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Daniel Peart stands next to a 'for sale' sign in front of his home in Poway, Calif., in this March 22, 2007
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Used to describe a risky loan, 'subprime' has been chosen as the Word of the Year 2007 by American Dialect Society at its annual convention Friday.
"`Subprime' has been around with bankers for awhile, but now everyone is talking about `subprime,'" said Wayne Glowka, a spokesman for the group."It's affecting all kinds of people in all kinds of places."
About 80 members of the organization spent two days debating the merits of runners-up "Facebook," "green," "Googleganger" and "waterboarding" before voting for an adjective that means "a risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage or investment."
The choice signifies the public's concern for a "deepening mortgage crisis," the society said in a statement.
"Facebook," as a noun, verb or adjective, was popular with younger linguists, Glowka said.
Several people lobbied for "green," which "designates environmental concern," but the term has been around for years, he said. The word topped the 2007 "Most Useful" category, one of numerous subgroups the society choses.
The group also decided that although "waterboarding," an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, gained a lot of attention during recent attorney general confirmation hearings, it was a bigger deal in 2004, Glowka said.
But what's a "Googleganger?"
A play on "doppelganger," the word is "a person with your name who shows up when you Google yourself," according to the society. It was named as the "Most Creative" word.
As for "subprime," Glowka said it is an odd word — at least as far as linguists are concerned.
The prefix "sub" translates roughly to "below the standard," while "prime" means something close to "the best."
So, according to Glowka, the word really means "far below the best."
In 2006, the organization chose "plutoed," which means "to be demoted or devalued."
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(Agencies)
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在上周五召開的美國方言學會年度大會上，用于形容高風險貸款的“次級（subprime）”一詞被評為2007年度詞匯。
該組織的發言人韋恩?格洛卡說：“‘次級（貸款）’曾是銀行業術語，而如今每個人都在談論它。它正影響著各行各業的人?！?/font>
此前，美國方言學會的約80名成員就評選年度詞匯進行了為期兩天的討論。Facebook（美國在線社交網站）、green（綠色）、Googleganger（谷歌替身）和waterboarding（水刑）都在討論之列。最終，他們投票選定意味著“高風險貸款或投資”的形容詞“次級”為2007年度詞匯。
美國方言學會在一份聲明中說，“次級”當選年度詞匯表明美國民眾對于“日益惡化的次貸危機”的擔憂。
格洛卡說，年輕的語言學家們更青睞Facebook一詞，Facebook既可用作名詞，也可用作形容詞和動詞。
還有幾名評委傾向于“green（綠色）”一詞，但這個代表人們對環境關切的詞語已流行多年。除年度詞匯外，該語言組織還評選出了多項詞匯之最，green一詞當選2007年“最有用的詞匯”。
該組織稱，盡管審訊手段“水刑”在最近召開的總檢察長確認聽證會上受到眾多關注，但程度還不及2004年?！八獭笔且环N讓犯人感覺自己快被溺死的刑訊方式。
那么Googleganger指的是什么呢？
據介紹，“Googleganger（谷歌替身）”是根據（德語）doppelganger（面貌相似的人）一詞改造而來，指的是在Google上搜索自己時發現的與自己同名同姓的人。Googleganger被評為“最具創意詞匯”。
格洛卡說“subprime”這個詞有些怪——至少在語言學家們看來是這樣。
前綴“sub-”的大致含義為“不達標”；而“prime”則表示“最好”。
所以，兩部分意思合在一起其實應該是“遠沒達到最好”。
去年的年度詞匯為plutoed，意為“被降級或貶值”。
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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