 |
| British potato farmers were taking
to the streets to call for the expression 'couch potato' to be
struck from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms the
vegetable's image. (AFP)
| |
British potato farmers were taking to the streets to call for
the expression "couch potato"
to be struck from the
dictionary on the grounds that it harms the vegetable's image.
The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary to
replace the expression with the term "couch slouch", with protests planned
outside parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press.
Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some
4,000 growers and processors, said the group had complained in writing to
the OED but had yet to receive a response.
"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad for you,"
she said Monday.
"The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the
Oxford English Dictionary's fault but we want to use another term than
couch potato because potatoes are inherently healthy."
The OED says "couch potato" originated as American slang, meaning "a
person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching
television or video tapes."
The Potato Council says its campaign has the backing of dieticians who say the vegetable is low in
fat and high in vitamin C.
Supporting the campaign, celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson said
the vegetable was one of Britain's favorite foods.
"Not only are they healthy, they are versatile, convenient and taste great too.
Life without potato is like a sandwich without a filling," he said.
John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the
dictionary first included the term couch potato in 1993 and said
"dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses."
Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary,
which includes some 650,000 words contained in 20 volumes.
But little-used words can be removed from the smaller dictionaries to
make way for newer ones.
"If society stops using words then they get taken out of the smaller
dictionaries," he added.
The first known recorded use of the expression couch potato was in a
1979 Los Angeles Times article, Simpson said.
Nigel Evans, a member of parliament for the Ribble Valley in
Lancashire, has made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the
nutritional value of the British potato.
(Agencies) |
英國種植土豆的農(nóng)民們紛紛涌上街頭游行，強(qiáng)烈要求《牛津英語大詞典》把短語“couch
potato”從字典中刪掉，理由是這個(gè)詞有損土豆的形象。
英國馬鈴薯委員會計(jì)劃在倫敦議會大廈及牛津大學(xué)出版社的辦公室旁舉行抗議活動，以迫使《牛津英語大詞典》用另一個(gè)詞“couch
slouch”來取代“couch potato”。
英國馬鈴薯委員會代表著大約4000名土豆種植者和加工者的利益，該委員會的市場部主任凱瑟琳·萊思說，他們已經(jīng)向《牛津英語大詞典》的編撰者們寫了抗議信，但是目前還沒有收到任何回音。
“我們試圖消除這樣一種印象：土豆是個(gè)害人精。”，她于本周一（6月20日）說。
“土豆在過去一直身背罵名。當(dāng)然，這也并非《牛津英語大詞典》的過錯(cuò)。但我們想用別的詞來代替couch
potato，畢竟土豆天生就對人類健康有益。”
《牛津英語大詞典》對這個(gè)詞是如此解釋的：“couch
potato”起源于美國俚語，代指那些“消極度過閑暇時(shí)光或終日無所事事的人，他們通常看電視或影碟打發(fā)時(shí)間”。
馬鈴薯委員會聲稱這場運(yùn)動得到了營養(yǎng)學(xué)家的支持。后者宣稱土豆脂肪含量低，而且富含維生素C。
著名廚師安東尼·沃拉爾·湯普森也支持這場運(yùn)動。他說土豆是英國人最愛吃的食物之一。
“土豆不僅有益于身體健康，而且富含多種營養(yǎng)成分，食用方便，味道也很棒。如果生活中沒有土豆，就像三明治沒有加餡一樣，索然無味。”他說。
《牛津英語大詞典》的主編約翰·辛普森介紹說，這本字典于1993年首次將couch
potato這個(gè)短語納入詞條，并且強(qiáng)調(diào)“字典只不過反映了單詞在社會中的使用情況而已”。
辛普森表示，目前還沒有把詞組從這本大型詞典中刪掉的先例。《牛津英語大詞典》共分為20卷，包含65萬個(gè)單詞。
但在一些小型字典中，如果一些單詞已很少使用，就可以把它們刪掉，為新的詞匯留出空間。
"如果某些單詞已不再使用，就可以把它們從小型字典中刪掉，"他補(bǔ)充說。
目前已知的對couch potato這個(gè)短語的最早使用紀(jì)錄是1979年《洛杉磯時(shí)報(bào)》的一篇文章中，他說。
來自蘭開夏郡里博爾山谷的議員奈杰爾·埃文斯也表示支持這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動，并對英國土豆的極高的營養(yǎng)價(jià)值大加贊賞。
（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2005-06-22 09:57