"呜呜祖拉"当选南非世界杯主题词

"Vuvuzela" has been voted the word of the World Cup by global linguists who said Monday the tournament will be best remembered for the name of South Africa's deafening trumpet.

"Long after individual matches and goals are forgotten, this will be remembered as the Vuvuzela World Cup," said Jurga Zilinskiene, managing director of London-based firm Today Translations.

"Vuvuzela" was chosen by 75 percent of more than 320 linguists from over 60 countries, who were asked to choose the word with the biggest impact on the tournament.

"Thanks to the World Cup, vuvuzela has the entered the shared language of the world and joined the ranks of words that need no translation," said Zilinskiene.

The tuneless plastic horn blown by fans was a top World Cup newsmaker and has been snapped up abroad. Experts have warned it can damage hearing.

The much-debated official Jabulani ball, mascot Zakumi and the Bafana Bafana national South African team each won four percent of the votes.

南非世界杯上球迷吹奏的喇叭“呜呜祖拉”于本周一获评本届世界杯的主题词，语言学家们称本届世界杯将会因为这个产自南非的震耳欲聋的喇叭而被人们记住。

总部位于伦敦的今日翻译公司的常务董事尤尔加．奇林斯基尼说：“在本届世界杯的比赛和进球渐渐被淡忘后，人们记住的可能只有‘呜呜祖拉’。”

来自60多个国家的320多名语言学家参与了本届世界杯的主题词评选，其中75%的人选择了“呜呜祖拉”。

奇林斯基尼说：“都是因为世界杯，‘呜呜祖拉’的名字才得以成为世界通用语言中的一员，成为一个不需要翻译的词语。”

南非世界杯期间，球迷们吹奏的这一不成曲调的塑料喇叭成为媒体关注的焦点，在其它国家也成为热销商品。而专家们则曾警告说这种喇叭会损害听力。

此外，备受争议的世界杯官方用球“普天同庆”、吉祥物扎库米以及南非国家队别称“Bafana Bafana （小伙子、小伙子）”分别获得4%的选票。

Vocabulary:

snap up: 抢购

mascot: an animal, a toy, etc. that people believe will bring them good luck, or that represents an organization, etc. （吉祥物）