词典网站Dictionary.com公布2024年度词汇：Demure

近日，词典网站Dictionary.com公布了2024年度词汇：Demure。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. What broader linguistic transition does the article suggest is happening in society's vocabulary post-pandemic?

A) Language is focusing on global health terminology more than ever.

B) Words emphasize isolation and virtual experiences more intensely.

C) There's a renewed interest in how one presents oneself in physical, communal spaces.

D) Society is increasingly discarding words related to personal identity and empowerment.

无注释原文：

Dictionary.com Names 'Demure' as Its Word of the Year for 2024 

From: TIME

Popular online dictionary platform Dictionary.com has officially announced its annual word of the year, and they've made a very mindful choice.

Their 2024 Word of the Year is the viral sensation “demure,” which took off on TikTok in August of this year. It was popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron, whose phrase “very demure, very mindful” was featured in a series of viral videos and replicated by other creators. Lebron would also often pair the word with “cutesy” and “considerate,” providing advice to her followers for situations like “how to be demure and modest and respectful at the workplace.”

Between January and September of this year, Dictionary.com says that Demure saw a 1200% increase in usage in digital web media and had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com.

Dictionary.com defines the word demure as “characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved,” but the word took on new life through its internet fame—and soon anything from driving to work to eating a donut could be demure. Further, the word grew to represent how a term often associated with submissiveness and reservation can be empowering, and help people express a “quiet confidence,” Dictionary.com said in its announcement.

As a transgender woman, Lebron also utilized the fame from these “demure” videos to finance the rest of her transition and gender affirming care, she told her followers in a video. Beyond Lebron, many of the creators who participated in the trend were other trans women, reminding their followers exactly how to act “mindful” and “demure.”

Along with its top choice, Dictionary.com also announced their Word of the Year shortlist, which included Brainrot, Brat, Extreme Weather, Midwest Nice, and Weird.

Dictionary.com also noted how their choice of “demure” represents a shift in public life, as our collective vocabulary moves away from emphasizing the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and toward a greater concern with “personal presentation and appearance as in-person experiences become the norm again.”

Last year, the platform chose “hallucinate” as its word of the year, specifically in the context of artificial intelligence. This year, though, their top choices lean more toward words of high internet popularity.

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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：

Dictionary.com Names 'Demure' as Its Word of the Year for 2024

From: TIME

Popular online dictionary platform Dictionary.com has officially announced its annual word of the year, and they've made a very mindful choice.

知名在线词典平台Dictionary.com正式公布了其年度词汇，其选择非常有深意。

demure /dɪˈmjʊər/ 表示“（尤指女性）端庄的，文静的，安静的”，英文解释为“(especially of women) quiet and well behaved”举个🌰：She gave him a demure smile. 她朝他文雅地一笑。

mindful /ˈmaɪnd.fəl/ 1）表示“记着的；留神的；注意的；小心的”，英文解释为“careful not to forget about something”举个🌰：Mindful of the poor road conditions, she reduced her speed to 30 mph. 考虑到路况很差，她将时速减到30英里。

2）表示“察觉的；正念的”，英文解释为“deliberately aware of your body, mind, and feelings in the present moment, in order to create a feeling of calm”举个🌰：I'm trying to be more mindful and I think it helps me with stress. 我正在尝试更多的正念思维方法，我觉得这有助于缓解我的压力。

Their 2024 Word of the Year is the viral sensation “demure,” which took off on TikTok in August of this year. It was popularized by TikToker Jools Lebron, whose phrase “very demure, very mindful” was featured in a series of viral videos and replicated by other creators. Lebron would also often pair the word with “cutesy” and “considerate,” providing advice to her followers for situations like “how to be demure and modest and respectful at the workplace.”

其2024年度词汇是轰动一时的“demure”（端庄）一词，这个词于今年8月在TikTok上流行起来。该词的流行源于TikTok达人朱尔斯·勒布朗（Jools Lebron），她的表述“非常矜持，非常谨慎”（very demure, very mindful）出现在一系列广泛传播的视频中，并被其他创作者模仿。勒布朗经常将这个词与“可爱”（cutesy）和“体贴”（considerate）搭配使用，为她的粉丝提供诸如“如何在职场中表现得矜持、谦逊和尊重”等建议。

viral /ˈvaɪ.rəl/ 表示“（通过网络在个体之间迅速）病毒式的（传播）”，英文解释为“used to describe something that quickly becomes very popular or well known by being published on the internet or sent from person to person by email, phone, etc.”举个🌰：Here's a list of the top ten viral videos this week. 以下是本周十大病毒式传播的视频。

📍常用短语 go viral，字面意思就是“像病毒一样传播、扩散”，引申为“走红，十分流行，疯狂传播”，比如朋友圈xxx刷屏了，也可以说go viral. 📍名词形式virality.

sensation /senˈseɪ.ʃən/ 1）表示“轰动；哗然；引起轰动的人（或事物）”，英文解释为“very great surprise, excitement, or interest among a lot of people; the person or the thing that causes this surprise”举个🌰：The band became a sensation overnight. 一夜之间，这支乐队名声大振。

📍此前，戳爷Troye Sivan被传已分手数月？文中出现过，pop sensation可以理解为“流行巨星”，“流行天王”。还有，63岁中国爷爷成油管网红文中标题就是Master carpenter's ancient Chinese skills are a YouTube sensation.

