awesome

一部剧 感受 造词的乐趣

How I met your mother 是一部跟老友记比较类似的轻松情景喜剧，从大二开始直到现在陪伴我有些年了，不仅带给我无数欢乐与感动，也让我领略了语言的魅力。

像这种喜剧的幽默大多通过对话产生，而wordplay是制造笑点的重要的手段之一。

在himym中编剧更是自造了不少词(也有借用的啦)，好不过瘾。

本文摘选一些例子，瞧瞧英语中究竟怎么个造词。

---

1. Word-formation构词法

    比较直白的造词就是词形（form）上发生变化

1.1 Derivation 派生/前后缀 affixation (prefix&suffix)

e.g. 1 anti-awesometic:  anti+awesome+tic

Anti- 否定前缀“反”，如antiwar；(t)ic构成形容词的后缀，如dramatic

Barney: I have to face an ugly truth. Jerry Whittaker, my own father, is anti-awesometic. I know Crazy Jerry's still in there somewhere, but he's trapped under 20 years of lawnmower parties and carpool barbecues.                                                         

                                                                                                 (S6E21,“Hopeless”)

e.g. 2 “Reachers and Settlers”:  后缀er，高攀的一方和将就的一方

Robin: Well, it's like this, my man. Every good relationship has a reacher and a settler.

Ted: Exactly. One person reaches for someone out of their league, the other one settles for someone below theirs.

Marshall: I did not settle for Lily. Okay, yes, she's a little short, and true, my mom says she doesn't have the hips to birth an Eriksen child, but it… Oh, my God, you guys think I'm the reacher.

Robin: That's why Lily's not jealous. The settler is never jealous of the reacher because where's the reacher gonna go? The settler, Lily, is the best thing that the reacher, Marshall, is ever gonna get.

Marshall: No! Okay, yes,I'm lucky to have Lily, but Lily is just as lucky to have me! Okay? Neither one of us is the reacher.

Robin: Dude, you are so the reacher.  

                                                                                                    (S5E13, “Jenkins”)

1.2 Compounding 复合

简单的说就是两/多个词（根）结合成一个词，有分开写(tear gas)、用连字符“-”(day-dreamer)和写在一起(girlfriend)三种可能。

e.g. 1 Man maker: 构成方式如同carmaker。Barney的第一次就是给了manmaker。。

A lady, often older, who is known for "helping" struggling men/boys lose their virginity. 

Rhonda: No, I'm not having sex with you. Sit down a minute. I'm not the Man maker anymore.You know what, about five years ago, I realized there was an emptiness inside of me that no amount of meaningless sex could fill. I needed something more.And that's when I discovered Indian casinos.                                                           

                                                                                              (S3E10, “The Yips”)

e.g. 2 Underpants Radius: 内裤半径随着自尊下降而变大。Marshall失落的那段日子，只穿四角内裤可以走出门。。

Ted: Everyone's got an underpants radius. For most of us, it's the distance from the bedroom to the bathroom,but as your self-esteem gets smaller, your underpants radius gets bigger.

Robin: How big is Marshall's underpants radius? 

                                                                               (S4E02,"Best Burger in New York")

e.g. 3 Proxy Bang:代理炮;)

B: You banged my sister!My sweet, little, innocent…

T: Pierced.

B: Really? Where? Don't  answer that! Now I know why I felt everything you did to her last night. Itwasn't a bro-nnection, it was a sis-nnection! Oh, my God. Ted did you…

T: Big-time.

B: Nice! High five!Wait! No! No! Retraction five!

T: Hey, hey, you're the one who begged for a proxy bang.

                                                                                                     (S8E14, "Ring Up")

e.g. 4 Brobibs: Barney's billion-dollar idea of bibs that look exactly like the outfit you're currently wearing. This is a compound between “bro” and “bib”.

