（1）28 OCT —— Pertinent
平地滾雷，2016年美國大選難逃宿命，再次出現十月震驚（October Surprise）：十月二十八日，聯邦調查局主席科米向參議院司法委員會提交信函，要求重啓對希拉里”郵件門“的調查。
科米聲稱，新發現的這些郵件似乎與“郵件門”的調查緊密相關。
（"the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation"）
“相關”一詞，科米捨棄常用詞 relevant，用上了正式的 pertinent 。
呼啦一下子，網絡上開始瘋查“pertinent”的確切含義。
（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.）
該詞首次出現在十四世紀的英文書寫中，表示與某一事有決定性的關聯。（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，而且相關性更緊密，更關鍵。難怪希拉里方面在民調大幅領先的情況下，對FBI在離大選不到兩個星期時，突然使出這一“回馬槍”，有多麼惱火、又有多麼不安。
（2）31 oct —— Mother lode
這邊廂希拉里正擔心不已，那邊廂特朗普卻高興萬分。
特朗普在拉票途中，立即發話：
”這些新發現的郵件可能就是希拉里違規操作公務郵件的主要證據。“
(“This could be the mother lode.”)
此話一出，即被廣爲報道，而所用的這個詞”mother lode“，也成了網上詞典的查詢大熱。
（Mother lode spiked in lookups on October 31 following a widely reported remark made by Donald Trump at a campaign stop.）
lode 一詞，可追溯到古英語，意思是路徑、航道或水道、運河，十八世紀中期，用於採礦淘金，表示某地埋藏着大量金、銀或石英礦石，可供開採。而在特普朗的句子中，該詞字面意思爲“主要的來源”（含義則爲“主要證據”）。
（“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.”
難怪特朗普喜形於色——這些內容還沒有公佈的郵件，對他而言，豈不就是暫時埋在地下的“金銀財寶”？
（3）2 NOV —— Innuendo
正是一邊歡喜一邊愁，而現任總統奧巴馬卻坐不住了。
他在回答記者有關FBI重開調查郵件們的提問時，特別強調：
做事要有規距，在調查未果時，我們不能含沙射影，不能釋放不完整的信息，不能泄露有關資料。
（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，即成爲當日的查詢熱詞。該詞與 hint 和 insinuation 爲同義詞，暗示別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. ）
中文裏，含沙射影明顯有貶義，比喻暗中攻擊或陷害人；而英文中該詞並非貶義詞（derogatory），有影射而無含沙 —— 看來，奧巴馬還算剋制，只是含蓄地批評了FBI的做法。
（4）8 NOV —— Acrimonious
就在這相互謾罵、撕扯中，選舉日到了。
有趣的是，當日列爲榜首的熱詞竟是 acrimonious —— 令人痛苦的。
這一天，不少報章和媒體，都使用了這個單詞，來形容總統競選的大結局。
（A number of newspapers and media groups used the word in covering the finale of the presidential election.）
華盛頓郵報的標題爲：“選舉日——令人痛苦的競選就要完場了”
Election Day: An acrimonious race reaches its endpoint
—The Washington Post (headline), 8 Nov. 2016
CNN記者寫到：“這場曠日持久的競選，背叛了國家精神，撕裂了社會結構，令人痛苦不堪，今天，美國人民將對其作出裁決。“
（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）
線上詞典中對這一詞做了更近一步的描述：
就像是過多地喫下了難喫的食物而引起的膽汁反酸，令人難以忍受。
（as does the bile in the gorge of one who has supped overmuch on an unpalatable meal. ）
太形象了，美國大選的大結局原來就是膽汁反酸啊！
（5）8 NOV —— Bellwether
難受也好，痛苦也好，選舉還是照常進行，而人們也還是懷着焦慮的心情關注着任何反應票數變化的跡象，等待着投票結果。故選舉當日，另一個熱詞出現了：bellwether —— 票數領先者。
西部關鍵搖擺州的內華達州，其票數領先者反覆交替，戰況膠着。——摘自網絡文章。
（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）
該詞使用於英語，已經有700年了，原意是身上繫着個鈴鐺的領頭羊（或爲已閹割的公羊）。但現在多取其比喻意，表示領先或是主動，爲此，用於眼下的選舉，意譯爲中文的“票數領先者”。
（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.）
究竟鹿死誰手，牽動着選民們的心，就連特朗普的副總統候選人彭斯，也緊張得不行。當天下午，他在推特上推出了這麼一句：
“我們已經投票了，你呢？”
（We have casted our vote,have you ?)
