很难给语言下个准确的定义，但有一点可以肯定，语言不是一成不变的教科书。新年伊始，美国方言学会选定“plutoed”（由“冥王星降级”，引申为“被贬、被降级”）为美国2006年度词汇。

看外电相关报道："Plutoed" was chosen 2006's Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society at its annual meeting Friday.

To "pluto¹" is "to demote or devalue someone or something," much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical² Union decided³ Pluto didn't meet its definition of a planet.

报道指出，冥王星因在国际天文学协会大会上被认为不符合行星标准而遭降级，名词“Pluto”（冥王星）由此被语言学家赋予了动词涵义“降级、贬值”。相应的，Pluto（降级、贬值）的过去分词形式“Plutoed”则用来形容“被贬、被降级”。

看来，有失亦有得。冥王星虽在天文学界遭“降级”，却不想“因祸得福”，赢得了语言学一席之地。