2）作可数名词，还可以表示“感觉；知觉”，英文解释为“a feeling that you get when sth affects your body”如：a tingling/burning sensation 刺痛/烧灼的感觉。

3）作不可数名词，可以表示“感觉能力；知觉能力”，英文解释为“the ability to feel through your sense of touch”举个🌰：She seemed to have lost all sensation in her arms. 她的两条胳膊好像完全失去知觉了。

🎬电影《困在爱中》（Stuck in Love）中的台词提到：I was overcome by the oddest sensation. 我像是被一种怪异的冲动（感觉）驱使着。

📍词根“-sens-”来自拉丁语“sensare”，表示“感觉”。近义词：phenomenon（现象），同根词：sensitive（敏感的），常用短语：cause a sensation（引起轰动）

1）表示“突然开始成功；开始走红，流行起来”，英文解释为“to suddenly start to be successful or popular”举个🌰：Her singing career had just begun to take off. 她的歌唱事业刚刚起飞。

2）表示“起飞；飞起”，英文解释为“If an aircraft, bird, or insect takes off, it leaves the ground and begins to fly.”举个🌰：The plane took off at 8.30 a.m. 飞机上午8点半起飞。

3）表示“（常指不打招呼就）突然离开”，英文解释为“to suddenly leave somewhere, usually without telling anyone that you are going”举个🌰：When he saw me, he took off in the other direction. 他一看见我就往另外一个方向躲开了。

phrase /freɪz/ 作动词，表示“用…方式表达，以…措词表达”，英文解释为“to express something with a particular choice of words”举个🌰：The declaration was carefully/cleverly/tactfully, etc. phrased. 宣言措词谨慎/巧妙/圆滑等。

作名词，1）表示“短语”，英文解释为“a group of words that is part of, rather than the whole of, a sentence”

2）表示“说法；用语；警句”，英文解释为“a short group of words that are often used together and have a particular meaning”

replicate /ˈrep.lɪ.keɪt/ 表示“使复现；重复；复制”，英文解释为“to make or do something again in exactly the same way”举个🌰：Researchers tried many times to replicate the original experiment. 研究者们作了很多次努力，试图重复这一实验。

cutesy /ˈkjuːt.si/ 表示“（尤指孩子般）矫揉造作的，忸怩作态的”，英文解释为“artificially attractive and pleasant, especially in a childish way”举个🌰：She sent me one of those awful birthday cards with a cutesy kitten on it. 她寄给我一张难看的生日贺卡，上面有一只神态忸怩的小猫。

considerate /kənˈsɪd.ər.ət/ 表示“体贴的；周到的；关心的”，英文解释为“kind and helpful”举个🌰：It wasn't very considerate of you to drink all the milk. 牛奶全给你喝光了，真不关心别人。

Between January and September of this year, Dictionary.com says that Demure saw a 1200% increase in usage in digital web media and had 200 times more searches on Dictionary.com.

根据Dictionary.com的统计，今年1月至9月，“demure”一词在数字网络媒体中的使用量增长了1200%，在该网站上的搜索次数是去年同期的200倍。

Dictionary.com defines the word demure as “characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved,” but the word took on new life through its internet fame—and soon anything from driving to work to eating a donut could be demure. Further, the word grew to represent how a term often associated with submissiveness and reservation can be empowering, and help people express a “quiet confidence,” Dictionary.com said in its announcement.

Dictionary.com将“矜持”定义为“具有害羞和谦逊特质；内敛”。然而，通过网络爆红的传播，该词被赋予了新含义。从开车上班到享用甜甜圈，各种日常行为都可以被形容为“端庄”。Dictionary.com在其公告中说，更重要的是，这个词也展现了它的另一面：一个曾被认为象征顺从与保守的词汇，也可以成为表达“低调而自信”的方式。

modesty /ˈmɒd.ɪ.sti/ 1）表示“谦虚，谦逊”，英文解释为“the quality of not talking about or not trying to make people notice your abilities and achievements”举个🌰：She does a lot of work for charities, but her modesty forbids her from talking about it. 她为慈善事业做了许多工作，但她很谦虚，从不谈起此事。

2）表示“（女子的衣着、举止等）端庄，正派，朴素”，英文解释为“If someone, especially a woman, shows modesty, they are cautious about the way they dress and behave because they are aware that other people may view them in a sexual way.”

reserved /rɪˈzɜːvd/ 表示“拘谨；矜持；内向”，英文解释为“Reserved people do not often talk about or show their feelings or thoughts.”如：a quiet, reserved woman 一位安静、矜持的女子。

