提供中立、客观的语义裁定工具，”索科洛夫斯基说。“在假新闻、另类事实泛滥的时代，无论你对某个词汇在文化中的意义持何种看法，词典都为其意义提供了可靠依据。”

neutral /ˈnuː.trəl/ 作形容词，表示“中立的，不偏不倚的”，英文解释为“not saying or doing anything that would encourage or help any of the groups involved in an argument or war”举个🌰：It's important that I remain neutral. 我保持中立是很重要的。

作名词，表示“中立者”，英文解释为“a neutral person or thing”举个🌰：Sweden and Switzerland were neutrals during the war. 在战争期间，瑞典和瑞士是中立国。

arbiter /ˈɑː.bɪ.tər/ 表示“仲裁人，公断人，裁决人；权威人士”，英文解释为“someone who makes a judgment, solves an argument, or decides what will be done”

表示“后盾；后围栏”，英文解释为“a thing placed at the rear of something as a barrier or support”，引申为表示“紧急措施，最后一招；支柱”，英文解释为“an emergency precaution or last resort”

It's notable that “polarization” originated in the early 1800s — and not during the Renaissance, as did most words with Latin roots about science, Sokolowski said. He called it a “pretty young word,” in the scheme of the English language. “Polarized is a term that brings intensity to another word,” he continued, most frequently used in the U.S. to describe race relations, politics and ideology.

索科洛夫斯基说，值得注意的是，“Polarization”（两极分化）一词起源于19世纪初，并非像许多源自拉丁词根的科学词汇那样诞生于文艺复兴时期。他称这个词在英语语言体系中是一个“相当年轻的词”。他继续说：“Polarized是一个能为其他词汇增添强烈对立感的术语，”在美国，它常被用于讨论种族关系、政治和意识形态。

originate /əˈrɪdʒ.ən.eɪt/ 表示“起源，发源，发端；产生”，英文解释为“to come from a particular place, time, situation, etc.”举个🌰：Although the technology originated in the UK, it has been developed in the US 尽管这项技术起源于英国，但它在美国得到了发展。

ideology /ˌaɪ.diˈɒl.ə.dʒi/ 表示“思想（体系）；思想意识；意识形态”，英文解释为“a set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party, or organization is based”

“The basic job of the dictionary is to tell the truth about words,” the Merriam-Webster editor continued. “We've had dictionaries of English for 420 years and it's only been in the last 20 years or so that we've actually known which words people look up.”

“词典的核心任务就是还原词汇的真实意义，”他继续说。“我们的英语词典已经有420年的历史了，而直到最近20年，我们才真正了解哪些词汇被人们频繁查询。”

“Polarization” extends beyond political connotations. It's used to highlight fresh cracks and deep rifts alike in pop culture, tech trends and other industries.

“两极分化”一词的意义已不局限于政治领域，还被用来凸显流行文化、科技潮流以及其他领域的新争议与分歧。

connotation /ˌkɒn.əˈteɪ.ʃən/ 表示“内涵意义；隐含意义；联想意义”，英文解释为“a feeling or idea that is suggested by a particular word although it need not be a part of the word's meaning, or something suggested by an object or situation”举个🌰：It's just one of those words that's got so many negative connotations. 它只是那些有很多负面内涵意义的词之一。

rift /rɪft/ 1）表示“（地面或岩石上的）裂缝，裂口”，英文解释为“a large crack in the ground or in rock”举个🌰：The stream had cut a deep rift in the rock. 溪流在岩石上冲刷出一条很深的沟。

2）表示“（人际关系的）裂痕；分歧，不和”，英文解释为“a serious disagreement that separates two people who have been friends and stops their friendship continuing”。

🎬电影《塞尔玛》（Selma）中的台词提到：and I apologize that our efforts have caused a rift between y'all. 我们做的一切给你们制造了矛盾 我需要道歉。

All the scrutiny over Taylor Swift's private jet usage? Polarizing. Beef between rappers Kendrick Lamar and Drake? Polarizing. The International Olympic Committee's decision to strip American gymnast Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal after the Paris Games? You guessed it: polarizing.

