今天要说的Buzzword是满满的“瓜”。

这词一般用在有身份、地位的名人/名流身上，当ta们犯了社会不能接受的错误时，就会在社交媒体上遭到抵制。

这几天又有很多关于公众人物“失德”和“塌房”的讨论, 吴某某、李某某都是活生生的例子。

so I thought it would be a good time to talk about something that is relevant.

This is one of the more controversial buzzwords that has gained in popularity in the English-speaking world in the past few years.

一个跟公众人物“塌房”相关的这么一个词, 叫做 “cancel culture”直译为“取消文化”.

It sounds pretty strange, doesn't it?

It really has only come into frequent use since a few years ago.

It refers to a form of ostracism in which someone or some organization is thrust out of social or professional circles-whether it be online, on social media, or in person.

所谓的“取消文化”指的是一个公众人物或者一个组织, 因为某些言行不当, 而遭到了一些群体、群众, 特别是网民的排斥、排挤、抵制。

这种情况出现的时候, 我们就可以说公众人物或者组织has been cancelled.

Cancel culture

According to urbandictionary, “cancel culture” is “a desire to cancel out a person or community from social media platforms.”

You can also describe it as the practice of withdrawing support for public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered offensive or objectionable.

This canceling is often performed on social media in a form of group shaming.

它的表达形式通常是在社交媒体上进行的群体羞辱, 就是大家一起来踩或者抵制。

Call-out culture VS Cancel Culture

The other similar idea is "Call-out culture", 跟取消文化很相关的另外一个词叫做"Call-out culture", 被翻译成“指控文化”。

Actually, the "Call-out culture" has been in use as part of the #MeToo movement.

It encouraged women and men to call out their abusers on a forum where the accusations would be heard, especially against very powerful individuals.

“指控文化”是来自于 #MeToo 运动, 它的作用是鼓励性侵和性骚扰的受害者, 勇敢的站出来去指控那些施暴者, 特别是那些位高权重的公众人物。

And the phrase “cancel culture” gained popularity since late 2019, most often as a recognition that society will exact accountability for offensive conduct.

而到了2019年，和“指控文化”相关的“取消文化”也火了起来。

它强调的是任何一个人，特别是公众人物，他的言行一旦失格失德，整个社会都会对他进行问责。

To hold someone accountable for their words and behaviors.

其实很多人会把 “call-out culture”和 “cancel culture”放在一起说, 其实这两个文化稍微有点区别。

“Call-out culture” is about calling attention to someone's wrongdoing, and maybe giving them a chance to learn from and correct the issue;

but “cancel culture” does not give this opportunity, and instead, immediately labels them as bad and want to get them cancelled.

它们两个的不同主要在于“指控文化”的目的是希望被指控的人能够意识到自己的错误作出补偿, 并且改正自己的行为；

而“取消文化”连这个机会都不会给, 希望直接把这个人从公众的视野中抹去取消。

There have been many examples of cancel culture.

For example, the author of Harry Potter J.K. Rowling was cancelled after making a comment on Twitter in 2020 that offended some members of the transgender community.

比如《哈利波特》的作者J.K. Rowling 在2020年因为对跨性别者发表的一些言论, 就曾经遭到过cancel.

People who are in favor of the cancel culture have many reasons to support it.

Positive Impact of Cancel Culture

For example, it is a teaching moment.

It gets the person to consider the consequences of their statements.

让公众人物和企业都意识到自己必须要承担自己的言行所带来的后果。

To expose racism or sexism and other sorts of inequalities.

揭露, 种族歧视、性别歧视等等一切的不公平。

To get people to think before they speak. And to hold someone accountable for their statements or behaviors.

In this sense, cancel culture can help combat wrongdoings and address inequalities to some extent;

and a community that unites for a common cause can be empowering.

But remember,it's a highly controversial concept because some critics argue that the cancel culture has a chilling effect on public discourse；

It's unproductive, does not bring real social change, causes intolerance, and amounts to cyberbullying.

就像今天最开始我们说的, 这是一个非常有争议的词。

那是因为现在的取消文化愈演愈烈, 有一些人就站出来批评这种文化矫枉过正的话, 会带来不包容, 可能会影响言论自由甚至会升级成网络暴力。

Until now, the jury is pretty much still out on this one.

Now let's move on the sample sentence.

例句示范

Example 1：

-The idea of cancel culture is inherently controversial and constantly debated among scholars.