Nine-Years-for-A-and-B

NineYearsforAandBPara.1-3By何颖许蔚华黎淑雯郭颖琪Dr.Johnsonaharmlessdrudge•Lexicographer:-awriterofdictionaries;aharmlessdrudge,thatbusieshimselfintracingtheoriginal,anddetailingthesignificationofwords.Whytouse“harmless”??Takenfrom:DictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage•ForJohnsonknewnotonlythatagreatdealmorethandrudgeryisinvolved,butalsothattheamountdrudgeryinthemakingofadictionaryissimplyunimaginable.Eventhedictionarymakerfortunatelycan’tmakeitrealtohimselfinadvance.因为约翰逊博士深知编撰词典远非仅仅是件苦差事，其庞大的工作量是根本无法想象的。所幸的是，即使是词典编撰者自身也难以事先准确预测这份工作的艰辛程度。Will-o’-the-wisp:Awill-o'-the-wispisaghostlylightseenbytravellersatnight,especiallyoverbogs,swampsormarshes.Itresemblesaflickeringlampandissaidtorecedeifapproached,drawingtravellersfromthesafepaths.(Metaphor:ahopeorgoalthatleadsoneonbutisimpossibletoreach)•Andthen,alltoosoon,heishavingtoadmit,notonlythatAisn’ttypical(apparentlyithaslotsofclassicallyderivedwords,andthesedon’thaveagreatmanysenses),butthatthewholeideaofatypicalletterisawill-o’-the-wisp.然后，不用多久，词典编撰者不仅得承认字母A（开头的词条）并不具有代表性（显然的，A开头的单词有不少都是出自希腊或拉丁语的，它们都没有太多的词义），并且还会发现这样的字母是不存在的。•Rarewords:生僻词•Scientificterms:科学术语•Entry：anitem,forexampleapieceofinformation,thatiswrittenorprintedinadictionary.•Slippery:(ofasituation,subject,problem,etc.)difficulttodealwithandthatyouhavetothinkaboutcarefully.