托福阅读：WorldCup:NewWordsEnterTheLexicon
本期关注：新名词的诞生。6月11日晚，世界杯在众人企望中开幕了，世界关注的盛会，我们岂能落下，一起来关注世界杯吧！童鞋们有什么关于世界杯的趣闻或想法？一起来分享下。In 2002, the word "metatarsal" suddenly entered the mainstream, such was the focus on David Beckham's broken foot. Four years later, the wives and girlfriends' ostentatious stint in Baden-Baden, Germany, brought the nickname Wag into common parlance.
Adrian Beard, author of the Language of Sport, says certain words tend to catch on because of cultural repetition and "playfulness" with language.
"The interesting thing about metatarsal is we had a specialist medical term being applied to a highly non-medical group of people. It got to the stage where Rooney and Beckham were almost defined by the term," he says.
It's hard to predict which words will spring from the South African tournament as language reacts to, rather than sets, the agenda.
"It will probably emerge - in terms of England coverage - from key figures in the team, who they are playing and where they are playing. But sometimes we get quite a creative blend of words. Because the World Cup is in South Africa, words from Afrikaans might come into play too."
But there is a huge repertoire for play, and not just with language.
"After all, who could predict the Mexican wave in 1986 or Johan Cruyff's famous turn in 1974?"
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