为什么它能成为韦氏词典2017年度热词？

2017年开年，美国华盛顿发生女性大游行。临近年末，数千女性参与社交媒体网站Twitter的“#MeToo运动”，公开个人遭受性侵的经历。正是由社会文化明显转变，韦氏词典本周二宣布，2017年年度词汇为“女权主义”（feminism）。

韦氏词典每年都会选出一个年度词汇，选择标准是一年里这个词在韦氏词典线上字典的查询量超过往年。2017年，“女权主义”击败了“老糊涂”、“同谋”、“回避”和“同理心”，成为年度最热词汇。

“其实没有词能囊括过去一年里发生的新闻、事件和故事，”韦氏词典的特约编辑彼得·索科洛夫斯基在声明中指出，“可我们回顾过去12个月，综合对期间查询量超过往年的词语分析，以及新闻事件引发用户查询兴趣激增的实例，我们发现有个词在这两个类别里均脱颖而出。”

韦氏词典对女权主义的定义是，“认为在政治、经济和社会方面都应实现男女平等的理论”，或者是“支持女性权利和利益的有组织活动。”

今年美国总统唐纳德·特朗普宣誓就职次日，华盛顿就爆发女性大游行，期间“女性主义”的搜索量猛增。还有一些事件也促使用户搜索这个词，例如特朗普的顾问凯莉安·康威说，她认为自己不是女权主义者。韦氏词典表示，漫改大热影片《神奇女侠》（Wonder Woman ）和视频网站Hulu出品的剧集《使女的故事》（The Handmaid’s Tale ）也推动女权主义一词的搜索量增长。（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

The year 2017 began with the Women’s March on Washington, and ended with a #MeToo movement that saw thousands women empowered to speak up about sexual harassment. It is with these cultural shifts in mind that Merriam-Webster on Tuesday declared “feminism” its 2017 Word of the Year.

The accolade is given each year to a word looked up on Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary disproportionately more than in previous years. Feminism beat out contenders such as dotard, complicit, recuse and empathy for the 2017 top spot.

“No one word can ever encapsulate all the news, events, or stories of a given year,” Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, said in a statement. “But when we look back at the past 12 months and combine an analysis of words that have been looked up much more frequently than during the previous year along with instances of intense spikes of interest because of news events, we see that one word stands out in both categories.”

Feminism is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity in support of women’s rights and interests.”

Searches for the word spiked during the Women;s March on Washington D.C., the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Other events that had an impact on searches included when Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said she didn’t consider herself a feminist. Merriam-Webster said interest in the blockbuster movie Wonder Woman and the Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale also increased searches for the term.