Barney: Picture a bib that looks like your suit: a collar, a tie, a jacket...I could call them brobibs!                                                            

                                                                                         (S8E09, “Lobster Crawl”)

如图：

不错哦

e.g. 5 You're-dead-to-me Look:  连字符甚至可以把一句话变成一个形容词

         以及Robin说过的 “what-the-hell attitude” 同理（找不到哪集了：））

Ted (2030): And then Lily gave her dad a look that Marshall had only seen a few times before, a look we all pray never to be on the receiving end of, her You're-dead-to-me look.                                                                  

                                                          (S5E09, “Slapsgiving2: Revenge of the Slap”)

如图：        

吓死了

e.g. 6 Stamp Tramp: stamp印，戳，章; tramp荡妇

      Marshall眼里谁都好人，stamp of approval称许之章给谁都盖，就被起这个名号。

Marshall: 'Cause Brad is an old friend who needs a job. Why shouldn't I give him the old Marshall Eriksen Stamp of Approval?

Robin: Marshall, you're a stamp tramp.

Marshall: How dare you!And what is that?!

Ted: You give your stamp of approval to everything. It's become meaningless.             

                                                                                    (S8E07, “The Stamp Tramp”)

1.3 Blending混合   

     单词砍掉一部分再组合，这种方式最多产了。

     如sitcom(situation +comedy), medicare(medical +care), Eurasia(Europe +Asia)

e.g. 1 “Cockmouse”: cock(roach)+mouse

Lily: Yeah. It has six legs, a hard exoskeleton like a roach...

Marshall: But it has mouse-like characteristics. Grey-brown tufts of fur, a tail.

Robin: So which is it, a cockroach or a mouse?

Lily: It's a cockamouse.

Robin: What?

Lily: It's some sort of mutant combination of the two. It's as if a cockroach and a mouse...you know...                                               

                                                                                             (S1E07, "Matchmaker")

e.g. 2 Premature Slapulation: = slap + (ejac)ulation. Premature ejaculation是男性早*问题。Barney当时以为赢了那个打赌，没等Lily专员批准就扇了Marshall。

Lily: And yet a slap occurred without the permission of the Slap Bet Commissioner.

Marshall: Looks like someone suffered from premature slapulation

                                                                                                  (S2E09,“Slap Bet”)

e.g. 3“Slapsgiving”: = Slaps +(Thanks)giving

Marshall: Oh, hey, by the way, if anyone wants to come over early Thursday, we can watch the Slapsgiving day parade.

Barney: Well, there, you said it again.

Marshall: Said what?

Barney:Slapsgiving.

Marshall: Oh, I guess Idid. You know why? I've invented a new holiday:Slapsgiving. It's the one day we set aside each year to gather together and give slaps. 

                                                                                    (S3E09, "Slapsgiving")

e.g. 4 Burgasm: bur(ger) + (or)gasm  汉堡好吃到高潮

Ted: Oh my god. I'm never brushing my teeth again unless it's with a toothbrush made from this burger.

Lily: I think I just had my first burgasm.

                                                        (S4E02, “The Best Burger in New York”)

e.g. 5 Suitjamas: suit + (pa)jamas  西装睡衣

Marshall : So that's how I go to bed every night: happy, weightless, with a heart full of joy. What about you?

Barney: I have to lie perfectly still so I don't wrinkle my suitjamas. But at least I'm not wearing a dress.                                                                       

                                                                                     (S4E17, "The FrontPorch")

如图：

e.g. 6 Douchepocalypse: 走进一个party都是Ted那种文青，岂不是末日来到？

                                           douche+ (a)pocalypse   讨厌鬼+末日

Barney: One word, made up,Douchepocalypse.

                                                                                (S5E22, "Robots vs.Wrestlers")

其他混合构词的不再赘述，列表如下：

等等等等

1.4 Conversion (词性)转化

       最多的是把名词作动词用

e.g.1“Suit up”: 把suit作动词用，如下例还加了过去式-ed

     后续还有 Snow-suit up, Flight-suit up, Penguin-suit up

Ted: Hey, you wanna do something tonight?

