（1）28 OCT —— Pertinent
平地滚雷，2016年美国大选难逃宿命，再次出现十月震惊（October Surprise）：十月二十八日，联邦调查局主席科米向参议院司法委员会提交信函，要求重启对希拉里”邮件门“的调查。
科米声称，新发现的这些邮件似乎与“邮件门”的调查紧密相关。
（"the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation"）
“相关”一词，科米舍弃常用词 relevant，用上了正式的 pertinent 。
呼啦一下子，网络上开始疯查“pertinent”的确切含义。
（Lookups for 'pertinent' spiked after James Comey used it to describe emails that might be relevant to the investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices.）
该词首次出现在十四世纪的英文书写中，表示与某一事有决定性的关联。（Pertinent itself is first attested to in written English in the 14th century. It refers to having decisive relevance to a matter）
如此，pertinent非但比relevant正式，而且相关性更紧密，更关键。难怪希拉里方面在民调大幅领先的情况下，对FBI在离大选不到两个星期时，突然使出这一“回马枪”，有多么恼火、又有多么不安。
（2）31 oct —— Mother lode
这边厢希拉里正担心不已，那边厢特朗普却高兴万分。
特朗普在拉票途中，立即发话：

”这些新发现的邮件可能就是希拉里违规操作公务邮件的主要证据。“
(“This could be the mother lode.”)

此话一出，即被广为报道，而所用的这个词”mother lode“，也成了网上词典的查询大热。
（Mother lode spiked in lookups on October 31 following a widely reported remark made by Donald Trump at a campaign stop.）
lode 一词，可追溯到古英语，意思是路径、航道或水道、运河，十八世纪中期，用于采矿淘金，表示某地埋藏着大量金、银或石英矿石，可供开采。而在特普朗的句子中，该词字面意思为“主要的来源”（含义则为“主要证据”）。
（“Lode” goes back to an Old English word that meant “path,” “waterway,” or “canal.” It originally was used in reference to mining, meaning “the place where the largest amount of gold, silver, etc. in a particular area can be found,” and referred to underground ore deposits known as lodes or veins. Mother lode in this context means “a principal source or supply.”
难怪特朗普喜形于色——这些内容还没有公布的邮件，对他而言，岂不就是暂时埋在地下的“金银财宝”？

（3）2 NOV —— Innuendo
正是一边欢喜一边愁，而现任总统奥巴马却坐不住了。
他在回答记者有关FBI重开调查邮件们的提问时，特别强调：

做事要有规距，在调查未果时，我们不能含沙射影，不能释放不完整的信息，不能泄露有关资料。
（I do think that there is a norm that when there are investigations we don’t operate on innuendo, and we don’t operate on incomplete information, and we don’t operate on leaks.）

innuendo，即成为当日的查询热词。该词与 hint 和 insinuation 为同义词，暗示别人做了不道德或者不正派的事。（Innuendo means “a statement which indirectly suggests that someone has done something immoral, improper, etc.” and is a synonym of hint or insinuation. ）

中文里，含沙射影明显有贬义，比喻暗中攻击或陷害人；而英文中该词并非贬义词（derogatory），有影射而无含沙 —— 看来，奥巴马还算克制，只是含蓄地批评了FBI的做法。

（4）8 NOV —— Acrimonious

就在这相互谩骂、撕扯中，选举日到了。
有趣的是，当日列为榜首的热词竟是 acrimonious —— 令人痛苦的。
这一天，不少报章和媒体，都使用了这个单词，来形容总统竞选的大结局。
（A number of newspapers and media groups used the word in covering the finale of the presidential election.）

华盛顿邮报的标题为：“选举日——令人痛苦的竞选就要完场了”
Election Day: An acrimonious race reaches its endpoint
—The Washington Post (headline), 8 Nov. 2016

CNN记者写到：“这场旷日持久的竞选，背叛了国家精神，撕裂了社会结构，令人痛苦不堪，今天，美国人民将对其作出裁决。“
（American are casting their verdicts on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Tuesday after an exhausting, acrimonious campaign that at times revolted the nation and tore at its fabric.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN.com, 8 Nov. 2016）

线上词典中对这一词做了更近一步的描述：
就像是过多地吃下了难吃的食物而引起的胆汁反酸，令人难以忍受。
（as does the bile in the gorge of one who has supped overmuch on an unpalatable meal. ）

