If there is a buzzword that deserves to be strangled before New Year’s eve it is “disrupter”. Like many neologisms, it originated in Silicon Valley and has spread like a virus into US politics and media. Even as I write it is preparing to colonise global forums such as Davos through online Ted talks and other channels. Other examples include “thought leader”, “fire lighter” and the word “pivot”, which it seems we must all practise even if we are unhinged. But disrupter gets first prize. Rarely in the history of bad terms has a new one been so misconceived.
如果在2014年的新年前夜之前有一个流行词汇应该被扼杀的话，那么这个词就是“破坏者”(disrupter)。与很多新词一样，它源自硅谷，然后像病毒一样蔓延到美国政界和媒体。就在我写这篇文章时，它正准备通过在线讲坛Ted和其他渠道，主导达沃斯(Davos)等manbetx app苹果 论坛。其他例子包括“思想领袖”、“点火器”和“重心转移”，似乎就算我们一头雾水，也都必须熟悉这些新词儿。但“破坏者”拿到了头名。在糟糕词汇的历史上，很少有新词如此不当。