英语词汇

Words change meaning all the time — and over time. Language historian Anne Curzan takes a closer look at this phenomenon, and shares some words that used to mean something totally different.

莎士比亚在需要或想要时便随意创造新词，arouse、swagger、hoodwink等常用词皆出自他手。文艺复兴时期的英语正处于蓬勃生长的混乱状态，普通人也热衷于用前缀后缀造词，詹姆斯王钦定《圣经》译本更使这门混血语言成为英格兰民族认同的象征。