放大圖片
■網絡潮語改變了很多傳統的字,如Catfish以前指鯰魚,現在就變成了在社交網站的騙子。資料圖片
《華盛頓郵報》(The Washington Post)刊登了一篇饒有趣味的文章,名為「24 words that mean totally different things now than they did pre-Internet」(互聯網興起前後意思迥異的24個單字),簡析過去20年網路潮語的進化。讀者又親睹多少單字的演變?
1. Bump
舊義:To encounter something that is an obstacle or hindrance.(碰到〔障礙〕)
新解:To move an online post or thread to the top of the reverse chronological list by adding a new comment or post to the thread.(推文)
例句:Mary bumped a thread from last year. (瑪莉推去年的帖子。)
2. Catfish
舊義:A freshwater or marine fish with whisker-like barbels around the mouth, typically bottom-dwelling.(鯰魚)
新解:A person who sets up a false personal profile on a social networking site for fraudulent or deceptive purposes.(在社交網站建立假帳號的騙子)
例句:Are you sure your friend on Facebook isn't a catfish?(你肯定Facebook的朋友真有其人?)
3. Firehose
舊義:A large-diameter hose used in extinguishing fires.(消防喉)
新解:A very large stream of data.(一大堆數據)
例句:Companies get the benefits of access to the full firehose of data from multiple social networks.(公司受惠於經多個社交網路取得的大堆完整數據 。)
4. Handle
舊義:A part of something that is designed to be held by your hand.(柄)
新解:Your screen name; the name you go by on the Internet.(網名)
例句:What is your twitter handle? (你的Twitter網名是什麼?)
5. Meme
舊義:An idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.(文化基因)
新解:A cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the Internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way .(網路爆紅 )
例句:Internet memes are spread like wild rumours, and computer viruses. (網路爆紅如流言蜚語傳播, 像電腦病毒擴散。)
6. Ping
舊義:A sharp sound like that of a striking bullet.(子彈擦過的尖銳聲響)
新解:To make contact with someone by sending a brief electronic message, as a text message.(傳短訊)
例句:I will ping it to you later. (我稍後傳送給你。)
未曾見過上述的潮語?也許是因為香港人少用外國流行的Twitter。下回再分享其他網路潮語。■李樂軒女士 恒生管理學院英文學系講師
隔星期五見報
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