太形象了，美国大选的大结局原来就是胆汁反酸啊！

（5）8 NOV —— Bellwether
难受也好，痛苦也好，选举还是照常进行，而人们也还是怀着焦虑的心情关注着任何反应票数变化的迹象，等待着投票结果。故选举当日，另一个热词出现了：bellwether —— 票数领先者。
西部关键摇摆州的内华达州，其票数领先者反复交替，战况胶着。——摘自网络文章。
（Nevada’s bellwether status is on the line Tuesday as voters in the key Western swing state chose between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.
—CBSlocal.com, 8 Nov. 2016）
该词使用于英语，已经有700年了，原意是身上系着个铃铛的领头羊（或为已阉割的公羊）。但现在多取其比喻意，表示领先或是主动，为此，用于眼下的选举，意译为中文的“票数领先者”。
（Bellwether has been in use in English for over 700 years, although the sense in which it is currently found is typically a highly figurative one. The original sense of the word was to describe a sheep or wether (a castrated male sheep), who wore a bell and led the flock. From this original sense the word took on the meaning of “one that takes the lead or initiative,” and from there assumed its present-day sense designating “an indicator of trends.）

究竟鹿死谁手，牵动着选民们的心，就连特朗普的副总统候选人彭斯，也紧张得不行。当天下午，他在推特上推出了这么一句：

“我们已经投票了，你呢？”
（We have casted our vote,have you ?)

这下不得了了，许多人立即上网查询 cast 能不能一反常规，写作 casted，致使这个再常用不过的普通词，摇身列入当日热查榜。
（Many people turned to their dictionaries in the early afternoon of Election Day, November 8th, 2016, after Mike Pence, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, tweeted an unorthodox variant of the past sense of the verb cast.）

结果自不待言，彭斯犯了个低级语法错误——太紧张了。
这也算是战马嘶鸣中听到了一小段搞笑插曲吧。

**（6）9 NOV —— Nationalism **
终于，尘埃落定，特普朗击败希拉里，成为当选总统。
谁知第二天，令人费解的是 Nationalism —— 民族主义，突然当选热词 。
（Lookups for nationalism increased on November 9, following the election）

四天后，13 NOV，该词再次成为大热，原因是当选总统特朗普宣布准备起用另类右派人士班农，而班浓使人联想到了白人民族主义。
（they spiked again on November 13, when Trump announced the appointment of Steve Bannon, an alt-right figure associated with white nationalism）

又隔了两天，15 NOV ，这个词再次位于热查榜首，且更具含意，因为总统奥巴马在雅典的新闻发布会上发出了警告：

我们必须防范那种不加掩饰的民族主义，防范民族认同和同族意识，无论出自哪一方面。人类和世界的未来，需要的是共同合作，而不是分裂甚至最终导致冲突。我对这一点坚信不疑。
（We are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them, and I will never apologize for saying that the future of humanity and the future of the world is going to be defined by what we have in common, as opposed to those things that separate us and ultimately lead us into conflict.）

其实，这样一个并不深奥的普通用词，在美国大选后，竟然反复成为网络查询大热，可能正反映了美国人民的某种担心吧。

（7）10 NOV —— Misogynyn
担心什么？担心特普朗，担心他的政策。
是的，就拿他对女性的态度来说事，'Misogyny' —— 憎恶女性 ，就在选举结束后的第一天，9 NOV ，开始在网络上被大量查询。隔了一天，，10 NOV ，查询该词的热情更是有增无减，因为各种新闻报道和社交媒体都在反复使用这个单词。
（Misogyny was among the top lookups on November 9, 2016, the morning after Donald Trump’s presidential victory. The word spiked still higher on November 10, as the word appeared repeatedly in news articles and on social media.）
看看那些铺天盖地而来的网络上的大标题：
（The word was used in headlines for editorials:）

白宫给憎恶女性者加签通行证
Misogyny now has the White House seal of approval
—The Boston Globe

为什么憎恶女性主义成了特朗普手中的王牌？
Why misogyny was The Donald’s trump card
—The Telegraph

美国大选结局对憎恶女性主义意味着什么？
Panel: What does the US election result say about misogyny?
—The Guardian

