新闻万花筒：BBC视角之“丢失”的英语单词 谷歌眼镜遭召回

 

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Terms of endearment in the English language like “darling” and “my dove” have been used for hundreds of years, but others fell out of favor. Now you can find out more about lots of phrases over the past thousand years in a vast database of English words and phrases that’s just been published online.

Doctor Mark Alexander is senior lecturer of English at Glasgow University. Valory Sanderson asked him for more examples of phrases or words that have now become obsolete.

So why does the language change dramatically over the years?

So about 70% of English is borrowed. We just borrow a better word or a different word for variety. So words like “belly” try to get replaced by the Latin “abdomen”. Just because people like show off. They like variation in their life. Or sometimes because the middle-classes adopt a term which distinguishes them from the working classes and so on.

For a long time, the animal sheep and the meat that you got from a sheep was “sheep”. And then after the French came over in Norman Conquest, you then had words like “mutton”appearing which is the French for “sheep”. And “muttons” apply to the meat. You can see how society has changed very quickly just by looking at words, for example “foreign people”.

And you can see some very offensive terms and been replaced in later years with much nicer terms. Same for woman. A lot of the terms for woman in the history of English are quite offensive.

Doctor Mark Alexander.

Google says it was drawing its Internet-connected glasses, the so-called Google glasses. The company will stop taking orders for the product from next week, but insists it’s committed to developing future versions of the glasses. Our technology correspondent Rory Cathleen-Jones reports.

When Google glass first went on sale two years ago to a select group of software developers, it was held as a futuristic product which could change the way we live. The smart glasses allowed users to receive information from the Internet in a small screened perched above their right eye.

It could also take photos andvideos, and give directions. But after the initial enthusiasm, doubts began to grow. There was concern about the privacy implications of the device. And it was banned from some restaurants and cinemas. Some usersfelt it made them look strange and stopped wearing it in public.

Now Google has announced that it will endthe experimental program and stop making glass in its present form. The company insists that its smart glasses team will continue its work with the aim of bringing out new versions at an unspecified date in the future.

词汇解析

belief

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.信念；信仰；相信

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

It bolstered my belief.

这增强了我的信念。

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generation

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.代；（产品类型的）代；产生；繁殖

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

There is a generation gap between my parents and I.

我父母和我之间有代沟。

The second generation of machines utilized improved miniature electronic tubes, and later solid-sate circuits.

第二代机器使用改良的微电子管和后固体电路。

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cultivate

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

vt.栽培；耕作；培养；陶冶；结交(朋友)

参考例句

用作及物动词 (vt.)

You must cultivate people who can help you in business.

你得结交在业务上对你有用的人。

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anxiety

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.焦虑；担心；渴望

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

They show great anxiety concerning their retirement allowance.

他们对自己的养老金问题显得十分焦虑。

His anxiety for knowledge is to be praised.

他对知识的渴求应该受到称赞。

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comedy

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.喜剧；滑稽；幽默事件

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

This comedy has had them rolling in the aisles for two weeks.

这出喜剧让观众们连续两个星期乐得前仰后合。

There is not much comedy in modern war.

现代战争并不是好玩的事。

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cargo

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.货物；船货

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The ship is discharging the cargo.

船正在卸货。

This port handles 100 million tons of cargo each year.

这个港口每年货物吞吐量达1亿吨。

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issue

难度：5星基本词汇，属常用1000词

英汉解释

n.议题；问题；期刊号；一次发行额；发行；<律>子女

v.发表；公布；正式发给；发行；流出

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Parliament will debate the nationalization issue next week.

议会将在下周辩论国有化议题。

The new issue will be divided into four tranches.

新一批发行的债券分为四部份。

用作动词 (v.)

New members will be issued with a temporary identity card.

新成员将配发临时身分卡。

Banknotes of this design were first issued 10 years ago.

这种图案的钞票是十年前首次发行的。

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