例如，泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）私人飞机使用的争议？说唱歌手肯德里克·拉马尔（Kendrick Lamar）和德雷克（Drake）的矛盾？国际奥委会决定在巴黎奥运会后剥夺美国体操运动员乔丹·奇尔斯（Jordan Chiles）的铜牌？你猜对了：两极化。

scrutiny /ˈskruːtɪnɪ/表示“细看，仔细审查；监视”，英文解释为“the careful and detailed examination of something in order to get information about it”举个🌰：His private life came under media scrutiny. 他的私生活开始受到媒体的密切关注。

beef /biːf/ 熟词僻义，作名词，除了表示“牛肉”，还可以表示“抱怨；怨言”，英文解释为“a complaint”举个🌰：His main beef about the job is that he has to work on Saturdays. 他对这份工作最大的不满是周六还得干活儿。

2019年现代版「甄嬛传」？泰国王妃被剥夺全部头衔时，各大媒体几乎都用了strip这个词，后接of，strip of 1）表示“剥夺（财产、权利）；撤销（头衔）”，英文解释为“To strip someone of their property, rights, or titles means to take those things away from them.”举个🌰：The soldiers have stripped the civilians of their passports, and every other type of document. 那些士兵们已经夺走了市民的护照以及所有其他证件。

2）strip还有“脱衣服；脱光…的衣服”的意思，英文解释为“to remove your clothing, or to remove all the clothing of someone else”举个🌰：He had been stripped naked, beaten and robbed. 他被脱光衣服，遭受殴打，东西还被抢了。

3）作名词，strip /strɪp/ 表示“条，带，细长片；带状地带（或森林、水面等）”，英文解释为“a long, flat, narrow piece”如：a narrow strip of land 狭长地带。

Paradoxically though, people tend to see eye to eye on the word itself. Sokolowski cited its frequent use among people across the political spectrum, including commentators on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.

然而，颇具讽刺意味的是，人们对“极化”这一词本身却能达成共识。索科洛夫斯基指出，无论是在福克斯新闻（Fox News）、MSNBC还是CNN等媒体中，该词都被广泛使用。

paradoxically /ˌpær.əˈdɒk.sɪ.kəl.i/ 表示“似乎互相抵触地，看似互为矛盾地”，英文解释为“in a way that seems impossible or difficult to understand because of containing two opposite facts or characteristics”举个🌰：The big thing in video equipment is, paradoxically, sound. 矛盾的是，视频设备中最重要的是声音。

表示“（两人）意见一致”，英文解释为“If two people see eye to eye, they agree with each other.”举个🌰：My sisters don't see eye to eye with me about the arrangements. 在这些安排上，我的姐姐们和我意见不一致。

spectrum /ˈspɛktrəm/ 1）表示“范围；各层次；系列；幅度”，英文解释为“a complete or wide range of related qualities, ideas, etc.”如：a broad spectrum of interests 广泛的兴趣范围，举个🌰：A wide spectrum of opinion was represented at the meeting. 会上提出了一系列广泛的意见。

2）表示“光谱，谱”，英文解释为“The spectrum is the range of different colours which is produced when light passes through a glass prism or through a drop of water. A rainbow shows the colours in the spectrum.”

“It's used by both sides,” he said, “and in a little bit ironic twist to the word, it's something that actually everyone agrees on.”

“双方都在使用这个词，”他说。“有点讽刺的是，这个词本身反而成为了大家的共识。”

ironic /aɪˈrɒn.ɪk/ 表示“具有讽刺意味的；出乎意料的；令人啼笑皆非的”，英文解释为“interesting, strange, or funny because of being very different from what you would usually expect”举个🌰：It is ironic that although many items are now cheaper to make, fewer people can afford to buy them. 具有讽刺意味的是，虽然如今很多物品的制作成本下降了，但能买得起的人却少了。

twist /twɪst/ 作动词，表示“转动，旋转;缠绕，盘绕”，英文解释为“to turn something, especially repeatedly, or to turn or wrap one thing around another”举个🌰：The path twists and turns for over a mile. 这条小路弯弯曲曲，长达1英里多。

作名词，1）表示“扭动，转动”，英文解释为“an act of twisting something”举个🌰：She gave the cap another twist to make sure it was tight. 她又拧了一下盖子，以确保盖紧了。

2）表示“（故事或情况的）转折，转变，突然变化”，英文解释为“an unexpected change or development in a story or situation”举个🌰：The story has taken another twist. 故事情节再一次变化。

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