Erin McKean: Go ahead, make up new words!
艾琳•麦基恩: 大胆的创造新单词
As the co-founder of Reverb Technologies, the maker of the online dictionary Wordnik, Erin McKean is reshaping how we interact with language itself. Full bio
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into the dictionary.
that is your job.
那些事是你们来决定的
decides together
who agree to understand each other.
同意理解对方
to decide whether a word is good or bad,
"Because grammar!"
“因为这是语法规定的!”
too much -- don't tell anybody.
可别告诉人
there are two kinds of grammar.
that lives inside your brain,
speaker of a language
when you speak that language.
所遵循的潜规则
you learn a language as a child.
how to make the plural of wug.
you just understand it.
你只是明白它的用法
by a professor at [Boston University]
Jean Berko Gleason的
for a long time.
that exist in your brain,
they're more like laws of nature.
他们更像是自然法则
a law of nature, right?
your mom doesn't say,
你妈妈不会说,
it's going to be cold, take a hoodie,
今天天冷穿件外套吧
about manners than they are about nature.
"Don't wear hats on your feet."
“别往脚上穿啊”
"Can you wear hats inside?
“你能在室内戴帽子么?
you get to wear?"
of grammar,
as opposed to grammar.
rules-based grammar
people are always telling you,
invent things, science and technology."
创作艺术,发明新的科技
words, they're like,
whippersnappers. Give it a rest."
你们这些自以为是的年轻人,一边凉快去“
We should have more of them.
我们应该有更多的词语
as many new words as possible.
you can use to make new words in English.
languages.
(Laughter)
(笑)
so I'm just going to be honest
所以我要老实和你们讲
that we like, like delicious food.
比如好吃的食物
we took "caramel" from French.
从法语那拿了”caramel“(焦糖)
for cool things like "ninja," right?
比如说”忍者“,对吧
ninjas are hard to steal from.
can make words in English
other English words together.
you can put any two of them together.
就能把任意两个词合成一个
"sandcastle" all are compounds.
"duckface," just don't make duckface.
只要不在自拍的时候做鸭脸就好
in English is kind of like compounding,
when you squish the words together
of "breakfast" and "lunch."
was a blend word?
there are parts missing.
of "education" and "entertainment."
blend of "electric" and "execute."
by changing how they operate.
as one part of speech,
part of speech.
hasn't always been a verb?
and then we verbed it.
and make them into nouns.
and now it's a noun.
想在成了个名词(广告)
in English is back-formation.
kind of squish it down a little bit.
"editor" before we had the word "edit."
我们只有“editor”(编者)
sound a little silly:
and burglers burgle.
and squish them together.
Administration becomes NASA.
with anything, OMG!
the words are.
(臭虫赛车障碍)
good word of English.
good word of English.
normal, they can sound really silly.
它们可以听上去很可笑
your meaning across.
you're saying
your meaning across.
on this stage today have said,
help us explore, you can help us invent."
in my online dictionary, Wordnik.
然后我会把它们放进我的网上词典Wordnik里边
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Erin McKean - Dictionary editorAs the co-founder of Reverb Technologies, the maker of the online dictionary Wordnik, Erin McKean is reshaping how we interact with language itself.
Why you should listen
Erin McKean's job as a lexicographer involves living in a constant state of research. She searches high and low -- from books to blogs, newspapers to cocktail parties -- for new words, new meanings for old words, or signs that old words have fallen out of use. In June of this year, she involved us all in the search by launching Wordnik, an online dictionary that houses all the traditionally accepted words and definitions, but also asks users to contribute new words and new uses for old words. Wordnik pulls real-time examples of word usage from Twitter, image representations from Flickr along with many more non-traditional, and highly useful, features.
Before Wordnik, McKean was one of the youngest editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary. She continues to serve as the editor of the language quarterly Verbatim ("language and linguistics for the layperson since 1974") and is the author of multiple books, including That's Amore and the entire Weird and Wonderful Words series. All that, and she maintains multiple blogs, too: McKean is the keen observationalist behind A Dress a Day and Dictionary Evangelist. Is there anything she can't do? Surprisingly, she is notoriously bad at Scrabble.
Erin McKean | Speaker | TED.com