谭词｜2022年度词汇：剑桥选了啥？

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(Credit: dictionary.cambridge.org)

11月16日，《剑桥词典》（Cambridge Dictionary）公布了2022年度词汇：homer（本垒打）。homer 是棒球术语，指击球员将对方来球击出后依次跑过一、二、三垒并安全回到本垒。

homer 实际上是非正式的美式英语单词，这样一个专业词汇为什么能成为今年的年度词汇呢？这就要从海外非常火的一款猜词游戏 Wordle 说起了。

The endless permutations of five-letter words took over the internet in 2022 as the online puzzle game Wordle dominated social media feeds, pop culture and even determined the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year.

2022年，在线益智游戏 Wordle 在社交媒体刷屏，五个字母的无限排列组合走红网络，甚至决定了《剑桥词典》的2022年度词汇。

“Homer” was looked up on the Cambridge Dictionary website more than 79,000 times this year, with 65,401 searches taking place in one day – May 5.

今年，homer 一词在剑桥词典网站的搜索次数超过79000次，5月5日这一天就被搜索65401次。

The reason? That was the day it was the Wordle answer, provoking frustration from non-American users unfamiliar with the term as they attempted to secure a win by guessing the word within the game’s six-guess limit.

这是为什么呢？因为 Wordle 那天的答案是 homer，这可难倒了不熟悉这个单词的非美国用户，因为玩家只有6次猜词机会。

什么是 Wordle

Wordle 是一款简单的英文拼字游戏，这个游戏每天更新一期，玩家的目标就是在有限的六次尝试中猜出一个五字母单词。

游戏界面是一个 5×6 的方块阵列。玩家通过下方键盘输入猜测结果后，游戏会给字母方块标上颜色，提示猜测的准确性：

绿色：说明答案里有这个字母、所在位置也正确；

黄色：说明答案里有这个字母、但不在这个位置；

灰色：说明答案里没有这个字母。

玩家根据获得的提示继续尝试，直到猜对答案或用尽六次机会。

“Homer” is an informal American-English term for a home run in baseball, Cambridge Dictionary said in a news release Wednesday. Others might know it as the name of a Simpsons character or an ancient Greek poet.

《剑桥词典》11月16日发布新闻称，homer 是非正式美式英语术语，指棒球全垒打。它还是动画《辛普森一家》中某个角色的名字及一位古希腊诗人的名字。

“Many players outside the US had not heard this word before,” added the news release. “Huge numbers of players expressed their frustration and annoyance on social media, but many also turned to the Cambridge Dictionary to find out more.”

《剑桥词典》称：“许多非美国玩家此前从未听过这个词。大量玩家在社交媒体上表达了他们的不满和恼火，但许多人也通过查询《剑桥词典》了解更多。”

“Still angry about ‘homer,’” one person tweeted on May 31. “It’s been weeks now. Furious.”

5月31日，有玩家在推特上写道：“ homer 这个词太让人火大了。虽然已经过去了好几周，还是好气。”

Wordle 效应

There were several other American-English words that appeared on Wordle and later spiked in searches on the Cambridge Dictionary website – described by the dictionary’s news release as the “Wordle effect.”

Wordle 的答案中还出现过几个美式英语单词，这几个单词在剑桥词典网站上的搜索量都激增，《剑桥词典》称之为“ Wordle 效应”。

The American spelling of “humor” saw increased traffic, with almost 30,000 searches on the day it was the Wordle answer, while more unusual words like “caulk” and “bayou” were also searched thousands of times.

美式拼写的 humor 搜索次数增加，5月5日被搜索近3万次，而 caulk 和 bayou 等更罕见的单词也被搜索了数千次。

Cambridge Dictionary’s choice for word of the year illustrates the popularity of a simple game that could be shared online when global pandemic restrictions limited social interactions for millions.

homer 当选《剑桥词典》年度词汇表明，当新冠疫情限制了数百万人的社交互动时，一个可以线上分享的小游戏有多受欢迎。