缩起脖子，听任子弹乱飞，这很容易；而正确的做法，是去和种族主义、憎恶女性主义和敌视人类作斗争。
The easy thing is to keep your head down & let the bullies run amok. The right thing to do is to challenge racism, misogyny and hatred.
https://t.co/VF6NePPySm

关爱和仁慈不是放任敌对仇恨，不是使种族主义、顽固偏执和憎恶女性主义合法化。这一点容不得含糊。
Acting with love and kindness is to NOT keep an open mind about hatred, NOT normalize racism, bigotry and misogyny. I can’t equivocate.
— rosanne cash (@rosannecash) November 10, 2016

这不就是在反复提醒人们，特普朗本人对性别的歧视态度？

（8）14 NOV —— fascism
有一个令全世界闻之毛骨悚然的词 fascism —— 法西斯主义 ，竟然如影相伴于特朗普的整个选举活动——该词在网络词典上的查询次数，2016年比2015年高出4.5倍。特别是选举日当晚，该词仍然高居于榜首或接近榜首。
(Fascist is a word that was used heavily in coverage of Trump's election and people have been looking up in the dictionary frequently for over a year. And lookups for 'Fascism' Trending 4.5x Higher than last Year. Following election night, the word has consistently been at or near the top of the list of words being looked up in real time.)

主要新闻媒体和相关网站如时代周刊，路透社，Buzzfeed 等也一再使用或引用这一单词，其中包括共和党战略家 John Weaver 的推特,该推特一经推出，立即爆走网络 ：
（The word was also heavily used on social media, including a viral tweet from Republican strategist John Weaver:）

种族主义者，极右的法西斯主义者正在走向椭圆形办公室。美国人民，你们要警剔啊！
(The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America.)

（9）14 NOV —— gregarious / Pragmatic
奥巴马在特朗普成为当选总统后的第一次新闻发布会上，形容特朗普是个社交型（gregarious）的实用主义（pragmatic）人物，使得网络上对“社交型的”（gregarious）和实用主义这两个用词的查询，平均每小时分别激增了3735%和13000%。
（On Monday afternoon, President Obama gave his first press conference after Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. During the press conference, he called Trump “gregarious”, causing lookups to spike 3735% over the hourly average. He also caused lookups for pragmatic to spike 13000% over the hourly average.）

“社交型的”（gregarious），说明特朗普性格外向，但是不是也暗指其胸无成竹、口无遮拦？而对“实用主义”（pragmatic）一词的热查，表明了网民们对特朗普的思想体系实在有点捉摸不透，因为奥巴马在讲话中认为特朗普是所有当选总统中最少具体政策的一位。(Mr. Obama also said he thought that Mr. Trump was entering office with fewer set policy ideas than other presidents-elect. )
奥巴马说：

“我认为他没有思想体系，他仅是个实用主义者。”
“I don’t think he is ideological,“ Mr. Obama said. “I think ultimately he is pragmatic.)

从词源上来说，实用主义（pragmatic）取自拉丁语，具有“法律和生意上的行家”之意，进入英语后不再有此褒义，成了爱管闲事和固执己见的同义词，尽管这一贬义已经逐渐淡出当代英语，但是溯根究源，很难不让人想到奥巴马话中有话。
(The Latin word we borrowed pragmatic from means "skilled in law or business”. The earliest English meanings of pragmatic were less than complimentary: it was used as a synonym of officious and opinionated, but those meanings have fallen out of current use.

特别是奥巴马把实用主义（pragmatic）和思想体系（ideology）对比使用，在评论当选总统的同时，又连带把和“ideo”相关的三个单词，ideologue（意识形态的拥护者）, ideology（思想意识）, 以及ideological（思想体系的），在14日晚和15日上午，送上了热查榜。
(A triumvirate of ideo- words spiked on the evening of November 14th, and through the following morning, as comments made by Barack Obama about president-elect Donald Trump sent many people to the dictionary in search of the precise meanings of ideologue, ideology, and ideological.)

很明显了，演说大家奥巴马的弦外之音是：美国人民，看看你们选出了怎样一个总统！

二零一七年十一月底

［ 说明：本文所选之“热查单词”，出自美国权威词典《韦伯英语词典》的在线词典（merriam-webster.com)所作之统计。点击下面链接，可转至该网站，以作进一步浏览、学习之用。
https://www.merriam-webster.com/