這下不得了了，許多人立即上網查詢 cast 能不能一反常規，寫作 casted，致使這個再常用不過的普通詞，搖身列入當日熱查榜。
（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.）
結果自不待言，彭斯犯了個低級語法錯誤——太緊張了。
這也算是戰馬嘶鳴中聽到了一小段搞笑插曲吧。
**（6）9 NOV —— Nationalism **
終於，塵埃落定，特普朗擊敗希拉里，成爲當選總統。
誰知第二天，令人費解的是 Nationalism —— 民族主義，突然當選熱詞 。
（Lookups for nationalism increased on November 9, following the election）
四天後，13 NOV，該詞再次成爲大熱，原因是當選總統特朗普宣佈準備起用另類右派人士班農，而班濃使人聯想到了白人民族主義。
（they spiked again on November 13, when Trump announced the appointment of Steve Bannon, an alt-right figure associated with white nationalism）
又隔了兩天，15 NOV ，這個詞再次位於熱查榜首，且更具含意，因爲總統奧巴馬在雅典的新聞發佈會上發出了警告：
我們必須防範那種不加掩飾的民族主義，防範民族認同和同族意識，無論出自哪一方面。人類和世界的未來，需要的是共同合作，而不是分裂甚至最終導致衝突。我對這一點堅信不疑。
（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.）
其實，這樣一個並不深奧的普通用詞，在美國大選後，竟然反覆成爲網絡查詢大熱，可能正反映了美國人民的某種擔心吧。
（7）10 NOV —— Misogynyn
擔心什麼？擔心特普朗，擔心他的政策。
是的，就拿他對女性的態度來說事，'Misogyny' —— 憎惡女性 ，就在選舉結束後的第一天，9 NOV ，開始在網絡上被大量查詢。隔了一天，，10 NOV ，查詢該詞的熱情更是有增無減，因爲各種新聞報道和社交媒體都在反覆使用這個單詞。
（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.）
看看那些鋪天蓋地而來的網絡上的大標題：
（The word was used in headlines for editorials:）
白宮給憎惡女性者加簽通行證
Misogyny now has the White House seal of approval
—The Boston Globe
爲什麼憎惡女性主義成了特朗普手中的王牌？
Why misogyny was The Donald’s trump card
—The Telegraph
美國大選結局對憎惡女性主義意味着什麼？
Panel: What does the US election result say about misogyny?
—The Guardian
縮起脖子，聽任子彈亂飛，這很容易；而正確的做法，是去和種族主義、憎惡女性主義和敵視人類作鬥爭。
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
關愛和仁慈不是放任敵對仇恨，不是使種族主義、頑固偏執和憎惡女性主義合法化。這一點容不得含糊。
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
這不就是在反覆提醒人們，特普朗本人對性別的歧視態度？
（8）14 NOV —— fascism
有一個令全世界聞之毛骨悚然的詞 fascism —— 法西斯主義 ，竟然如影相伴於特朗普的整個選舉活動——該詞在網絡詞典上的查詢次數，2016年比2015年高出4.5倍。特別是選舉日當晚，該詞仍然高居於榜首或接近榜首。
(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.)
主要新聞媒體和相關網站如時代週刊，路透社，Buzzfeed 等也一再使用或引用這一單詞，其中包括共和黨戰略家 John Weaver 的推特,該推特一經推出，立即爆走網絡 ：
（The word was also heavily used on social media, including a viral tweet from Republican strategist John Weaver:）
種族主義者，極右的法西斯主義者正在走向橢圓形辦公室。美國人民，你們要警剔啊！
(The racist, fascist extreme right is represented footsteps from the Oval Office. Be very vigilant America.)
（9）14 NOV —— gregarious / Pragmatic
奧巴馬在特朗普成爲當選總統後的第一次新聞發佈會上，形容特朗普是個社交型（gregarious）的實用主義（pragmatic）人物，使得網絡上對“社交型的”（gregarious）和實用主義這兩個用詞的查詢，平均每小時分別激增了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），說明特朗普性格外向，但是不是也暗指其胸無成竹、口無遮攔？而對“實用主義”（pragmatic）一詞的熱查，表明了網民們對特朗普的思想體系實在有點捉摸不透，因爲奧巴馬在講話中認爲特朗普是所有當選總統中最少具體政策的一位。(Mr. Obama also said he thought that Mr. Trump was entering office with fewer set policy ideas than other presidents-elect. )
奧巴馬說：
“我認爲他沒有思想體系，他僅是個實用主義者。”
“I don’t think he is ideological,“ Mr. Obama said. “I think ultimately he is pragmatic.)
從詞源上來說，實用主義（pragmatic）取自拉丁語，具有“法律和生意上的行家”之意，進入英語後不再有此褒義，成了愛管閒事和固執己見的同義詞，儘管這一貶義已經逐漸淡出當代英語，但是溯根究源，很難不讓人想到奧巴馬話中有話。
(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.
特別是奧巴馬把實用主義（pragmatic）和思想體系（ideology）對比使用，在評論當選總統的同時，又連帶把和“ideo”相關的三個單詞，ideologue（意識形態的擁護者）, ideology（思想意識）, 以及ideological（思想體系的），在14日晚和15日上午，送上了熱查榜。
(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.)
很明顯了，演說大家奧巴馬的弦外之音是：美國人民，看看你們選出了怎樣一個總統！
二零一七年十一月底
［ 說明：本文所選之“熱查單詞”，出自美國權威詞典《韋伯英語詞典》的在線詞典（merriam-webster.com)所作之統計。點擊下面鏈接，可轉至該網站，以作進一步瀏覽、學習之用。
https://www.merriam-webster.com/