2012年年初的時候，大家都在討論希臘退出歐元區(qū)的問題，并造了一個詞Grexit來代表這個話題。到了2013年年初，這話題已經(jīng)轉(zhuǎn)移到英國是否該退出歐盟的問題上了。于是，Brexit出現(xiàn)了。

The coinages Brexit and Brixit are a tongue-in-cheek reference to Great Britain no longer being part of the European Union – in other words a British exit or Britain exiting from the EU. The terms immediately gained wider exposure with the Prime Minister's announcement on January 23rd, which confirmed that the UK government would take definite steps to legislate for a referendum on EU membership before leaving office, and if re-elected would hold this referendum before the end of 2017.

Brexit和Brixit是對英國退出歐盟的一種戲虐說法，即British exit or Britain exiting from the EU（英國退出歐盟）。1月23日英國首相卡梅倫就是否退出歐盟發(fā)表講話后，這兩個詞立即廣泛傳播。卡梅倫在講話中表示，在離任前要就歐盟成員問題逐步實現(xiàn)依法全民公投；如果獲得連任，將在2017年底前就此進行全民公投。

The terms Brexit and Brixit first appeared in June 2012, the latter allegedly coined by a columnist in The Economist, and the former by nationalist organization The British Resistance.

Brexit和Brixit這兩個詞最早出現(xiàn)在2012年6月，Brixit由《經(jīng)濟學人》雜志一位專欄作家首創(chuàng)，而Brexit則出自民族主義組織“英國抵抗”。

The words were most likely inspired by the term Grexit, which had appeared in February 2012 and refers to the possibility of Greece leaving the Eurozone (the group of EU countries which use the Euro as a unit of currency). The term Fixit, referring to the possibility of Finland doing the same, also appeared in June 2012.

這兩個詞的靈感很可能來源于2012年2月份出現(xiàn)的Grexit一詞，這個詞指希臘退出歐元區(qū)的可能性。2012年6月還出現(xiàn)Fixit一詞，指芬蘭退出歐元區(qū)。

（Source: macmillandictionary.com）

相關閱讀

Grexit 希臘退出歐元區(qū)

什么是“漂綠”？

你是“受擠壓的中產(chǎn)階級”嗎？

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen）

點擊查看更多英語習語和新詞