Barney: Okay, meet me at the bar in fifteen minutes, and suit up!

Barney: Look at you, you beautiful bastard, you suited up! This is totally going in my blog!

                                                                                                           (S1E1, “Pilot”)

e.g. 2 “Lawyerd”: lawyer作动词用；Marshall律师身份，就常在争论时，对方无力反驳了用这个词表示律师认证了的味道，很拽的样子。

Barney: Oh, gross. What,you have some puritanical hang-up about prostitution? Dude, it's the world's oldest profession.

Marshall: You really think that's true?

Barney: Oh, yeah. I bet even Cro-Magnons used to give cave hookers, like, an extra fish for putting out.

Marshall: Aha, so then the oldest profession would be fishermen. Kaboom! You've been lawyered.

                                                                                   (S1E19, "Mary the Paralegal")

e.g. 3 High-five:这里作及物动词用

Marshall: I miss Barney.I haven't high-fived anyone in like a week. I think I might be starting to lose my fist bone callus. 

                                                                                            (S3E18,"Rebound Bro")   

1.5 Acronymy首字母缩略语

e.g. “G-CWOK”: Gay Couple WithOut Kids 

                    如同DINK：丁克dual income, no kids

Marshall: Lily, come on.I'm proud of you. Who-who bought it?

Lily: Well, that's the best part. A gay couple without kids. A G-CWOK!

                                                                                (S3E19, "Everything Must Go")

2. Semantics语义

    除了改变词形，还可以从意义上延伸，保持单词拼写不变，也可算作新词。

2.1 Metaphor比喻

      e.g.1 On the Hook：就是比喻在谁的钩上，备胎的感觉，他/她让你给做事，（暂时）却不会接受你。 下面还衍生了hookee和hooker表示其中被动和主动的一方

Robin: Oh, Ted. She's got you on the hook.

Ted: What? What? I'm not on the hook.

Barney: Oh, you are totally on the hook.

Robin: She's stringing you along. She's not committing to you, but she's keeping you around just in case, like an old can of chili in the pantry.

Lily: Um, who's buying canned chili and not eating it immediately?

Marshall: Amen, sister.

Robin: Ted, don't feel bad. We've all been there. I've been on both sides of it. I've been a hookee and a hooker. Move past it, guys. I've been a little bit loose, but money never changed hands.

Marshall: I've been on the hook…

                                                                                                    (S5E16, "Hooked")

e.g. 2“The Window”: 跟汉语中异曲同工，表示空窗期。Ted有个喜欢很久的人，但她几乎就没单身过，空窗期超短。

Ted: The window is open.

Marshall: What are you waiting for? Ted, run!

...

Ted: It was the perfect girl next door. And still is. All the guys who meet Maggie fall madly in love with her. And that's the problem. Since I know her, she has been single for only three short windows of time.                                                        

                                                                                            (S5E10,"The Window")

2.2 Motonymy 借代

e.g. Steak sauce：牛排汁人人爱，这里代指最好的  A1, the best, awesome

Bilson: Nice tie. Steak sauce.

Blauman: Oh, steak sauce! For true, though.

Marshall: Where, I don't, I don't see...

Barney: Marshall? Sidebar. Your tie is steak sauce. It means A1. A1? Get it? Try to keep up.                                                                                (S1E17, “Life among the Gorillas”)

2.3 Analogy 类比

e.g. 1 Graduationgoggles：英语中有beer goggles的表达，指受酒精影响像戴上护目镜影响视线一样，本来不感性趣的人都变得sexy了；同理graduation goggles 指毕业的时候就觉得母校好了，还有bridesmaid goggles 当伴娘就觉得结婚好了。

Robin: It's graduation goggles.

Marshall: What?

