One of the greatest contributions (投稿) to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.
This was a huge task. So Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American Surgeon (外科医生) who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.
Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.
But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always refuse to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell (囚室) at the Broadmoor Asylum (精神病院) for the Criminally insane.
Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.
In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.
Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.
【小题1】According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary _______.| A．came out before Minor died |
| B．was edited by an American volunteer |
| C．included the English words invented by Murray |
| D．was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary |
| A．He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers. |
| B．He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray. |
| C．He provided a great number of words and quotations. |
| D．He went to England to work with Murray. |
| A．they both served in the Civil War |
| B．they had a common interest in words |
| C．Minor recovered with the help of Murray |
| D．Murray went to America regularly to visit Minor |
| A．The history of the English language. |
| B．The friendship between Murray and Minor. |
| C．Broadmoor Asylum and its patients. |
| D．Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary. |
“When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, “it means just what I choose to mean — neither more nor less.”
— THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
I agree with Mr. Dumpty: Words have meaning. But surely we can seize upon a meaning and then create a word to match it. The following words-some culled from the crowdsourced online dictionary urban dictionary.com and others I’ve concocted myself-don’t exist according to Merriam-Webster...but should I call them “worderfuls”.
blamestorming n. — The act of attempting to identify the person who is most at fault for a plan’s failure.
cellfish n. — Someone who talks on the phone to the exclusion of those he or she is with.
chairdrobe n. — A chair on which one piles clothes that belong in the closet. Not to be confused with a floordrobe.
chiptease n. — A bag of potato chips that seems full but is mostly air.
dullema n. — The choice between two equally boring outcomes.
epiphinot n. —An idea that seems like an amazing insight to the conceiver but is in fact pointless, mundane, stupid, or incorrect.
errorist n. — Someone who is repeatedly or invariably wrong.
nonversation n. — A completely meaningless or useless conversation.
pregret v. — To know what you’re about to do is wrong, wrong, wrong while also knowing you will do it anyway.
unlighten v. — To learn something that makes you dumber.
【小题1】According to the writer, “worderfuls” refer to words ________.| A．that are collected by online dictionaries |
| B．that already exist but have a new meaning |
| C．that are made up to match certain meanings |
| D．that have been included in Merriam-Webster |
| A．blamestorming | B．chairdrobe | C．chiptease | D．errorist |
【小题3】Which of the following words best fits the blank in the sentence: Since you ________ to go abroad, why on earth do you choose to go to France?
| A．cellfish | B．nonversation | C．pregret | D．unlighten |
Short words from Australia
Australians like abbreviations (缩略语). “Do you wanna hangout this arvo?” I said to my American friend. “What’s arvo?” They asked. Oops. I had forgotten that we Australians have so many slang (俚语) words.
Australians use abbreviations more often than any other English-speaking country, said Australian Geographic magazine, with one language expert compiling about 5, 000 abbreviations.
Australians like to abbreviate words by taking the first syllable (音节) of a word and then adding new endings on the words.
Unlike these words, which only Australians seem to use, some other Australian word inventions have taken the world by storm.
If you ever go to Australia, try asking an Aussie if they’ve ever had a Chrissie barbie in the arvo. I’m sure they’d enjoy that.
| A．So why do we do this? |
| B．They liked to use slang words. |
| C．You must have heard of a “selfie”. |
| D．Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly. |
| E．Often, abbreviated words will end with “ie” or “o”. |
| F．Some abbreviations are so common that you can use them without guilt. |
| G．And a lot of them are abbreviations, like “arvo”, which means “afternoon”. |
1) “Once bitten, twice shy.” If a dog bites me, I shall be twice as careful in future when I see it. This proverb is also used to apply to many things and not only to dogs. If you have been cheated at a shop, you will not go the same shop again.
2) “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” If I am a hunter, trying to catch birds, it is better to catch one than to see two birds in a bush but not able to catch them. Thus this means that what you have already got is better than the chance of being able to get something bigger in future.
3) “Too many cooks spoil the broth (soup)”. When too many people do something, they get in each other’s way and do a bad job.
4) “To pour oil on troubled waters” is to try to calm things down. Oil is lighter than water. If a ship is in trouble at sea, another ship may come to help it. The second ship can send small boats to rescue people. However, it may first pour oil on the sea to make the sea less rough.
5) “Don’t be a dog in a manger(槽)”means“ Don’t be selfish.” In a stable (马房), the manger is the place where the horse’s food is put. Sometimes a dog will sleep in the manger and bark when a horse comes to get its food. The dog does not want to eat the lay in the manger but it will not let the horse eat it.
6) “He is sitting on the fence” means that somebody will not say whether he is in favor of a plan or against it. He is sitting on a fence between two opposing sides, perhaps waiting to see which side will win.
7) “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” A piper is a musician. The man who employs or pays a musician can say what tunes the man will play. Thus this means that if a man provides the money for a plan, he can say how it will be carried out.
8) “You can’t get blood out of a stone” means that you cannot get something from a person who has not got any of the things you want. e. g. you cannot get a million dollars from a poor man.
【小题1】Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a quarrel. Their friend, Mr. Brown, wanted to talk to them. When he came back, he told his wife that he had been trying to help the Smiths by ______.
| A．getting blood out of a stone |
| B．pouring oil on troubled waters |
| C．sitting on the fence |
| D．being a dog in a manger |
| A．once bitten, twice shy |
| B．he was sitting on the fence |
| C．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| D．he who pays the piper calls the tune |
| A．I am sitting on the fence |
| B．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| C．too many cooks spoil the broth |
| D．once bitten, twice shy |
| A．too many cooks spoil the broth |
| B．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| C．he who pays the piper calls the tune |
| D．you can not get blood out of a stone |
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