【一起听英语】一团糟
每年都会出一些新的词汇，“一团糟”对应的英文单词是“omnishambles”，这是一个新造的词，这些词语是怎么来的呢？
Callum: Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Callum and with me today is Neil. Hello
Neil.
Neil: Hi there Callum.
Callum: In today’s programme we’re going to be talking about the word ‘omnishambles’.
Every year a committee at the Oxford 3 English Dictionary comes up with a list of
new words that have made a big impact on the English language.
Neil: Now they aren’t necessarily words that will make their way into dictionaries any
time soon but they are words that have been influenced by popular culture, sport,
politics and other current affairs.
Callum: This year, at the top of their list, was the word omnishambles. Before we learn
more about it, here’s a question for you, Neil, about dictionaries.
From the following, who published the earliest English alphabetical 4 dictionary?
Was it Robert Cawdrey, Samuel Johnson or Noah Webster?
Neil: Well I think this is a trick question. I think you want me to say Samuel Johnson.
I don’t think it’s Webster because he was American. I’m going to go for Robert
Cawdrey.
Callum: OK, we’ll find out if you’re right at the end of the programme.
Fiona McPherson is one of the judges who decides on the Word of the Year and
she describes why new words make it on to the list. What are her main criteria 5?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
Page 2 of 5
Fiona McPherson
First and foremost it’s about the evidence; so as long as people are using it and we can find
independent examples. By independent I mean not just used by one person; you’ll see it in
various newspapers, perhaps novels, that kind of thing. But it’s also the projected longevity 6,
really. Some words are flash in the pan, but you can normally gauge 7 by using your own
judgement whether or not something is going to have a life.
Callum: Neil, what’s most important?
Neil: She says that ‘first and foremost’ it’s if the word is being used by more than one
person; if it’s being used in a variety of media.
Callum: Is that the only consideration?
Neil: No, she says it’s also about the ‘projected longevity’ of the word, which is an
estimation of how long the word will be used for. Some words, she says, are a
‘flash in the pan’ which means they are popular for a very short time but then
disappear.
Callum: In an example of life imitating art, the word omnishambles first appeared in a
BBC television political comedy in 2009. Can you tell us a bit about what it
means?
Neil: Sure. The prefix 8 ‘omni’, which means everywhere or everything, has been added
to the noun ‘shambles 1’. Shambles is a noun for something that is very poorly
organised and planned. A complete mess! An omnishambles is this new word
which emphasises just how really bad something has been messed up.
Something that is an omnishambles is a complete and total disaster. It usually
refers to a series of mistakes and blunders by politicians.
Callum: And it’s a word that’s become particularly popular for those who want to criticise 9
the government. Let’s listen to an example. This is Ed Milliband, an opponent of
the British prime minister, speaking in parliament.
Ed Milliband (Leader of the Opposition)
Over the last month, we’ve seen the charity tax shambles, the churches tax shambles, the
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
Page 3 of 5
caravan 10 tax shambles and the pasty tax shambles. So, Mr Speaker, we’re all keen to hear the
prime minister’s view as to why he thinks, four weeks on from the budget, even people within
Downing Street are calling it an omnishambles budget.
Callum: Ed Milliband describing lots of different ‘shambles’, and then describing them all
as omnishables.
Neil: Yes, an omnishambles is a collection of shambles!
Callum: So why has the word caught on? Here’s writer Tony Roche, who coined the
expression in the political satire 11 The Thick of It.
Tony Roche
It seems to have lent itself to being mutated. I think it might have been Vanity Fair used the
word ‘Romneyshambles’ to describe various gaffes 12 that Mitt 2 Romney was making and it’s been
used in a few other contexts.
Callum: What reason does he give for the popularity of the word?
Neil: He says that it can easily be adapted and changed for different circumstances.
He mentions the fact that the magazine Vanity Fair used a variation of it –
Romneyshambles – to refer to US presidential candidate Mitt Romney making
gaffes.
Callum: Gaffes?
Neil: Yes, gaffes, a word for embarrassing mistakes.
Callum: Let’s listen to Tony Roche again.
Tony Roche
It seems to have lent itself to being mutated. I think it might have been Vanity Fair used the
word ‘Romneyshambles’ to describe various gaffes that Mitt Romney was making and it’s been
used in a few other contexts.
Callum: Will this word have legs? Will it live longer than the current political period?
Here’s Fiona McPherson again; what does she think?
6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2012
Page 4 of 5
Fiona McPherson
What it has in its favour is it’s already had some derivatives 13 coming from it like
Romneyshambles, we’ve heard when talking about Mitt Romney’s gaffes about how he thought
London wasn’t ready to, to host a good Olympics. Things like that are good indicators 14 that
maybe this word will have staying power, but really time is the only thing that will, will tell.
Callum: What does she think Neil?
Neil: She makes a similar point to Tony Roche that the word already has derivatives,
or different variations. She mentions the same example of Romneyshambles. It’s
this ability to adapt and evolve which she thinks might give it staying power –
might give it the ability to become a more permanent feature in the English
language. But ultimately, time will tell: we’ll just have to wait and see.
Callum: That’s the beauty of language, always evolving. Now before we run out of time
and this programme becomes an omnishambles, let’s get the answer to this
week’s question.
Who published the earliest English alphabetical dictionary. Neil, you said?
Neil: Robert Cawdrey.
Callum: And Robert Cawdrey was the correct answer and that was in 1604.
Well that’s all from this edition of 6 Minute English. Until next time, thank you
Neil and goodbye.
Neil: Goodbye!
- My room is a shambles.我房间里乱七八糟。
- The fighting reduced the city to a shambles.这场战斗使这座城市成了一片废墟。
- I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
- Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
- At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
- This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。
- Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
- There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。
- The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
- There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。
- Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
- Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。
- Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
- It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。
- We prefix "Mr."to a man's name.我们在男士的姓名前加“先生”。
- In the word "unimportant ","un-" is a prefix.在单词“unimportant”中“un”是前缀。
- Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
- It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！
- The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
- Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。
- The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
- Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。
- The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
- When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网
- Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句
- The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
- It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。