It’s that time of year again: lexicographers (詞典編纂者) from the Oxford English Dictionary have come together to pick the one word or phrase that defines the past 12 months.
2011 is the year of the “squeezed middle,” as suggested by British Labour Party politician Ed Miliband. OED compilers from both the U.S. and the U.K. came together to review the buzzwords (流行熱門字)that “captured the flavor of the year”—including occupy(指類似佔領華爾街運動) , podcasting, hactivisim (非法入侵電腦或網路來達成政治目的: wiki:the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends.), Arab Spring (阿拉伯之春), and an OED judge’s favorite, “bunga bunga”(義大利前總理的雜交性派對)—used in reference to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s scandalous parties.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/28/oxford-english-dictionary-picks-squeezed-middle-as-word-of-the-year/#ixzz1f4F9pGsd
2011 is the year of the “squeezed middle,” as suggested by British Labour Party politician Ed Miliband. OED compilers from both the U.S. and the U.K. came together to review the buzzwords (流行熱門字)that “captured the flavor of the year”—including occupy(指類似佔領華爾街運動) , podcasting, hactivisim (非法入侵電腦或網路來達成政治目的: wiki:the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends.), Arab Spring (阿拉伯之春), and an OED judge’s favorite, “bunga bunga”(義大利前總理的雜交性派對)—used in reference to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s scandalous parties.
Miliband discussed the word on BBC’s Radio 4 earlier this year, where he failed to clearly define who the “squeezed middle” exactly included, saying it referred to people “around the average income, but below and above the average income.” This obviously includes just about everyone, and after being called out by host John Humphrys, Miliband clarified: “I’m not talking about people on benefits, I’m not talking about people on six-figure salaries either; I’m talking about the broad middle class in this county who find themselves financially hard-pressed.”
The OED in turn defines “squeezed middle” as “the section of society regarded as particularly affected by inflation, wage freezes, and cuts in public spending during a time of economic difficulty, consisting principally of those people on low or middle incomes.”
(牛津大辭典進一步將 squeezed middle 定義為: 在經濟不景氣中受通貨膨脹 停滯薪水及公部門支出縮減影響的社會中階或中低階層)
Though critics of the choice say that it’s too vague and all-encompassing to have much meaning, the phrase seems fitting following last year’s winner: “big society.” Susie Dent, an Oxford dictionary spokesperson and judge, said that the list of words up for consideration this year was a “sober list for sober times.” Of “squeezed middle,” Dent defended the choice, saying in a statement that the “likelihood of its endurance as anxieties deepen made it a good global candidate for Word of the Year.”
And while it may feel like a loose definition, Dent says “it’s something that, in a way, we all feel we belong to.”
(牛津大辭典進一步將 squeezed middle 定義為: 在經濟不景氣中受通貨膨脹 停滯薪水及公部門支出縮減影響的社會中階或中低階層)
Though critics of the choice say that it’s too vague and all-encompassing to have much meaning, the phrase seems fitting following last year’s winner: “big society.” Susie Dent, an Oxford dictionary spokesperson and judge, said that the list of words up for consideration this year was a “sober list for sober times.” Of “squeezed middle,” Dent defended the choice, saying in a statement that the “likelihood of its endurance as anxieties deepen made it a good global candidate for Word of the Year.”
And while it may feel like a loose definition, Dent says “it’s something that, in a way, we all feel we belong to.”
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/11/28/oxford-english-dictionary-picks-squeezed-middle-as-word-of-the-year/#ixzz1f4F9pGsd
