McDonald's seeks to redefine 'McJobs'

McJob= job with few prospects?

　　The world's largest fast food company McDonald's Corp. said Tuesday it plans to launch a campaign in the U.K. this spring to get the country's dictionary houses to change current references to the word "McJob."

　　The Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many wordsmiths as the gold standard for the English language, is one of those that will be targeted. It defines the noun as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector."

　　The word first cropped up two decades ago in the Washington Post, according to the dictionary. But executives at Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's say the definition is demeaning to its workers and say they'll ask dictionary editors to amend the definition.

　　"Dictionaries are supposed to be paragons of accuracy. And in this case, they got it completely wrong," said Walt Riker, a McDonald's spokesman. "It's a complete disservice and incredibly demeaning to a terrific work force and a company that's been a jobs and opportunity machine for 50 years."

　　In 2003, editors at the Merriam-Webster dictionary declined to remove or change their definition of "McJob" after McDonald's balked at its inclusion in the book's 11th edition.

　　Amanda Pierce, a spokeswoman for McDonald's U.K. operations, declined to comment on the specifics of the company's newest campaign, but said it will kick off in May with the goal of changing what she called an "out-of-date" definition.

　　She said she did not know how long the campaign would last, saying that depended on "how far and wide the campaign goes."

　　本周二，全球快餐业巨头麦当劳集团表示，公司打算于今年春天在英国发起一场运动，以促使某些词典出版社修改对McJob一词的解释。

　　历来为语言大师们誉为英语语言“金科玉律”的牛津英语辞典也是其目标之一。牛津英语词典将McJob一词定义为“无激励、薪水低、无前途的工作，尤指服务行业扩张所带来的工作。”

　　据牛津英语词典介绍，McJob一词于20年前首次出现在《华盛顿邮报》上。但总部位于伊利诺斯州Oak Brook的麦当劳的管理人员称，这个定义是对麦当劳员工的贬低；并表示他们将要求词典的编辑对这一注释进行修改。

　　麦当劳的发言人沃尔特·莱克说：“词典应该是准确的典范。而他们对这个词的解释却是完全错误的。这无论对于一个好员工、还是对一个50年来创造了无数就业和机会的公司来说，都是一种彻底的伤害和难以置信的贬低。”

　　2003年，由于麦当劳公司拒绝将McJob一词收入韦氏大字典第11版中，因此字典的编辑拒绝删除或修改这个词的定义。

　　麦当劳英国区女发言人阿曼达·皮尔斯拒绝对公司这项最新运动的细节发表评论，但据她透露，此活动将于5月份启动，其目的就是改变这个“过时的”定义。

　　她说，她不知道此活动将持续多久，这将主要取决于“活动进行的深度和广度”。

　　Vocabulary:

　　wordsmith : master of language（语言大师）

　　disservice : a harmful action（伤害）

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