利来国际

In Pandemic， Word Definitions Shift and New Lexicon Emerges

Matt Sedensky 马特·塞登斯基

Newscasts bring word of “hot zones” and “lockdowns.” Conversations are littered with talk of “quarantines” and “isolation.” Leaders urge “social distancing” and “sheltering in place” and “flattening the curve.”

In an instant， our vocabulary has changed - just like everything else.

Now， those turning to online dictionaries are parsing the difference between epidemics and pandemics， ventilators and respirators， seeking some black-and-white answers in the face of total uncertainty.

“Words matter，” says John Kelly， a senior research editor at Dictionary.com. “They provide comfort and order amid chaos. They provide solidarity in an age of social distancing.”

A look at the fast-evolving lexicon of the coronavirus pandemic:

WARTIME METAPHORS

Trump is now touting himself as “a wartime president” leading the fight against the virus. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is equating ventilators to “missiles” in the battle. French President Emmanuel Macron has bluntly declared: “We are at war.”

Around the world， words typically used in relation to nuclear fallout， active shooters， deadly storms and war are now being deployed to discuss disease.

John Baugh， a linguist at Washington University in St. Louis， says doctors are desperate to shake the public to attention， using metaphors they think can convey the seriousness of the problem. Politicians may be doing the same - or may be trying to capitalize on catastrophe.

SHIFTING DEFINITIONS

As the virus gripped China， onlookers saw a “lockdown” at the outbreak's epicenter of Wuhan. As COVID-19 moved west，though， the meaning of such terms has morphed， and leaders' definitions of disaster jargon has been as varied as the public's interpretations.

Cuomo created a “containment zone” in New Rochelle last week. The phrase conjured images of mass quarantine even as businesses remained open and people were free to come and go.

Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have subsequently aired different messages on the possibility of more severe restrictions in the biggest American city， with the mayor urging residents to prepare to “shelter in place” and the governor criticizing the idea and the language. Cuomo has dismissed “shelter in place” as a relic of the Atomic Age.

“People are using different terms somewhat interchangeably，” said Dr. Irwin Redlener， an expert on disaster preparedness and public health at Columbia University. The tug-of-war over terminology echoes the patchwork of measures that state and local governments have taken， he said.

VIRUS VOCABULARY

Kathleen Hall Jamieson cringes when scientists toss out statements of “morbidity” and “mortality” in the same breath， when public officials warn of “asymptomatic” people posing a threat， and when news conferences are peppered with words like “vector” and “transmission.”

“They are incomprehensible to many in the public，” said the University of Pennsylvania communications expert.

“Public health officials，” she said， “need to translate their technical language into intelligible language.”

That means saying something like “not showing any symptoms” instead of “asymptomatic，” using simple verbs like “spread” versus “transmit，” and opting for the clarity of “hand-washing” over “hygiene.”

But Hall Jamieson marvels at how Dr. Anthony Fauci and others have managed to get the public to grasp a complicated medical concept with the phrase “flattening the curve，” often accompanied by visual hand cues.

And many see “social distancing” to be the greatest pandemic-era addition to the vernacular yet - easily understood phrasing that's helped communicate to millions that they need to keep a safe berth to avoid spreading the virus.

新闻节目中蹦出“热门地区”“封闭”等词语。攀谈中充满着“检疫隔离”“隔离”等字眼。向导人们力劝“拉开社交距离”“就地防护”和“拉平曲线”。

一转眼，我们的词汇表就这样改变了，一如其他的一切。

现在，那些查阅网络辞书的人们正在区分盛行病与大盛行病、呼吸机和人工呼吸器的区别，面临无常世事力争找到一些是非明确的谜底。

辞书网站的高级研究编辑约翰·凯利说：“字字千钧。它们于杂乱中带来慰藉和秩序，在社交疏离的时代给予相互支持。”

且看新冠肺炎大盛行病时代快速演变的用词：

战争比喻

特朗普现在自诩为向导抗击病毒的“战时总统”。纽约州州长安德鲁·科莫将呼吸机等同于战斗中的“导弹”。法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙曾直言不讳地宣称：“我们在接触。”

环视全天下，那些通常用在核辐射、行凶枪手、致命风暴和战争上的词语现在正被拿来谈论疾病。

华盛顿大学（圣路易斯）的语言学家约翰·鲍说，医生们迫缺乏待地想用他们以为能体现问题严重性的比喻来撼动公众引起注重。政客们可能意欲抵达同样的目的——或者可能想借题施展。

界说改变

病毒肆虐中国时，旁观者看到疫情中心武汉实验了“封闭”。而随着新冠肺炎向西伸张，这类用语的寄义爆发了转变，向导人给灾难术语下的界说与公众对它们的明确一样千差万别。

科莫上周在新罗谢尔设立了一个“封堵区域”。这个词让人遐想到大规模隔离的画面，而着实商家依然营业，人们仍然收支自由。

随后，科莫和纽约市长白思豪就美国最大都会会不会实验更严酷的限制步伐转达了差别的信息，市长鞭策住民准备“就地防护”，州长则品评这一想法和语言�？颇选熬偷胤阑ぁ背庵邮贝囊盼�。

哥伦比亚大学备灾和公共卫生问题专家欧文·雷德莱纳说：“各人的用词虽然差别，但基本上是可以换用的。”他说，术语拉锯战与各州和地方政府所接纳的步伐五花八门如出一辙。

病毒词汇

每当科学家抛出“发病率”“殒命率”混在一起的声明，每当政府官员忠言“无症状”的人一样很危险，每当新闻宣布会上充满着“载体”和“撒播”这样的字眼，凯瑟琳·霍尔·贾米森就会尴尬担心。

这位宾夕法尼亚大学的撒播学专家说：“这些词对许多公众来说是无法明确的。”

她说：“公共卫生官员应当把他们的手艺用语翻译成可以听得懂的语言。”

这意味着要用“没有症状”取代“无症状”，用“扩散”等简朴动词而不是“撒播”，用“洗手”这个一目了然的词而不是“卫生”。

但霍尔·贾米森惊讶地发明，安东尼·福奇博士和其他人已经想方想法让公众明确了一个重大的医学看法，他们用的是“拉平曲线”一词，经常伴以手势给予视觉提醒。

许多人以为，“拉开社交距离”是大盛行病时代迄今为止新添的一个最主要词语——这个简朴易懂的用词有助于向成百上万万人转达一个信息：为了阻止撒播病毒，他们需要待在一个清静的位置。（涂颀译自美联社3月20日文章）

本文转载自《参考新闻》