I imagine it's like being a podiatrist where like the whole world

我想這就像一個足科醫生 在那裡像整個世界一樣

is feet.

是腳。

My name is Kory Stamper.

我叫Kory Stamper

I'm an associate editor at Merriam Webster, where I write dictionary definitions,

我是梅里亞姆韋伯斯特公司的副編輯，我在那裡編寫字典定義。

and my new book is called “Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries.”

而我的新書叫做 "字字珠璣字典的祕密生活"

For a while, people would ask what I did and I would just say I work in publishing, because

有一段時間，人們會問我是做什麼的，我就會說我在出版業工作，因為。

the minute I said, “Oh, I write dictionaries,” the first two things out of their mouth were,

我一說 "哦，我是寫字典的"，他們首先說的兩件事是：

"Oh that's so cool," and, "Oh my God, I better watch what I say around you."

"哦，那太酷了"，"哦，我的上帝，我最好注意我在你身邊說的話。"

Which was so sad to me because that's not my job.

這讓我很傷心，因為這不是我的工作。

My job isn't to police what people say, or how people talk, or things that people

我的工作不是去管別人說什麼，管別人怎麼說話，管別人做什麼事

write even.

甚至寫。

My job is to record the language and not impose some sort of order on it.

我的工作是記錄語言，而不是強加某種秩序。

I kept my practice defining slips.

我保持著我的實踐定義單。

So, every definer, you practice writing dictionary definitions.

所以，每個定義者，你都要練習寫字典定義。

There is one in here that I kept because it was the only definition the director of defining

這裡面有一個我保留了下來，因為它是唯一的定義，導演的定義。

said, “Oh, that's pretty good,” and didn't mark up.

說："哦，這挺好的。"並沒有加價。

And that is “bird strike”, which I defined as a collision in which a bird or flock of

而這就是 "鳥擊"，我將其定義為：鳥類或鳥群的碰撞。

birds hits the engine of an aircraft.

鳥類撞上飛機的發動機。

The editorial floor is incredibly quiet.

編輯部裡安靜得不可思議。

Not just really quiet, but sort of sepulchrally quiet.

不僅僅是真正的安靜，而是那種幽幽的安靜。

And you also know that when people are looking up, if you happen to be walking by someone's

你也知道，當人們在抬頭看的時候，如果你恰好走過別人的。

cubicle and they're looking up and staring at nothing, you know that you absolutely should

小隔間裡，他們抬頭看，盯著什麼，你知道，你絕對應該。

not interrupt them.

不打斷他們。

So there's two different processes that go behind it.

所以背後有兩個不同的過程。

The first is a daily thing, and that's called reading and marking.

第一個是日常的事情，這叫閱讀和標記。

And that's where editors spend some time every day basically reading sources.

而這也是小編每天基本都會花一些時間閱讀資料的地方。

And you're reading sources to find new or interesting vocabulary.

而你正在閱讀來源，尋找新的或有趣的詞彙。

The second part is defining.

第二部分是定義。

So when we revise a dictionary, we go through it A to Z,

所以我們在修訂字典的時候，要從A到Z地去修訂。

and you take all the instances for the word you're looking up.You're matching up the

然後你把所有的實例作為你要查找的單詞。

word and its contextual use with the existing dictionary definition.

詞及其與現有字典定義的上下文用法。

Sprachgefühl is a German word that we borrowed into English.

Sprachgefühl是一個德語單詞，我們把它借用到英語中。

It's a word that refers to the feeling for language.

這是個詞，指的是對語言的感受。

You have to be able to look at a sentence and know that "planting out the lettuce" is

你要能看一句話，就知道 "種出生菜 "就是

different from "planting information."

與 "種植資訊 "不同。

It's really sort of where you can look at the warp and weft of language and read it.

這真的算是你能看懂語言的經緯，讀懂語言。

So for a word to get into the dictionary, it needs to meet three basic criteria.

所以一個詞要想進入字典，需要滿足三個基本標準。

The first criteria is widespread use.

