Lockdown, the noun that has come to define so many lives across the world in 2020, has been named word of the year by Collins Dictionary.

Lockdown is defined by Collins as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces,” and its usage has boomed over the last year. The 4.5bn-word Collins Corpus, which contains written material from websites, books and newspapers, as well as spoken material from radio, television and conversations, registered a 6,000 percent increase in its usage. In 2019, there were 4,000 recorded instances of lockdown being used. In 2020, this had soared to more than a quarter of a million.

“Language is a reflection of the world around us and 2020 has been dominated by the global pandemic,” says Collins language content consultant Helen Newstead. “We have chosen lockdown as our word of the year because it encapsulates the shared experience of billions of people who have had to restrict their daily lives in order to contain the virus. Lockdown has affected the way we work, study, shop, and socialize. With many countries entering a second lockdown, it is not a word of the year to celebrate but it is, perhaps, one that sums up the year for most of the world.”

Other pandemic-related words such as coronavirus, social distancing, self-isolate and furlough were on the dictionary’s list of the top 10 words. So was the term key worker. According to Collins, key worker saw a 60-fold increase in usage over the last year, which reflects “the importance attributed this year to professions considered to be essential to society.”

The abbreviation BLM, for Black Lives Matter, also made the shortlist. Defined by Collins as “a movement that campaigns against racially motivated violence and oppression,” it registered a 581 percent increase in usage.

Previous words of the year for Collins include climate strike in 2019, single-use in 2018, fake news in 2017, and Brexit in 2016. This year the top 10 included the word Megxit, defined as “the withdrawal of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from royal duties, announced in January 2020.” Collins said the informal noun, modeled on Brexit, showed “just how firmly established that word now is in our lexicon.”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【概括】gàikuò encapsulate epitomize, summarize

【强制休假】qiángzhì xiūjià furlough a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time

2020年改变了太多人生活的“封锁”被选为《柯林斯词典》的年度词汇。

《柯林斯词典》将“封锁”定义为“对旅行、社交互动和公共空间出入实施严格限制”，该词的使用量在过去一年间飙升。拥有45亿个词的柯林斯语料库的记录显示，“封锁”的使用量增加了6000%。柯林斯语料库的素材来自网站、书籍、报纸等书面材料以及广播、电视和谈话的口语材料。2019年，语料库记载了4000个使用“封锁”的例子。2020年使用“封锁”一词的例子暴增至逾25万个。

《柯林斯词典》的语言内容顾问海

伦▪纽斯特德说：“语言反映了我们周边的世界，2020年是被全球疫情主宰的一年。我们选择‘封锁’作为今年的年度词汇，因为它概括了数十亿人被迫限制日常生活以防控病毒蔓延的共同经历。封锁影响了我们工作、学习、购物和社交的方式。如今许多国家都进入了第二轮封锁，这不是一个值得庆贺的年度词汇，但也许这个词能概括世界上大多数人的这一年。”

冠状病毒、社交隔离、自我隔离和强制休假等其他疫情相关词汇也入选了《柯林斯词典》的年度十大词汇。同样入选的还有关键岗位工作人员。据《柯林斯词典》介绍，关键岗位工作人员的使用量在过去一年增加了60倍，反映出“今年对社会必不可少的职业的重视”。

“黑人的命也是命”的缩写BLM也跻身年度十大词汇。 《柯林斯词典》将BLM定义为“反对种族暴力和压迫的运动”，数据显示，该词的使用量增加了581%。

《柯林斯词典》先前的年度词汇包括2019年的“气候罢工”、2018年的“一次性使用”、2017年的“假新闻”和2016年的“英国脱欧”。今年的年度十大词汇还包括“梅根脱离王室”，该词被定义为“萨塞克斯公爵与公爵夫人2020年1月宣布退出王室职务”。《柯林斯词典》表示，这个仿照“英国脱欧”造出的非正式名词显示出“英国脱欧一词在英国词汇中的地位是多么稳固”。(chinadaily.com.cn)