Merriam-Webster Chooses ‘Authentic’ as Word of the Year

Merriam-Webster Chooses ‘Authentic’ as Word of the Year

《韦氏词典》选择“真实”作为年度词汇

【原文听力】

----------------------------------------------------------------

　　By Dan Friedell

　　27 November 2023

　　The dictionary company Merriam-Webster chose the word "authentic" as its word of the year for 2023.

　　Something that is authentic is real or true.

　　The publisher celebrated its 20th anniversary of choosing a word of the year on Monday. Speaking to The Associated Press, or AP, dictionary editor Peter Sokolowski said the world is in a "crisis of authenticity" in 2023. "What we realize," he said, "is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more."

　　Sokolowski said the word is often looked up on Merriam-Webster's website, but in 2023 it was searched for even more than usual.

　　He noted that authentic is an important word in a world where artificial intelligence software permits people to create "deepfakes" or false videos that look real.

　　Often, Sokolowski said, words become "words of the year" because searches match world events. However, this year, there was a general increased interest in the word "authentic."

　　The AP noted that authenticity was a popular subject for discussion in 2023. People such as Taylor Swift and Prince Harry looked for authenticity in their performances and writing. Even businessman Elon Musk discussed authenticity at an event in February when he urged company leaders and politicians to operate their own social media accounts in order to "speak authentically."

　　Authenticity is important in education, Sokolowski said. He said we are in a time when students can use artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT to complete writing assignments to avoid work.

　　"We don't always trust what we see anymore," he said.

　　The dictionary includes a number of descriptions to help people understand the word's meaning. It notes something that is authentic is "not false," "true to one's own personality," and "something made or done the same way as an original."

　　How the word is picked

　　Merriam-Webster says it filters out some common search words such as "effect" and "affect" that are always among the top searches. The online word game "Wordle" also increases searches for some words as players check letters and words before they play them.

　　Some other possible words for 2023 included "X" after Musk changed the name of the social media service formerly known as Twitter. Others include "EGOT" after the actress Viola Davis won a Grammy award and "elemental" after Pixar released a new movie in June.

　　However, the company settled on authentic one year after choosing "gaslighting." Gaslighting is a word that is used to discuss the act of misleading someone over a long period of time. In a way, it is the opposite of authentic.

　　Other popular words

　　Other words that were popular in 2023 but did not win "word of the year" included "rizz," a slang word that has to do with charm or appeal. It is a shortened form of the word charisma.

　　"Implode" became a popular search in 2023 after a vessel used for undersea exploration was lost in June. Experts say the Titan vessel likely imploded or broke apart because of the high water pressure in the deep sea.

　　"Coronation" was looked up often in May when Charles III was crowned King of England.

　　"Kibbutz" is a word that came up in recent weeks after the terror group Hamas attacked the Israeli "communal farms or settlements" near Gaza on October 7.

　　You can visit Merriam-Webster's website to look at more words that did not quite make the cut to become "word of the year."

　　I'm Dan Friedell.

　　Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on The Associated Press story.

----------------------------------------------------------------

　　作者：Dan Friedell

　　日期：2023年11月27日

　　词典公司韦氏词典选择了“真实”作为2023年的年度词汇。

　　真实的东西是真实或真实的。

　　出版商在周一庆祝选择年度词汇的20周年纪念。在接受美联社的采访时，词典编辑彼得·索科洛夫斯基说，2023年世界正处于“真实性危机”中。“我们意识到，”他说，“当我们质疑真实性时，我们更加珍视它。”

　　索科洛夫斯基表示，“真实”这个词在韦氏词典的网站上经常被查阅，但在2023年，它被搜索的次数比平时更多。

　　他指出，在一个人工智能软件允许人们创建看起来真实的“深度伪造”或虚假视频的世界里，“真实”是一个重要的词。

　　索科洛夫斯基经常说，词汇成为“年度词汇”是因为搜索与世界事件相匹配。然而，今年，对“真实”这个词的兴趣普遍增加。

　　美联社指出，2023年，真实性成为了人们热议的话题。泰勒·斯威夫特和哈里王子等人在他们的表演和写作中寻求真实性。即使是商人埃隆·马斯克在2月份的一次活动中也讨论了真实性，他敦促公司领导人和政治家操作自己的社交媒体账户，以便“真实地发言”。

　　索科洛夫斯基说，真实性在教育中很重要。他说，我们正处于一个学生可以使用像ChatGPT这样的人工智能工具来完成写作任务以避免工作的时代。

　　“我们不再总是信任我们看到的东西，”他说。

　　词典包含了一些描述，以帮助人们理解这个词的含义。它指出，真实的东西是“不假的”，“忠于自己的个性”，以及“以与原作相同的方式制作或完成的东西”。

　　关于如何挑选这个词

　　韦氏词典表示，它会过滤掉一些常见的搜索词，如“effect”和“affect”，这些词总是在最热门的搜索词中。在线单词游戏“Wordle”也增加了对一些词的搜索，因为玩家在玩这些词之前会检查字母和词。

　　2023年的其他可能词汇包括“X”，这是在马斯克改变了原名为Twitter的社交媒体服务的名称之后的词。其他的还包括“EGOT”，这是在女演员Viola Davis赢得格莱美奖之后的词，以及“elemental”，这是在皮克斯在6月份发布了一部新电影之后的词。

　　然而，公司在选择“gaslighting”一年后选择了“authentic”。Gaslighting是一个用来讨论长时间误导某人的行为的词。在某种程度上，它与“authentic”相反。

　　其他热门词汇

　　2023年其他热门但未获“年度词汇”称号的词汇包括“rizz”，这是一个与魅力或吸引力有关的俚语词，它是词汇charisma的缩写形式。

　　“Implode”在2023年成为热门搜索词，原因是6月份一艘用于海底探索的船只失踪。专家说，Titan船只可能因为深海的高水压而爆炸或破裂。

　　“Coronation”在5月份查阅频繁，当时查尔斯三世被加冕为英格兰国王。

　　“Kibbutz”是最近几周出现的一个词，原因是恐怖组织哈马斯在10月7日袭击了以色列在加沙附近的“公共农场或定居点”。

　　你可以访问韦氏词典的网站，查看更多没有成为“年度词汇”的词汇。

　　我是Dan Friedell。

　　Dan Friedell根据美联社的报道，为英语学习改编了这个故事。

----------------------------------------------------------------

　　这个故事中的词汇：

　　dictionary - n.一个包含某种语言单词定义的书

　　match - v.使两件事物相互关联或以某种方式相连

　　personality - n. 构成一个人特性的品质

　　original - adj. 第一次产生的东西，不是其他东西的复制品

　　make the cut - v. (短语) 进入比赛的下一级；做足够的事情以继续