去年，牛津詞典（Oxford Dictionaries）年度詞彙：Climate Emergency（氣候緊急狀態）。前年的牛津詞典年度詞彙則為：Toxic 有毒！
今年，牛津詞典官方表示，今年，「史無前例的一年」太難了，選不出，就不選了！給你們一個詞彙列表，你們自己選。
列表中的詞彙包括：Bushfire（森林大火）、Impeachment（彈劾）、Acquittal（無罪判決）、Coronavirus（冠狀病毒）、Covid-19、Lockdown（封鎖）、social distancing（社交距離）、Reopening（重新開放）、Black Lives Matter（黑人的命也是命）、Cancel Culture（取消文化）、BIPOC（黑人、土著人和其他有色人種）、Mail-In（郵寄）、Belarusian（白俄羅斯）、Moonshot（大規模新冠病毒檢測計劃名）、Superspreader（超級傳播者）、Net Zero（淨零）......
Oxford Dictionaries: 2020 has too many Words of the Year to name just one
The Guardian
For the first time, the Oxford English Dictionaryhas chosen not to name a word of the year, describing 2020 as 「a year which cannot be neatly accommodated in one single word」. Instead, from 「unmute」 to 「mail-in」, and from 「coronavirus」 to 「lockdown」, the eminent reference work has announced its 「words of an 『unprecedented』 year」.
《牛津英語詞典》（Oxford English Dictionary）首次選擇不提名年度詞彙，稱2020年為「無法用一個詞巧妙概括的一年」。相反，從「unmute」到「mail-in」，從「coronavirus」到「lockdown」，這本知名詞典公布了「『史無前例』的一年的年度詞彙表」。
neatly
除了表示「整潔地，整齊地」也可以指「簡單而聰明地；巧妙地」，英文解釋為「in a clever and simple way」舉個：
The announcement was neatly timed to coincide with the release of their new album.
這項消息很巧妙地安排在他們的新專輯推出的時候公布。
accommodate
1）表示「為（某人）提供住宿（或膳宿、座位等）」，英文解釋為「to provide sb with a room or place to sleep, live or sit」舉個：
The hotel can accommodate up to 123 guests.
這家旅館可供123位旅客住宿。
2）表示「容納；為…提供空間」，英文解釋為「to provide enough space for sb/sth」舉個：
Over 10 minutes of music can be accommodated on one CD.
一張雷射唱片可以容納10多分鐘的音樂。
3）表示「考慮到；顧及」，英文解釋為「to consider sth, such as sb's opinion or a fact, and be influenced by it when you are deciding what to do or explaining sth」舉個：
Our proposal tries to accommodate the special needs of minority groups.
我們的提案儘量照顧到少數群體的特殊需要。
eminent
表示「顯赫的；卓越的；著名的」，英文解釋為「famous, respected, or important」如：an eminent historian 聲名顯赫的歷史學家。
unprecedented
表示「史無前例的，空前的；絕無僅有的」，英文解釋為「never having happened or existed in the past」舉個：
This century has witnessed environmental destruction on an unprecedented scale.
環境在本世紀遭到了空前的破壞。
電影《星運裡的錯》（The Fault in Our Stars）中的臺詞提到：You are so busy being you that you have no idea how utterly unprecedented you are. 你太忙於做自己 都沒有意識到自己是那麼的令人心動。
On Monday, the dictionary said that there were too many words to sum up the events of 2020. Tracking its vast corpus of more than 11bn words found in web-based news, blogs and other text sources, its lexicographers revealed what the dictionary described as 「seismic shifts in language data and precipitous frequency rises in new coinage」 over the past 12 months.
周一，該詞典表示，有太多的詞可以概括2020年的事件。通過對網絡新聞、博客和其他文本來源等超過110億個詞的龐大語料庫進行追蹤，詞典編纂者指出，在過去的12個月裡，「語言數據發生了翻天覆地的變化，新詞出現的頻率急劇上升」。
corpus
corpus /kps/ 表示「語料庫」，英文解釋為「a collection of written or spoken material stored on a computer and used to find out how language is used」。
lexicographer
lexicographer /lekskɡrf(r)/ 表示「詞典編纂者」，英文解釋為「a person who writes and edits dictionaries」。
seismic /sazmk/
1）表示「地震的；地震引起的」，英文解釋為「Seismic means caused by or relating to an earthquake.」舉個：
Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.
地震產生兩種類型的地震波。
2）表示「突然的」，英文解釋為「A seismic shift or change is a very sudden or dramatic change.」舉個：
I have never seen such a seismic shift in public opinion in such a short period of time.