第一個標準是廣泛使用。

If something's used in the Wall Street Journal and Vibe, then you figure that's pretty

如果某些東西被華爾街日報和Vibe使用，那麼你就會覺得那是相當的

widespread use.

廣泛使用。

The second one is it needs to have a shelf life.

第二個是它需要有保質期。

Once words get into the dictionary, they tend to stay in dictionaries.

詞語一旦進入字典，往往就會留在字典裡。

The shelf life of a word really depends.

一個詞的保質期真的要看。

There are other words that have very very little use for a lot of time and then suddenly

還有一些詞，在很多時間裡都沒有什麼用處，然後突然

have tons of use.

有大量的使用。

The indian word korma is a great example.

印度語中的korma就是一個很好的例子。

It first was used in English back in the 1830s or 1840s, and it had very very very little

它最早是在19世紀30年代或19世紀40年代在英語中使用，它有非常非常少的。

use, really until the 1990s when people started eating lots of Indian food.

使用，真正直到20世紀90年代，人們開始吃大量的印度食品。

So korma's a more recent addition to the dictionary, even though it's almost 200

所以korma是最近才出現在字典裡的，雖然已經快200年了

years old at this point.

歲，在這一點上。

The third criteria is a word has to have meaningful use — which means it has to have a meaning.

第三個標準是一個詞要有意義的用途--也就是說它要有意義。

The example I trot out is antidisestablishmentarianism —

我舉出的例子是反建制主義------。

“Freddy, can you spell antidisestablishmentarianism?”

"弗萊迪，你能拼出反建制主義嗎？"

“Uh...no.”

"呃......沒有。"

— which most people know as a long word, but it doesn't get used much in print.

- 大多數人都知道這是一個很長的詞，但它在印刷品中使用的不多。

It gets used as an example of a long word.

它被用來作為一個長字的例子。

“Antidisestablishmentarianism.”

"反建制主義"

[Laughter from crowd] You want to make sure that the word has a

[人群中的笑聲]你要確保這個詞有一個。

meaning and is not just an example of letters smushed together.

意義，而不僅僅是一個字母砸在一起的例子。

People think of English as something that needs to be defended.

人們認為英語是需要捍衛的東西。

It's this beautiful pristine tower...actually it's much more like a child.

就是這個美麗的原始塔......其實它更像一個孩子。

It's an organic, living thing.

這是一個有機的、有生命的東西。

You bring English into being, and then the minute that it gains gross motor skills, it

你把英語帶入到它的生命中，然後在它獲得粗大運動技能的那一刻，它就會

goes right where you don't want it to go.

去你不想去的地方。

So there are two main approaches to language.

所以語言的方法主要有兩種。

One is prescriptivism, one is descriptivism.

一個是規定主義，一個是描述主義。

Prescriptivism essentially promotes the best practices of English.

規定主義本質上是提倡英語的最佳實踐。

Prescriptivism is, by its nature, exclusionary.

規定主義在本質上是排他性的。

Descriptivism on the other hand, as an approach to language, it follows where language goes.

另一方面，描述主義作為一種語言方法，它遵循語言的走向。

Dictionaries exist on more of the descriptivist end of the spectrum.

字典的存在更多的是描述性的一端。

Dictionaries record language as it is used, not as you think it should be used.

字典記錄的是語言的使用情況，而不是你認為應該使用的情況。

“Irregardless.”

"無所謂。"

“Not a word.”

"一個字也不說。"

“Well, irregardless of that.”

"好吧，不計較這些。"

Irregardless is a word that people have a specific and vehement hatred for.

無視是人們對這個詞有一種特殊的、強烈的仇恨。

Irregardless, really for about 150, 175 years has been pegged as being uneducated, hickish,

不管怎麼說，真的在150年左右，175年一直被寄予厚望，是沒有文化的，鄉巴佬。

representative of people who don't speak English very well.

代表著英語說得不好的人。

It's also entered into dictionaries, which just infuriates people.

還被錄入了字典，真是氣死人了。

It does me no good as a lexicographer to enter irregardless into the dictionary if I don't

作為一個詞典編纂者，如果我不在詞典中輸入無視，對我沒有任何好處。

tell you that when you use it, people are going to think you're a moron.

