The Oxford English Dictionary named “vape” — the word used for drawing on an electronic cigarette instead of a burning stick of tobacco — as its 2014 word of the year.

“You are 30 times more likely to come across the word ‘vape’ than you were two years ago, and usage has more than doubled in the past year,” staff editors said last week.

The 2013 word of the year was “selfie,” describing the decidedly less controversial self-portrait taken with a smartphone.

The rise of e-cigarettes was cited as the reason for the skyrocketing use of the word — along with countless debates over the safety of using them long-term.

The word appeared to peak this year in April, when New York City banned vaping indoors and the United Kingdom opened its first vape café, The Vape Lab in Shoreditch, London, according to the Oxford statement.

A 1983 article in New Society described the e-cigarette, which had not been invented, in as-yet hypothetical terms and appeared to be among the earliest references to the word vaping in that context, Oxford editors said.

It wasn’t until 2009, however, that the term began to catch on, editors said.

OxfordDictionaries.com officially added the definition in August. The verb is defined as “to inhale and exhale the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device.”

A derivative of vapor or vaporizing, the word can also be a noun describing the action and the device. The winner beat out a short list of runners-up that included bae, a term for a beloved significant other.

The list also included budtender, a person who serves up cannabis in a shop or dispensary, and slacktivism, a combination of slacker and activism that describes supporting causes through low-level activities such as signing online petitions.

牛津词典公布年度新词 电子烟上榜

牛津词典宣布电子烟“vape”为2014年度新词。

牛津编辑部上周表示，“比起两年前，我们碰上‘vape’这个词的概率增加了30倍。2014年它的使用量翻了一番”。

2013年“selfie”以绝对优势获选“年度词汇”，意指“用智能手机自拍”。

电子烟的流行以及对长期吸这种烟是否安全的热议造成“vape”一词使用频率突增。

牛津词典编辑部称，2014年4月，纽约市宣布禁止室内吸电子烟，第一家电子烟吧Vape Lab在伦敦肖尔迪奇区开业，这些将“vape”的出现频率推向顶峰。

他们还表示，“vaping”一词的首次使用可追溯到1983年

《新社会》上的一篇文章。文中描述了尚未问世的电子烟。

直到2009年，“vape”这个词才开始流行。

“Vape”于2014年8月正式收入牛津在线词典。

它可以用作动词，形容吸电子烟或使用类似器具。

从vapor (蒸汽)或vaporizing (蒸发)衍生出来的这个新词也可以作名词，指吸“电子烟”的行为或“电子烟”这一器具。

其他候选词还包括“bae”，对亲密爱人的昵称；“budtender”，在商店或药房出售大麻的店员。

此外还有“slacktivism”，

“懒人行动主义”，指通过如在线签名请愿等低参与度的行为来参与公众议题。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【突升】

    tūshēng

    skyrocket

    rise or increase rapidly or suddenly, especially to unexpected or unprecedented levels

    【流行】

    líuxíng

    catch on

    become popular