我從來沒有見過公眾輿論在這麼短的時間內發生如此突然的轉變。
電影《哥斯拉》（Godzilla）中的臺詞提到：We are showing seismic activity to the east near Livermore. 東邊靠近利弗莫爾處發現地震活動。
precipitous
precipitous /prspts/ 表示「驟然的，急劇的」，英文解釋為「If a reduction or increase is precipitous, it is fast or great.」舉個：
Over the past 9 months, there has been a precipitous fall in car sales.
在過去的9個月內汽車銷量暴跌。
coinage
作名詞，表示「新造的詞（語）；新詞語的創造」，英文解釋為「(the inventing of) a new word or phrase in a language」。
在凡爾賽文學是什麼梗？文中，提到了網友構造了凡爾賽文學這個說法 Chinese netizens coined the term 「Versailles literature」，其中coin作動詞，熟詞僻義，表示「創造（新詞語）」，英文解釋為「to invent a new word or phrase that other people then begin to use」舉個：
He coined the term "Learn and Record".
他創造了Learn and Record這一說法。
Coronavirus, one of its words of the year, is a term that dates back to the 1960s, although it was previously mainly used by scientists. By March this year it was one of the most frequently used nouns in the English language. 「Covid-19」, first recorded on 11 February in a report by the World Health Organization, quickly overtook coronavirus in frequency of use, noted the dictionary.
「Coronavirus」是2020年度詞彙之一，這個詞的出現可以追溯到20世紀60年代，不過以前主要被科學家使用。到今年3月，它已成為英語中使用最頻繁的名詞之一。《牛津英文詞典》指出，2月11日，世界衛生組織（World Health Organization）在一份報告中首次記錄了「Covid-19」，其使用頻率迅速超過了「冠狀病毒」。
overtake
表示「（數量或程度上）大於，超過」，英文解釋為「to go past something by being a greater amount or degree」，舉個：
Our US sales have now overtaken our sales in Europe.
我們在美國的銷售額現已超過了我們在歐洲的銷售額。
電影《巫山歷險記》（Race to Witch Mountain）中的臺詞提到：They will overtake our vehicle in less than one minute. 不到一分鐘就能追上我們。
One of the year’s most remarkable linguistic developments, according to the OED, has been the extent to which scientific terms have entered general discourse, as we have all become armchair epidemiologists, with most of us now familiar with the term 「R number」.
根據《牛津英文詞典》，今年最顯著的一項語言學發展就是科學術語進入大眾話語的程度，因為我們都成了紙上談兵的傳染病學家，我們大多數人現在都熟悉「R值」這個詞。
discourse
1）表示「論文；演講」，英文解釋為「a long and serious treatment or discussion of a subject in speech or writing」，如：a discourse on issues of gender equality 關於性別平等的論文。
2）表示「語篇；話語」，英文解釋為「the use of language in speech and writing in order to produce meaning; language that is studied, usually in order to see how the different parts of a text are connected」。
armchair
表示「無實際經驗的；不切實際的；空談的」，英文解釋為「used to refer to a person who knows, or says they know, a lot about a subject without having direct experience of it」如：an armchair critic/gardener/traveller 誇誇其談的評論家/手不沾泥的園藝家/足不出戶的神遊旅行者。
epidemiologist
epidemiologist /epdimiɑldst/ 表示「流行病學家」，英文解釋為「Epidemiologists are scientists who study diseases within populations of people. In essence, these public health professionals analyze what causes disease outbreaks in order to treat existing diseases and prevent future outbreaks.」
「Before 2020 this was a term known mainly to epidemiologists; now non-experts routinely talk about 『getting the R down』 or 『bringing R below 1』. Other terms that have become much more common in everyday discourse this year include 『flatten the curve』 and 『community transmission』,」 said the dictionary.
「在2020年之前，這個詞主要為傳染病學家所知；現在，非專業人士經常談論『把R值降下來（getting the R down）』或『把R降至1以下（bringing R below 1）』。今年在日常用語中更常見的還有『拉平曲線（flatten the curve）』和『社區傳播（community transmission）』。」
Use of the phrase 「following the science」, it added, has increased in frequency more than 1,000% compared with 2019.
報告還稱，與2019年相比，「遵循科學」一詞的使用頻率增加了1000%以上。
Other coronavirus-related language cited by the OED includes 「pandemic」, which has seen usage increase by more than 57,000% this year, as well as 「circuit breaker」, 「lockdown」, 「shelter-in-place」, 「bubbles」, 「face masks」 and 「key workers」.