同 doughnut /ˈdəʊnʌt, -nət/ 表示“炸面包圈；炸果酱面包”，英文解释为“a small, circular cake, fried in hot fat, either with a hole in the middle or filled with jam”

submissiveness /səbˈmɪs.ɪv.nəs/ 表示“顺从；顺从的举止”，英文解释为“a willingness to allow control by other people or animals, or behaviour that shows this”举个🌰：Dogs bare their throats to each other to show their submissiveness. 狗会对着对方露出喉咙，以示顺从。

empowering /ɪmˈpaʊə.rɪŋ/ 表示“使有自主感的；使感到有自立能力的；增强自信的”，英文解释为“Something that is empowering makes you more confident and makes you feel that you are in control of your life.”举个🌰：For me, learning to drive was an empowering experience. 对我来说，学习驾驶是一次让自己更自主自立的经历。

As a transgender woman, Lebron also utilized the fame from these “demure” videos to finance the rest of her transition and gender affirming care, she told her followers in a video. Beyond Lebron, many of the creators who participated in the trend were other trans women, reminding their followers exactly how to act “mindful” and “demure.”

她在视频中告诉粉丝，作为一名跨性别女性，勒布朗借助“demure”相关视频的热度，为自己的性别转变何认同治疗筹集了资金。除了勒布朗，许多参与这一热点的创作者也是跨性别女性，她们鼓励自己的粉丝如何“谨慎”和“矜持”地展现自己。

Along with its top choice, Dictionary.com also announced their Word of the Year shortlist, which included Brainrot, Brat, Extreme Weather, Midwest Nice, and Weird.

除了“demure”一词，Dictionary.com还公布了其他年度词汇候选词，包括“Brainrot”、“Brat”、“Extreme Weather”（极端天气）、“Midwest Nice”（中西部友善）和“Weird”（奇怪）。

shortlist /ˈʃɔːt.lɪst/ 表示“最终候选名单，决选名单；入围名单”，英文解释为“a list of people who have been judged the most suitable for a job or prize, made from a longer list of people originally considered, and from which one person will be chosen”举个🌰：We've drawn up (= decided) a shortlist for the job. 我们已经确定了该职位的最终候选名单。

📍美式：short list是分开的。有shortlist就有longlist，意思就是“初选名单”（A long-list for something such as a job or a prize is a large group that has been chosen from all the people who applied for the job, or all the people or things that are competing for the prize. The successful ones from this group are chosen to go on the shortlist.）

同时，两个词都可以作为动词，比如shortlist作动词，表示“把…列入入围名单”举个🌰：Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by the end of the week. 入围参加面试的求职者将在周末以前得到通知。

“Midwest Nice”是一个源自美国文化的短语，用来描述中西部地区（Midwest）人们特有的一种待人接物的方式。这种“好”带有一种温和、礼貌、亲切的特点，表现为他们通常非常友善，避免冲突，并愿意帮助他人。

然而，“Midwest Nice” 有时也带有一些讽刺意味，用来指代表面上的礼貌和友好可能掩盖了真实的感受或者不愿直接表达的态度。例如，在中西部文化中，人们可能为了避免冲突或者不让别人感到不舒服，而选择用间接、含蓄的方式来表达意见，甚至会通过行为上的被动攻击（passive-aggressiveness）来间接传达自己的真实想法。

因此，这个短语既可以褒义地强调中西部人的善良和友好，也可能带有一丝讽刺意味，指向那种避免冲突但不够坦率的文化特性。

Dictionary.com also noted how their choice of “demure” represents a shift in public life, as our collective vocabulary moves away from emphasizing the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, and toward a greater concern with “personal presentation and appearance as in-person experiences become the norm again.”

Dictionary.com表示，选择“矜持”反映了公众生活方式的转变。“随着面对面交流重新成为常态，人们对个人形象和外在表现”的关注正在取代疫情隔离时期的孤立感。

norm /nɔːm/ 通常复数，表示“规范；行为标准”，英文解释为“standards of behaviour that are typical of or accepted within a particular group or society”，如：social/cultural norms 社会/文化规范。

📍the norm 表示“常态，正常行为”，英文解释为“a situation or type of behaviour that is expected and considered to be typical”举个🌰：One child per family is fast becoming the norm in some countries. 每个家庭一个孩子在一些国家正迅速普遍起来。

Last year, the platform chose “hallucinate” as its word of the year, specifically in the context of artificial intelligence. This year, though, their top choices lean more toward words of high internet popularity.

去年，Dictionary.com的年度词汇是“Hallucinate”（幻觉），具体是指人工智能领域的幻觉。不过今年，其年度词汇更聚焦于网络流行度较高的词汇。

📍hallucinate /həˈluː.sɪ.neɪt/ 表示“（由于生病、吸毒）幻听，幻视，产生幻觉”，英文解释为“to seem to see, hear, feel, or smell something that does not exist, usually because you are ill or have taken a drug”举个🌰：Mental disorders, drug use, and hypnosis can all cause people to hallucinate. 精神失常、吸毒和催眠术都可以使人产生幻觉。

📍在人工智能（AI）的语境下，AI‘产生幻觉’，即表示AI“生成虚假信息”。

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