告訴你，當你使用它，人們會認為你是一個白痴。

So all dictionaries are descriptivist and prescriptivist.

所以，所有的字典都是描述性的和規定性的。

“It's too dangerous.”

"太危險了。"

What is the drama with decimate?

癸丑是什麼戲？

“With the soul sword activated, Valentine could decimate the entire downworld.”

"魂劍啟動後，瓦倫丁可以斬殺整個下界。"

It is a favorite of people called etymological fallicists, who believe that modern words

它是被稱為詞源學謬誤論者的最愛，他們認為，現代詞的

should only mean what they meant in their origin language.

只應是其原語的意思。

Decimate comes from a Latin verb that means to select and kill one tenth of.

Decimate來自拉丁語動詞，意思是選擇並殺死十分之一。

You just don't really need a word that refers to selecting and killing one tenth of all

你只是不需要一個詞，指的是挑選和殺死十分之一的人。

that often.

那經常。

So decimate gained what's called an extended sense, which means that people began using

所以decimate獲得了所謂的擴展意義，也就是說，人們開始使用

it to refer to widespread devastation, or killing of a bunch of people.

它指的是大範圍的破壞，或殺了一群人。

They also will ignore things, like that the word stew used to mean whorehouse.

他們也會忽略一些事情，比如燉這個字以前是指妓院。

Nobody says, “I hate that we call this chunky soup stew, stew should only be used to refer

沒有人說："我討厭我們把這塊湯叫燉湯，燉湯只能用於指

to a whorehouse.”

妓院。"

They want English to be pure.

他們希望英語是純正的。

And in their minds, purity means that you stick to the root word as closely as you can.

而在他們的心目中，純潔的意思是，你要儘可能地貼近根字。

And that's fine, except that's just not how English works.

這很好，只是這不是英語的工作方式。

People think of English as this monolithic thing, but it's really not, it's much more

人們認為英語是這種單一的東西，但其實不是，它更多的是一種

like a river.

像一條河。

Every dialect of English is its own current.

英語的每一種方言都是自己的電流。

And all of these currents come together to make this fairly cohesive looking ribbon of

所有這些電流聚集在一起 形成了這條看起來相當有凝聚力的絲帶

water.

水，

But every one of those is integral to the direction of English.

但每一個人都是英語方向不可或缺的。

Controlling water's pretty difficult.

控制水是相當困難的。

If you say, well, you know, “Youth slang really is stupid, and there's no point in

如果你說，好吧，你知道，"年輕人的俚語真的很愚蠢，沒有必要在

paying attention to it,” you're actually stopping this really vital way that new words

注意它，"你實際上是在阻止這種真正重要的方式，新詞

come into English.

進入英語。

If you say business jargon is ugly and stupid, and no one should ever use business jargon,

如果你說商業術語又醜又笨，沒有人應該用商業術語。

I might agree with you, but that's also another important part of how words come into

我可能會同意你的觀點，但這也是另一個重要的部分，即文字如何進入

English, and that's an important way that words are created.

英語，這也是單詞創作的重要方式。

This idea of English being a river really sort of celebrates that every single part

英語是一條河的想法真的有點慶祝每一個部分

of the language is important for the whole.

的語言是重要的，對整個。

It's all part of the same thing, you need all of it for it to survive.

這都是同一個東西的一部分，你需要所有的東西，它才能生存。

I am so happy to explain what those dots in the middle of the words are.

我很樂意為大家解釋文字中間的那些點是什麼。

Those dots in the middle of the words are not marking syllables.

詞中間的那些點不是標記音節。

What they are is for people who have to break a word.

他們是什麼人，是給那些必須要打破一個字的人。

So the whole word won't fit on a line, so they have to find a place to put the hyphen

所以，整個單詞在一行上放不下，所以他們必須找一個地方放上連字元。

and put the rest of the word.

並把剩下的字。

If you walk away and that's all you remember of this, you will make every dictionary editor

如果你走了，你就只記住了這一點，你會讓每一個字典編輯

the happiest person in the world.

世界上最幸福的人。