时髦英语口语词汇讲解第4期:Big up! 变大!

Big up – big up, two words.
Big up – big up，两个简单的词。

As a phrasal verb - to big somebody or something up - 'big up the London crew'.
它可以是动词短语——to big somebody or something up（夸赞，吹捧）——‘big up the London crew（吹嘘伦敦船员）’。

It can also be used as a noun 'a big-up' as in 'a big-up to all my people'.
它也可以作为名词使用，比如在‘a big-up to all my people（对所有关心我的人致以最崇高的敬意）’中，‘a big-up（感谢，致敬）’就是名词。

It's an expression of respect or recognition, an acknowledgement of the value of another person or group.
它表达的是一种尊敬或认可，是对其他人重要性的一种承认。

It's one of many expressions that have come into English from the Caribbean, often from Jamaica, and it was the influence of Jamaican music and culture which made the word popular in the UK.
它是众多从加勒比海（通常是从牙买加岛）进入到英语词汇的表达之一，而由于受牙买加岛音乐以及文化的影响，它在英国成为了常用语。

It was, and still is, used by reggae music artists to name-check other singers, sound systems and fans and has also crossed over into rap and hip-hop.
过去乃至是现在，当瑞格舞曲作家在指明提及歌手，音响系统和歌迷的时候，他们都会用到big up这个表达，这两个词甚至也已经蔓延到了说唱和嘻哈音乐中。

In the Caribbean itself, the term seems to have a variety of different meanings.
在加勒比海当地，这两个词似乎有许多不同的含义。

For example, when used as a noun, a 'big-up' is an important person, or someone with a certain status in the community, a politician or a policeman maybe.
比如，当它被用作名词时，a‘big-up’指的是一个重要的人，亦或是一个在某个社会团体中有一定身份地位的人：可能是一个政客，又或许是一个警察。

Or, in Bahamian slang (from the islands of the Bahamas) 'big up' can mean to get bigger, referring to a pregnant woman.
另外，在巴哈马俚语中（来自巴哈马岛），‘big up’意为变大，一般指孕妇（的肚子）。

From its origins within the context of reggae and dancehall music, the use of 'big up' has evolved and expanded.
从它起源于瑞格舞曲和歌厅之中开始，‘big up’的用法已经被扩大开来了。

It has entered the mainstream and can be found in newspapers, not just tabloids, and on television.
它已经汇入到了社会的主流之中，进入到了我们的报纸之上，而且不只是小报上，在电视荧幕上，我们也能看到它的身影。

But you know a word has really entered the language when a politician uses it.
但是，当一个政客在使用某个词的时候，你才会意识到这个词真的已经融入到了我们的语言之中了。

In a speech in June 2006, Conservative party leader David Cameron attempted to show his street cred (see Series 2) by using the word when he was talking about supposedly family-friendly supermarkets.
2006年六月，保守党领导人David Cameron在一次演讲中就用到过big up这个词，当时他正在谈论预想中有益于每个家庭的超市，试图炫耀他的街头声誉（系列节目2中提到过这个词）。

'We've got to big up Asda... We need to big it up, talk about it, promote it...' said Cameron, attracting a certain amount of ridicule as a result.
‘我们必须要壮大阿斯达（英国的第二大超市）……我们得谈论它，宣传它……’Cameron如是说。其结果当然是受到了一定的嘲笑。

There seems to be an interesting difference in the way the verb is used in the UK and in the US.
英国和美国在动词用法上的存在一个很有意思的差异。

In the UK, it is generally the verb 'big' which changes to form the past or gerund, for example, 'he bigged up his fellow artists'.
在英国，通常是动词‘big’变成过去式或动名词，例如，‘he bigged up his fellow artists’（他超赞他的艺术家同事）.

In the US however, the 'inflection' (a variation in the form of a word to change its word class) is sometimes on the 'up' part of the term, giving us big-upped and big-upping.
而在美国，这种“变形”（改变词的形式来改变词类）有时会体现在‘up’这个词上，如：giving us big-upped and big-upping。