"嗚嗚祖拉"當選南非世界盃主題詞
"Vuvuzela" has been voted the word of the World Cup by global linguists who said Monday the tournament will be best remembered for the name of South Africa's deafening trumpet.
"Long after individual matches and goals are forgotten, this will be remembered as the Vuvuzela World Cup," said Jurga Zilinskiene, managing director of London-based firm Today Translations.
"Vuvuzela" was chosen by 75 percent of more than 320 linguists from over 60 countries, who were asked to choose the word with the biggest impact on the tournament.
"Thanks to the World Cup, vuvuzela has the entered the shared language of the world and joined the ranks of words that need no translation," said Zilinskiene.
The tuneless plastic horn blown by fans was a top World Cup newsmaker and has been snapped up abroad. Experts have warned it can damage hearing.
The much-debated official Jabulani ball, mascot Zakumi and the Bafana Bafana national South African team each won four percent of the votes.
南非世界盃上球迷吹奏的喇叭“嗚嗚祖拉”於本週一獲評本屆世界盃的主題詞，語言學家們稱本屆世界盃將會因爲這個產自南非的震耳欲聾的喇叭而被人們記住。
總部位於倫敦的今日翻譯公司的常務董事尤爾加•奇林斯基尼說：“在本屆世界盃的比賽和進球漸漸被淡忘後，人們記住的可能只有‘嗚嗚祖拉’。”
來自60多個國家的320多名語言學家參與了本屆世界盃的主題詞評選，其中75%的人選擇了“嗚嗚祖拉”。
奇林斯基尼說：“都是因爲世界盃，‘嗚嗚祖拉’的名字才得以成爲世界通用語言中的一員，成爲一個不需要翻譯的詞語。”
南非世界盃期間，球迷們吹奏的這一不成曲調的塑料喇叭成爲媒體關注的焦點，在其它國家也成爲熱銷商品。而專家們則曾警告說這種喇叭會損害聽力。
此外，備受爭議的世界盃官方用球“普天同慶”、吉祥物扎庫米以及南非國家隊別稱“Bafana Bafana （小夥子、小夥子）”分別獲得4%的選票。
Vocabulary:
snap up: 搶購
mascot: an animal, a toy, etc. that people believe will bring them good luck, or that represents an organization, etc. （吉祥物）
