【談文論譯】從韋氏大學詞典第 12 版談新詞 蘇正隆
在快速變遷的數位洪流中，睽違22年，美國最權威詞典 Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 推出具指標意義的第12版紙本。這一版不惜重資、全新改版，為讀者保留一本值得收藏、享受翻閱樂趣的英語寶庫。
★ 反映當代語言生態：22年來網路產生的新詞何止上萬，本版精挑細選，收錄超過5000個新詞彙：涵蓋熱門時事與生活用語，如久旱下雨，會散發一股泥土芬芳，叫 petrichor (初雨味)；網路、AI 改變我們的生活，許多新詞應運而生：teraflop (每秒一兆次浮點運算/one trillion floating-point operations per second)、doomscroll (整天滑手機，瀏覽訊息，導致身心疲憊)、binge-watch (整天盯著螢幕追劇)、dumbphone (功能型手機、老人機)、WFH (居家辦公) 等，掌握最新語言脈動。
★ 又如 rizz，是 Z 世代的俚語，charisma 的縮寫，專用來指「有異性魅力/很容易吸引異性」(having rizz, to rizz someone up. )
★ beast mode (猛獸模式) 指在運動、遊戲進入「瘋狂爆發」或「無人能擋」的境界，源自《變形金剛》(Transformers: Beast Wars)，美國 NFL的傳奇跑衛 (Running Back)，Marshawn Lynch (馬肖恩·林奇) ，因其強悍的衝撞風格聞名，綽號即 Beast Mode。現在 beast mode 也套用在工作上，要「好好拼」，可以說 “go beast mode”。
beast mode: an extremely aggressive or energetic style or manner that someone (such as an athlete) adopts temporarily (as to overpower an opponent in a fight or competition)
★ dad bod 阿北的體型，微胖的中年男子
a physique regarded as typical of an average father; especially : one that is slightly overweight and not extremely muscular.
新詞以外，許多生活用語，韋氏大學詞典也有交代它們的由來，可以長知識：
★ dog days: the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usu. occurs in the northern hemisphere
在北半球盛夏是七月至九月初之，這時天狼星出現在北半球的天空上，天狼星又稱犬星 (Dog Star)，所以夏天最熱的時期叫 dog days。
The brightest star in the sky is Sirius, also known as the Dog Star. It got its name because the ancient Greeks considered it the hound of the hunter Orion, whose constellation was nearby. The Dog Star was said to bring scorching heat, because its early-morning rising coincided with the hottest days of July and August. The Greek writer Plutarch called this time hēmérai kynádes, literally, “dog days”—the days of the Dog Star—a term translated first to Latin and then into English.
此外動植物名稱大多標示學名，並附插畫，幫助理解，避免望文生義，產生誤解。譬如：
★ mountain goat 字面上會讓人誤以為是一般的山羊，但附上學名 (Oreamnos americanus) 及插畫，就讓我們知道牠與常見的 goat (Capra hircus) 不同屬，是北美特有的「雪羊」。
為了增加更多內容，Merriam-Webster 也刪減一些老舊字詞，也將廿多年來讀者上網查詢韋氏辭典頻率最高的 500 個詞彙標示出來。
★ Merriam-Webster最為人稱道的 etymology專業：包括出現時間、演變歷史、詞幹原義。花點時間看一下詞源，以後就可以舉一反三，詞彙量急速增加。譬如：weird 原本意思是 fate，“the Weird Sisters,” 是三位命運女神 (three goddesses who determined human destinies)，但因為出現在莎士比亞的《馬克白》裡，從劇中的描述，weird came to mean “strange, fantastic.”
Weird originally meant “fate.” In Scotland it was used in the phrase “the Weird Sisters,” a name for the Fates, three goddesses who determined human destinies. Shakespeare adapted the phrase in Macbeth for the eerie sisters who tell Macbeth his fate. Because of the description of the sisters in the play, weird came to mean “strange, fantastic.” This use of weird was adopted so widely that it is now much more common and familiar than the word’s original meaning.
韋氏大學詞典到處都有這類有趣的小典故，令人眼睛為之一亮！
(Jerome Su, Jan 20, 2026)
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