 |
| 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) |
英国种植土豆的农民们纷纷涌上街头游行，强烈要求《牛津英语大词典》把短语“couch
potato”从字典中删掉，理由是这个词有损土豆的形象。
英国马铃薯委员会计划在伦敦议会大厦及牛津大学出版社的办公室旁举行抗议活动，以迫使《牛津英语大词典》用另一个词“couch
slouch”来取代“couch potato”。
英国马铃薯委员会代表着大约4000名土豆种植者和加工者的利益，该委员会的市场部主任凯瑟琳·莱思说，他们已经向《牛津英语大词典》的编撰者们写了抗议信，但是目前还没有收到任何回音。
“我们试图消除这样一种印象：土豆是个害人精。”，她于本周一（6月20日）说。
“土豆在过去一直身背骂名。当然，这也并非《牛津英语大词典》的过错。但我们想用别的词来代替couch
potato，毕竟土豆天生就对人类健康有益。”
《牛津英语大词典》对这个词是如此解释的：“couch
potato”起源于美国俚语，代指那些“消极度过闲暇时光或终日无所事事的人，他们通常看电视或影碟打发时间”。
马铃薯委员会声称这场运动得到了营养学家的支持。后者宣称土豆脂肪含量低，而且富含维生素C。
著名厨师安东尼·沃拉尔·汤普森也支持这场运动。他说土豆是英国人最爱吃的食物之一。
“土豆不仅有益于身体健康，而且富含多种营养成分，食用方便，味道也很棒。如果生活中没有土豆，就像三明治没有加馅一样，索然无味。”他说。
《牛津英语大词典》的主编约翰·辛普森介绍说，这本字典于1993年首次将couch
potato这个短语纳入词条，并且强调“字典只不过反映了单词在社会中的使用情况而已”。
辛普森表示，目前还没有把词组从这本大型词典中删掉的先例。《牛津英语大词典》共分为20卷，包含65万个单词。
但在一些小型字典中，如果一些单词已很少使用，就可以把它们删掉，为新的词汇留出空间。
"如果某些单词已不再使用，就可以把它们从小型字典中删掉，"他补充说。
目前已知的对couch potato这个短语的最早使用纪录是1979年《洛杉矶时报》的一篇文章中，他说。
来自兰开夏郡里博尔山谷的议员奈杰尔·埃文斯也表示支持这项运动，并对英国土豆的极高的营养价值大加赞赏。
（中国日报网站译） |
Updated: 2005-06-22 09:57