如何選擇最恰當的英語詞彙？

Selecting the right words is an essential part of communicating, whether you’re writing a wedding speech or a technical report. You need to choose words that are appropriate for your subject matter, that pitch your message at the right level for your audience, and words that most clearly convey what you are trying to say.

無論是在寫婚禮上的演講還是技術性的報告，選擇正確的詞彙都是交流的重要部分。要選擇切合主題的詞語傳達信息給聽衆，同時也要選擇能夠最清楚地表達出想表達的內容的詞彙。

1 Choose everyday words

1 選擇日常詞彙

It is true that English has a vast and varied vocabulary. However, we mostly communicate using only a fraction of those words. A mere 3,000 are enough to make up 75 percent of all communication. They are all standard, everyday words such as tall, eat, forget, and good. Those are the words that people are most used to. So, if you use them rather than more flowery words, your writing will be easier for people to read and process.

的確，英語有豐富多樣的詞彙。然而，大部分情況下我們只使用其中的一小部分進行交流。只要3000個詞彙就足夠完成所有交流的75%。這些詞都是標準的日常用語，比如“ 很高”、“吃東西”、“ 忘記”、“很好”。這些都是大家最習慣使用的詞語。所以，如果我們使用日常用語替代華麗的辭藻，寫出來的東西將會更容易讓別人閱讀和消化理解。

2 Avoid clichés and buzzwords

2 避免陳詞濫調和流行語

Clichés are phrases and words which are used so often and so vaguely that they lose their original impact. For example, ‘at the end of the day’, ‘mass exodus’, ‘in any way, shape, or form’.

Buzzwords are words or phrases, often items of jargon, that are fashionable in certain contexts, and as a result, tend to be overused and sound meaningless. For example, what does ‘a holistic approach’ really mean?

Clichés and buzzwords can irritate readers and either distract them from your message or make them question its validity.

“陳詞濫調”是指那些太經常被使用而且是被模糊使用，進而失去了原有影響力的短語和詞彙。例如，“在一天結束的時候”，“出埃及”，“以任何方式、形狀或形式”。

流行語，通常是術語，是指在特定語境中很流行，所以往往被過度使用或者聽起來毫無意義的短語和詞彙。例如，“一個全面的方法”，這個短語到底是什麼意思呢?

“陳詞濫調”和“流行語”可能會激怒讀者，要麼讓他們偏離你想要表達的信息，要麼讓他們質疑信息的有效性。

3 Choose appropriate formal, neutral, and informal words

3 選擇適當的正式、中性和非正式的詞彙

English is very rich in synonyms. But very often synonyms do not mean exactly the same thing. They are used in distinct styles of writing; some are more formal; some are slangy.

For example, dozens of words express the idea ‘to steal’, but they are all different. Just to examine three of them: purloin is definitely formal, while steal is ‘neutral’, that is to say it is neither formal nor informal. But nick is definitely informal: you would be surprised to find it in a newspaper report of a crime!

In straightforward informative writing, it is helpful to use only neutral words.

英語裏的同義詞有很多。但是，同義詞並不是說這些詞是完全相同的。在不同的寫作風格中要使用不同的同義詞，有些更加正式的，有些則更偏俗話。

比如，有幾十個單詞都能表達“偷”的意思，但它們都是不同的。咱們就看看其中的三個：purloin（偷竊）絕對是正式的，而steal（偷）是“中性的”，也就是說它既不是正式的也不是非正式的。但nick（偷摸）絕對是不正式的: 要是在報紙的犯罪報道里看到這個詞，你一定覺得很驚訝！

在直白的信息寫作中，只使用中性的詞語是大有裨益的。

4 There are many Englishes

4 英語分很多種

English is a world language with several national varieties, such as Canadian English and Australian English. The two varieties which are most often contrasted are American and British. Apart from the well-known differences in spelling between them, for instance color / colour, center / centre, there are also differences in the use of words, some of which are not obvious.

To make sure that a particular meaning applies outside your own variety of English, it is advisable to check in a dictionary. For instance, in banking a British current account is a checking account in American English. Also, make sure your spellchecker is set to your variety of English.

英語是一種世界語言，在很多國家有自己的變體，比如加拿大英語和澳大利亞英語。最常被對比的兩種英語是美式英語和英式英語。除了衆所周知的拼寫差異以外，比如color / colour（顏色）和center / centre（中心），在詞的使用上也有差異，其中有一些並不明顯。

爲了確保某一特定的含義適用於你慣用的以外的其他種類英語，最好是在字典裏查一下。例如，在銀行業務中，英式英語的current account（活期存款賬戶）在美式英語裏叫checking account （活期存款賬戶）。同時，確保拼寫檢查器設置成要使用的各種變體的英語。

5 Use inclusive vocabulary

5 使用包容性詞彙

It is important to respect groups in society such as people with disabilities, older people, ethnic minorities, and so forth. One way of doing this is to choose appropriate, non-stereotyping words. In particular, the words you use should be gender-inclusive and not suggest a masculine bias. There are several ways of doing this. For example, when referring to professions it is nowadays standard to avoid words that refer only to one sex, such as actress(use actor) or policeman (use police officer).

尊重殘疾人、老年人、少數民族等社會羣體是很重要的。選擇合適的、非刻板偏見的詞語就是尊重他們的一種方式。特別是所使用的詞語應該是不分性別的，而不是暗示出男性偏見。有幾種方法可以做到這一點。比如，在提到職業時，現在的通用標準是避免只涉及一種性別的詞，例如“女演員“(使用“男演員”)或“警察”(使用“警官”)。

6 Enrich your vocabulary

6 豐富你的詞彙量

By widening your vocabulary you will have more words to choose from, which means you are more likely to know a word that most precisely conveys your message. Reading is an excellent way to learn new words (as is signing up for the Oxford Dictionaries ‘Word of the Day’email). However, before you use them, be sure to check the meanings of any words that are new to you in a dictionary!

擴大詞彙量意味着你有更多可以從中選擇的詞彙，也就是說更有可能知道一個能夠最準確地表達出你的意思的詞。閱讀是學習新單詞的好方法(就像註冊牛津詞典的“每日單詞”電郵一樣)。但是，在使用新單詞之前，一定要在字典中查一查這些生詞的含義！

（翻譯：Andrea安寧）