Unfriend当选2009年度热潮词‘Unfriend’ named word of 2009 by US dictionary

An undated file photo shows two girls discuss in front of a laptop.“Unfriend” has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent. )

“Unfriend” has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent.

Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a “friend” on a social networking side such as Facebook.

“It has both currency and potential longevity,” said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxfords US dictionary program, in a statement.

“In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year.”

Other words deemed finalists for 2009 by the dictionarys publisher, Britains Oxford University Press, came from other technological trends, the economy, and political and current

affairs.

In technology, there was “hashtag”, which is the hash sign added to a word or phrase that lets Twitterusers search for tweets similarly taged; “intexticated” for when people are distracted by texting while driving, and “sexting”, which is the sending of sexually explicit SMSes and pictures by cellphone.

Finalists from the economy included “freemium”, meaning a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, and “funemployed”, referring to people taking advantage of newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests.

In the political and current affairs section, finalists included “birther”, meaning conspiracy theorists challenging President Barack Obamas US birth certificate, and “choice mom”, a person who chooses to be a single mother.

Novelty words making the shortlist were “deleb”, meaning a dead celebrity, and “tramp stamp”, referring to a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman.

日前，unfriend一词从众多技术词汇中脱颖而出，被《新牛津美语辞典》评为2009年度潮词。

Unfriend被定义为一个动词，意为在Facebook等社交网站上与某人解除好友关系。

牛津美语辞典项目的高级词典编纂人克里斯汀•琳德伯格在一份声明中说：“这个词既符合当下的潮流，也有一定的潜在寿命。”

“在网络社交环境中，这个词的意思很容易理解，所以将其定义为现代动词形式，也是今年年度词汇评选中一个很有意思的选择。”

2009年度潮词的评选工作由《新牛津美语辞典》出版商英国牛津大学出版社开展，其他入围的词汇来自经济、政治、时事和其它科技领域。

和技术相关的词汇包括hashtag，指的是在一个词语或短语前加一个#符号，让“推特”用户搜索到相关主题文章的功能标签；intexticated，指的是人们在开车时因发短信而分神；还有sexting，指用手机发送色情短信和图片。

经济领域入围的词汇包括freemium，意思是免费提供部分基本服务的商业模式；以及funemployed，指的是人们趁着刚失业的时候尽情玩乐或做其它感兴趣的事。

政治和时事领域入围的词汇有birther，意思是阴谋理论家质疑巴拉克•奥巴马总统的美国出生证明，以及choice mom，指的是选择做单身母亲的人。

其它入选的新潮词汇还包括deleb，意为“已故名人”，和tramp stamp，指的是在腰背部的纹身，通常指女性。