《牛津英文詞典》引用的其他與冠狀病毒相關的用語包括「pandemic」（大流行），今年該詞的使用率增加了57,000%；還有「circuit breaker」（熔斷）、「lockdown」（封鎖）、「shelter-in-place」（居家避疫）、「bubbles」（泡沫/隔離區）、「face masks」（口罩）和「key workers」（關鍵崗位員工）。
bubble
作名詞大家都很熟悉，表示「泡；氣泡；泡沫」，英文解釋為「a ball of gas that appears in a liquid, or a ball formed of air surrounded by liquid that floats in the air」。
NBA複賽以來，如果你有關注相關媒體或者社交平臺諮詢的話，你可能會經常看到這個詞。此前在「湖人總冠軍！」文中解釋過bubble的含義，這裡再複習一遍。
比如，當時詹姆斯發了推特提到「to head to the bubble」，準備前往bubble；
華盛頓郵報（The Washington Post）的標題：A farewell to the NBA bubble after three grueling and exhilarating months. 艱苦和興奮的三個月後，要告別這個NBA Bubble了，
紐約時報（The New York Times）提到的：The True Cost of Life in the N.B.A. Bubble，
那麼這個「泡泡」bubble到底和NBA什麼關係呢？
The 2020 NBA Bubble, also referred to as the Disney Bubble or Orlando Bubble, was the isolation zone at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, that was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to protect its players from the COVID-19 pandemic during the final eight games of the 2019–20 regular season and throughout the 2020 NBA playoffs.
實際上指的就是，因疫情防疫需要，NBA複賽時要求所有球隊人員都集中到某個地方隔離（比如前面提到的Gran Destino Tower五星級酒店），不能隨意外出串門之類的，等等要求嚴格遵守各種防疫措施。這個地區，或者說園區，就好像一個「泡泡」一樣，與外界隔離開了，就叫做bubble，是不是很形象！
Inside the NBA bubble
The revolution in working habits has also affected language, with both 「remote」 and 「remotely」 seeing more than 300% growth in use since March. 「On mute」 and 「unmute」 have seen 500% rises since March, while the portmanteaus 「workation」 and 「staycation」 increased by 500% and 380% respectively.
工作習慣的變革也影響了語言。自今年3月以來，「remote」和「remotely」（遠程）的使用率都超過了300%。自今年3月以來，「On mute」（靜音）和「unmute」（取消靜音）的使用率增長了500%，而「workation」（工作假）和「staycation」（居家度假）這兩個合成詞的使用率分別增長了500%和380%。
portmanteaus
portmanteau /ptmnt/ 表示「混成詞」（合音詞、緊縮詞、合併詞）指由最少兩個詞語或詞語的一部分結合而成的詞語或詞素，該新詞語的意義和讀音集組成部分之成。一般而言，混成詞是新詞。舉個：breakfast + lunch 構成了brunch 早午餐。
再比如，上文中的workation就是：work+vacation 指的是：a working vacation; a holiday during which one also works.
Other news events have also been reflected in language. In the early months of 2020, there were peaks in usage of 「impeachment」 and 「acquittal」, and 「mail-in」 has seen an increase of 3,000%. Use of 「Black Lives Matter」 and 「BLM」 also surged, as did the term 「QAnon」, up by 5,716% on last year. The phrase 「conspiracy theory」, meanwhile, has almost doubled in usage between October 2019 and October 2020. Use of 「Brexit」, however, has dropped by 80% this year.
其他新聞事件也反映在了語言上。在2020年的前幾個月，「impeachment」（彈劾）和「acquittal」（無罪釋放）的使用率達到高峰，「mail-in」（郵寄）的使用率增長了3000%。「Black Lives Matter」和「BLM」（黑人的命也是命）的使用率也大幅上升，「QAnon」（匿名者Q）一詞的使用率比去年上升了5716%。與此同時，「conspiracy theory」（陰謀論）一詞在2019年10月至2020年10月期間的使用率幾乎翻了一番。然而，「Brexit」（脫歐）一詞的使用率今年下降了80%。
acquittal
表示「宣判無罪」，英文解釋為「the decision of a court that someone is not guilty」。
「What words best describe 2020? A strange year? A crazy year? A lost year? Oxford Languages' monitor corpus of English shows a huge upsurge in usage of each of those phrases compared to 2019,」 said the OED in its report. 「Though what was genuinely unprecedented this year was the hyper-speed at which the English-speaking world amassed a new collective vocabulary relating to the coronavirus, and how quickly it became, in many instances, a core part of the language.」
用什麼詞最能形容2020年？「A strange year」（奇怪的一年）？「A crazy year」（瘋狂的一年）？還是「A lost year」（失落的一年）？牛津語言監測機構的英語語料庫顯示，與2019年相比，這些短語的使用都出現了激增。雖然今年真正史無前例的是，英語世界以超高速積累了與冠狀病毒相關的新詞彙，而且在很多情況下，它迅速成為語言的核心部分。
upsurge
表示「急劇上升；飆升；猛增」，英文解釋為「a sudden large increase in sth」，如：a recent upsurge of interest in his movies 最近他的電影掀起的一陣熱潮。