Robin: Graduation goggles, like with high school. It's four years of bullies making fun of all the kids with braces, even after the braces come off and they can walk just fine. But then, on graduation day, you suddenly get all misty because you realize you're never going to see those jerks again. I just had graduation goggles with that guy Scooby I dated.

                                                                   (S6E20,"The Exploding Meatball Sub")

e.g. 2 Phone-five: it is an analogy of high-five, meaning slapping a cell phone as though giving a high five.

Barney: (On the Phone)MacLaren’s is bore, snore. Ted, tonight we’re going to go out. We’re going to meet some ladies. It’s going to be legendary. Phone-five! (High-fives the phone)

Narrator: I had no idea why I hung out with Barney.

Barney: You didn’t phone-five, did you? I know when you don’t phone-five, Ted. Come on, we always go to MacLaren’s.

                                                                             (S1E03, "Sweet Taste ofLiberty")

2.4 Euphemism委婉语

e.g. 1eating a sandwich: 在剧中好几次出现表示吸大麻

Ted (2030): Kids, to understand this story, you need to know that your Uncle Marshall was doing something that lots of college kids do. How do I say this? He was, uh, let's say eating a sandwich.

College Guy: Dude, I heard the dean is coming. Put out your sandwich.

                                                                        (S3E05, "How I Met EveryoneElse")

e.g. 2 “Vocational paradigm shift”:被炒鱿鱼； “职业方式转移” 说的好委婉～

Ted: After he proposed a vocational paradigm shift, I made an impromptu presentation with a four-step approach that put him in the knee.

Barney: You've hit with a chair?

                                                                                       (S4E18, "Old King Clancy")

说到委婉语，剧中sexual innuendo简直太丰富，欢迎留言～

3. Etymology词源

     Ted Mosby 一人有些特性，所以他的名字被拿来当作词用了

e.g. 1Ted out: 对简单的事多想多虑

Lily: Oh, just play it cool. Don't Ted out about it.

Ted: Did you just use my name as a verb?     下面👇词典体

Barney: Oh, yeah, we do that behind your back. Ted-out: to overthink. Also see Ted-up. Ted-up: to over think something with disastrous results. Sample sentence: Billy Tedded up when...

Ted: OK, I get it. Don't worry, I'm not gonna ted anything up or out. I'll just give it a few more days.                                                                   

                                                                                              (S1E07, "Matchmaker")

e.g. 2.Mosby: verb&noun;过早说 “I love you”而把对方吓跑。Barney喜欢上Robin时，Marshall支招让Robin用这种方式拒绝。

M: Okay, well, first of all… Second of all, there is a maneuver you can try. It's high-risk, but it's also high-reward. For lack of a better term, I'm going to call it The Mosby.

L: The Mosby? No, she couldn't Mosby him.

M: She could Mosby the crap out of him.

                                                                                                  (S4E24, “The Leap”) 

4. Graphic象形

英语不是象形文字，本来应该没有这一类的，谁料编剧脑洞大开弄个无厘头的词，笑笑就好。

e.g. “Turturkeykey”:在一个稍大的火鸡里不塞平常的填料，而塞一个小些的火鸡。

Ted: Instead of stuffing, I'm going to fill the turkey with... a slightly smaller turkey. It's called a Turturkeykey!

Lily: A Turturkeykey?

Robin: Yeah, I was therefor the "insertion." He used shoehorns. I'll be having sides.

                                                                                             (S6E10,   "Blitzgiving")

---

这些词咋看有些扯，跟英语学习有半毛钱关系？

其实它们能立马被观众理解，是因为依旧遵循了英语约定俗成的构词方法，而不是瞎捏造。

正常的英语单词也大多是通过其中一种或多种方式诞生。

了解构词法和意义延伸规律可以大大提高词汇学习效率。因为可以同时学习一组类似的词，而不是单个去记。

相信英语频道以后也会进一步分享词汇学相关的知识

感兴趣的朋友可以关注，如果喜欢这篇文章的话，请帮忙点赞转发哦。