Extensive Reading Lesson 2

新《汉英大词典》赶时髦 收录众多网络流行语       

     “宅男”“房奴”“山寨”......不知不觉中，这些新鲜的网络词语已经在我们生活中随处可见。这些反映社会焦点热点的新生词汇在被人们越来越熟知的同时，也对传统翻译提出了新的挑战。顺应需求，上海译文出版社于近日推出了《汉英大词典》(第3版)，其中的一大特点是大量收纳了具有时代特色的流行新词的规范译法。而在前不久，《新英汉词典》（第4版）也融入了大量的新兴英文网络词汇，让人眼前一亮。

        《汉英大词典》一直被视为国内汉英类词典中的权威之作。今年第3版《汉英大词典》为了保持词汇新鲜度，除了收集近十年来自然科学和社科新词，还收集了紧贴时代特色的网络词汇。

        打开新版《汉英大词典》，“宅男”（otaku）、“房奴”（mortgage slave）、“山寨”（cheap copy）、“躲猫猫”（hide-and-seek）、“装嫩”（act young）等流行网络新词映入眼帘。这就意味着，网络词汇也有了权威性的中译英。据悉，本次第3版团队汇集北京、上海、南京等地20余所高校近百名专家学者，对原词典精心修订。在前版基础上新增新词新义15000条，总字数增加到1600万，堪称国内规模最大、最权威的大型汉英辞书。

        无独有偶，第4版的《新英汉词典》前不久也收录了新词新义5000条，在国内英语综合性词典中尚属首次。近几年流行的网络词汇 "netbook"（上网本）、"camgirl"（网络视频女郎）、"Facebook"（利用脸谱网站与别人交往，类似中国的“开心网”）、"bf"（男朋友）等均可在本书中看到。除了网络词语之外，该书还收录了流行符号。翻到第4版《新英汉词典》“网络与短信常用缩略语”附录，第一个映入眼帘的是“＠”，这个电子邮件中的标志性符号，在这里的解释为“在……地方”，等同于英文单词 "at"；而在漫画中常见的 "ZZZ" 符号，在书中有“睡着了””厌倦了”“累死了”等3项解释。

网友反响不一，顺应潮流，但不稳定

        连词典也赶时髦了，网友们立刻来了劲。大多网友觉得在词典中加入网络流行语实属“明智之举”，既顺应潮流又方便交流：“这些翻译词典可以帮助我们更好地用流行语与别人沟通。”与此同时，也有网友表示担忧，认为字典在强调"新"的同时一定要保证稳定性，尤其是权威字典，而网络用语的生命力不能得到保证。

专家基本赞同，利于交流，但不提倡

        上海外国语大学英语语言学教授胡署中表示，目前互联网和手机短信间的国际交流如此频繁，缩略词逐渐增多肯定是英语发展的一个趋势，但这体现在潜移默化中，而非系统教学：“我们发现，有部分词在国内的使用频率非常高。” 但第4版《新英汉词典》修订主编高永伟也表示，这样做不是为了让大家来学习并且倡导使用网络用语，而是在网络交流中一旦出现这样的表达，可以有工具查阅，帮助交流。

Fashionable net lingo finds a way home

"Otaku," "mortgage slave," "cheap copy" …. New Internet expressions are filling up our daily life in a subtle but determined way. These expressions, besides reflecting what people are paying attention to, pose a new challenge to traditional translation. Shanghai Translation Publishing House recently published the third edition of The Chinese-English Dictionary, in which translations of these expressions are found. It also published the fourth edition of A New English-Chinese Dictionary, which included emerging English expressions pervasive on the Internet.

The Chinese-English Dictionary is regarded as an authority among Chinese-English dictionaries published in China. To maintain its up-to-date vitality, the third edition also includes the new glossaries in natural science and social science.

The third edition gives words and expressions, such as "otaku," "mortgage slave," "cheap copy," "hide-and-seek," and "act young," authoritative English translations. The compilation team comprised almost 100 scholars from universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and other cities. After reviews, they added 15,000 new entries, increasing the overall word count to 16 million English words and making it the most comprehensive and authoritative Chinese-English dictionary in the country.

The fourth edition of A New English-Chinese Dictionary added 5,000 new entries, an update unprecedented in China. Recent popular expressions on the Internet like "netbook", "camgirl", "Facebook" and "bf" (abbreviation for boyfriend) could all be found in the book. Besides, this dictionary also includes the fashionable symbols, for example "@", the symbolic sign in email addresses, takes the meaning of "at....place", and equals the preposition "at"; in addition, the "ZZZ" often seen in comic books takes the meaning of "asleep, bored or tired".

Netizens' responses vary: up-to-date but unstable

The recent updates caused a sensation among netizens. Most think it was a "wise move" to make the dictionaries up-to-date and easier to use. Others expressed their concerns, saying the dictionaries, especially authoritative ones like these, must ensure stability and Internet expressions usually don't last long.

Experts basically agree: good for communications, no going to extreme

Hu Shuzhong, a linguistics professor at Shanghai International Studies University, said with the frequent communication on the Internet and through cell phone text messaging, the use of abbreviations is a definite trend in the development of the English language. "We find a portion of English words have frequently appeared in the social presence in China," Hu said. Gao Yongwei, editor-in-chief of A New English-Chinese Dictionary, said the [decision to include] these words isn't to encourage people to use these sayings, but to provide a reference and facilitate communication.

(China.org.cn translated by Maverick Chen on January 20, 2010)