英语最奇葩的单词（英文外刊-BBC评选）

Is this the most powerful word in the English language?

这是英语中最牛的单词吗?

'The' It's omnipresent; we can't imagine English without it. But it's not much to look at. It isn't descriptive, evocative or inspiring. And yet this bland and innocuous- seeming word could be one of the most potent in the English language.

the这个单词可以说无处不在，我们也无法想象一个没有它的英语世界。尽管它看着不咋地、不能用于描写、不能引发共鸣、也不能发人深省;然而，这个平淡无奇且看似没有攻击性的词可以说是英语中最有力的字眼之一了。

'The' tops the league tables of most frequently used words in English, accounting for 5% of every 100 words used. 'The' also lies at the heart of English grammar, having a function rather than a meaning.

单词the位居英语词频排行榜榜首，人们每使用100个英语单词，就会有5个是the。同时，the也是英语语法的一个核心部分，它具有语法功能却没有实际含义。

Although 'the' has no meaning in itself,“ it seems to be able to do things in subtle and miraculous ways,”says Michael Rosen, poet and author.Consider the difference between 'he scored a goal' and 'he scored the goal. The inclusion of 'the' immediately signals something important about that goal. Perhaps it was the only one of the match? Or maybe it was the clincher that won the league? Context very often determines sense.

诗人兼作家迈克尔.罗森表示，尽管the本身没有意思，但是“它却能以微小而神奇的方式起到一些作用”。就拿“he scored a goal (他进了一个球)”和“hescoredthegoal (他进了那个球)” 的差别来看，含有单词the的那句话显然就表现出了，那个球有某种重要的价值。也许那是整场比赛进的唯一一个球?又或者那是赢得联赛的关键一球?上下文在很大程度上决定了单词在文本中的意思。

This simplest of words can be used for dramatic effect. At the start of Hamlet, a guard's utterance of 'Long live the King' is soon followed by the apparition of the ghost: 'Looks it not like the King?'Who, the audience wonders, does 'the' refer to? The living King or a dead King? This kind of ambiguity is the kind of 'hook' that writers use to make us quizzical, a bit uneasy even.“'The' is doing a lot of work here,”says Rosen.

这个再简单不过的词也能带来戏剧性的效果。在《哈姆雷特》开场的时候，守卫喊了一句“国王万岁”，紧接着鬼魂登场了，于是守卫问道:“ 它的样子难道不像那位国王吗?”此时观众就会疑惑，这里到底指的是哪位“国王”呢?是在世的国王?还是已故的国王?而这种模棱两可的指代正是剧作家的“点睛之笔”，能让观众产生好奇、甚至有一丝不安。罗森说:“单词the在这里的作用不容小觑。”