一塌糊涂！ Omnishambles

Hello, welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Callum and with me today is Neil. Hello Neil.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语，我是Callum，今天我们请到的是Neil。Neil你好。
Hi there Callum.
你好，Callum。
In today’s programme we’re going to be talking about the word ‘omnishambles’.Every year a committee at the Oxford English Dictionary comes up with a list of new words that have made a big impact on the English language.
在今天的节目中我们将讨论一下“omnishables”这个词。每年，牛津英语词典委员会都会列出一个新单词列表，这一列表对英语语言产生了重要影响。
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.
现在，还没有必要把这些单词马上收录到词典中，但他们都是受到流行文化、体育、政治和其他一些时事所影响而出现的词。
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 dictionary?Was it Robert Cawdrey, Samuel Johnson or Noah Webster?
今年，在这一新单词列表中跃居首位的就是“omnishambles”这个单词。在我们继续讨论之前，Neil，我这有一道关于词典方面的问题要问你。以下选项中，谁出版了最早的以英文字母顺序排列的词典？是Robert Cawdrey，Samuel Johnson 还是Noah Webster?
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.
这个问题确实很具有欺骗性。我觉得你想让我回答Samuel Johnson。我觉得应该不是Webster，因为他是美国人。那我选Robert Cawdrey。
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?
好的，在节目最后我们将揭晓答案，看看你有没有回答正确。Fiona McPherson 是决定哪些词将成为年度词汇的审判员之一，并且她阐述了为什么这些新单词会上榜。她的主要评判标准又是什么呢?
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, really.Some words are flash in the pan, but you can normally gauge by using your own judgement whether or not something is going to have a life.
首先是证据的问题，只要有人使用它，我们就可以找到一些单独的例子。我所说的单独，并不是指只有一个人用；在各种报纸，或者小说之类的媒介上，你都可以看到。但最重要的还是它的预期寿命。有些单词仅仅是昙花一现，但通常你可以通过自己的评判标准来衡量某个事物是否具有生命力。
Neil, what’s most important?
Neil, 在她看来最重要的是什么？
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.
她说“最重要的是”这个单词是不是有很多人使用，是不是在多种媒体上使用。
Is that the only consideration?
这是唯一的评判标准吗？
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.
不，她还说一个单词的“预期寿命”也很重要，所谓“预期寿命”就是指对这个单词能够使用多久的一个估测。她说到一些单词只是昙花一现，也就是流行一阵然后就销声匿迹了。
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?
在一个生活模仿艺术的示例中，“omnishambles”这个词首次出现在2009年一部BBC电视台的政治喜剧中。那你能不能跟我们说一说这个词是什么意思呢？
Sure. The prefix ‘omni’, which means everywhere or everything, has been added to the noun ‘shambles’.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.
当然可以，"omni"这个前缀表示“每个地方”或者“每件事物”，把它加在了名词"shambles"之前。"Shambles"是一个名词，用来表示某件事组织或者计划的很糟糕。简直是一塌糊涂！Omnishambles这个新词就是用来强调已经很糟糕的事情变得更加混乱如果说某件事是一个"omnishambles"，那就是说这件事是一个彻头彻尾的灾难。它经常用来指政客们所犯的一系列错误。
And it’s a word that’s become particularly popular for those who want to criticise the government.Let’s listen to an example. This is Ed Milliband, an opponent of the British prime minister, speaking in parliament.
它已经成为那些想要批判政府的人们非常喜欢的一个单词了。我们来看个例子。这是一位英国首相的反对者Ed Milliband在国会上的讲话。
Over the last month, we’ve seen the charity tax shambles, the churches tax shambles, the caravan 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.
上个月，我们看到了慈善税收的混乱，教堂税收的混乱，商队税收的混乱，以及快餐业税收的混乱。因此，议长先生，自预算出台后的四周内，包括英国政府内部的人员都称其为糟糕的预算，我们很想知道首相对此是怎样看的。
Ed Milliband describing lots of different ‘shambles’, and then describing them all as omnishables.
Ed Milliband 描述了各个方面的“混乱”，然后将这一切归结为一塌糊涂。
Yes, an omnishambles is a collection of shambles!
没错，omnishambles就是集各种混乱于一体。
So why has the word caught on? Here’s writer Tony Roche, who coined the expression in the political satire The Thick of It.
为什么这个单词流行起来了呢？作家Tony Roche在他的政治讽刺剧《幕后危机》中创造了这一表达方式。
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.
它似乎正在使自己发生着突变。我想可能是在《名利场》中 ‘Romneyshambles’ 这一单词被用来描述Mitt Romney 的各种失言，并且也在其他的一些语境中使用。
What reason does he give for the popularity of the word?
他给出的这一单词流行起来的原因是什么？
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.
他说这个单词能够轻松的适应各种不同情况的变换。他提到杂志《名利场》用这个单词的变体- Romneyshambles 来指美国总统候选人Mitt Romney 失言的事实。
Gaffes?
失言？
Yes, gaffes, a word for embarrassing mistakes.
是的，失言，一种尴尬的语言上的错误。
Let’s listen to Tony Roche again.
让我们再来听一遍Tony Roche 的话。
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.
它似乎正在使自己发生着突变。我想可能是在《名利场》中 ‘Romneyshambles’ 这一单词被用来描述Mitt Romney 的各种失言，并且也在其他的一些语境中使用。
Will this word have legs? Will it live longer than the current political period?Here’s Fiona McPherson again; what does she think?
这个词会有生命力吗？它能比当今的政局存在的时间更长吗？我们再来看一下Fiona McPherson 是怎么想的？
What it has in its favour is it’s already had some derivatives 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 that maybe this word will have staying power, but really time is the only thing that will, will tell.
它拥有的优势是它已经有了一些像 Romneyshambles这样的变体，当人们说道Mitt Romney的失言--伦敦并没有准备好举办一次成功的奥运会时，我们就会听到像Romneyshambles这样的词汇。类似于这样的事情预示着这个单词可能会有存在下去的生命力，但唯有时间能够证实一切。
What does she think Neil?
她是怎么看的呢?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.
她和Tony Roche 的观点不谋而合，同样认为这个单词已经有了派生体或者不同的变体。她同样提到了Romneyshambles这个例子。正是这种适应力和发展变化的特点让她觉得这个单词有存在下去的生命力--可能会使它具有英语语言中一种持久的特性与能力。但最后，时间会证实一切，我们拭目以待吧。
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?
这就是语言的魅力--不断的在变化。现在，在我们节目还没有变成一个omnishambles之前，我们来看一下本周的问题。是谁最先出版了以英文字母顺序排列的词典？Neil?你的答案是？
Robert Cawdrey.
Robert Cawdrey
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.
Robert Cawdrey 是正确的答案，时间是在1604年。好了，这就是本期的六分钟英语。我们下次见，谢谢Neil的参与，再见.
Goodbye!
再见！