wipe their bottoms with paper only

Salman Rushdieの小説 "Midnight's Children" を読んでいますが、とても難しい。難しい理由は幾つかありますが、その内の一つの理由が分かりました。今日引用する下記の箇所にもその例がありますが、それについては次回に回し、今日は英語から離れた話題について書きます。

'... And look at the stains on the carpet, janum; for two months we must live like those Britishers? You've looked in the bathrooms? No water near the pot. I never believed, but it's true, my God, they wipe their bottoms with paper only!...'

"No water near the pot" と "wipe their bottoms with paper only" の個所を読んで、インドには便器のそばに水が用意されている便所がある様だと感心しました。私が旅行した外国は三十数か国ですが、その内、便器のそばに水のでるホースがあった便所があったのは、たしかマレーシアかインドネシアだけで、ほとんどの国のトイレは "wipe their bottoms with paper only" でした。５０年程昔ですが、バチカンに初めて行った時に、和式トイレと同様な、スクワット式のトイレがあって意外に思った覚えがあります。今はそんなトイレはバチカンには無いとは思いますが。
最近では日本人観光客の多いアジアやハワイで、日本が誇る洗浄機能付きのトイレを備えたホテルが増えてきている様です。ここ数年はヨーロッパも米国本土にも行っていませんが、十数年後には日本式の洗浄機能付きのトイレが全世界に普及すると私は予想しています。

transvestite

Salman Rushdieの "Midnight's Children" を読んでいます。

... And now a pause in that perplexing song of a voice, and then: 'He was my husband.' Only now did my mother see the stifled breast beneath the rags... 'Give something for my shame.' Tugging at her arm. Lifafa Das tugging at the other, whispering Hijira, transvestite, come away Begum Sahiba; and Amina standing still as she is tugged in opposite directions want to say Wait, white woman, just let me finish my business, I will take you home, feed you clothe you, send you back into your own world; but just then the woman shrugs and walks off emptyhanded down the narrowing street, shrinking to a point until she vanishes -- now -- into the distant meanness of the lane.

Salman Rushdieの文章は "... " で始まる段落が何故か非常に多い。
知らない単語がやたらに出てくるのですが、インドに特有の単語も多いので覚える気はしない単語ばかりです。しかし、今日取り上げる "transvestite" は最近の世の中の風潮を考えると（といってもテレビのドラマ等の中の話ですが）覚えた方が役に立つかも？


・Oxford English Dictionary: A person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the opposite sex (typically used of a man).: Although a great many of the transvestites simply look like men in women's clothes, many were very convincing.

・Collins Dictionary: A transvestite is someone who enjoys wearing clothes normally worn by people of the opposite sex.

・Vocabulary.com: A man who identifies himself as a transvestite likes to wear clothing that is typically thought of as feminine or womanly.
You can also use the word transvestite to talk about a woman who enjoys wearing men's clothes, although it more frequently describes a man. Before you call anyone a transvestite, however, make sure the person doesn't consider the word offensive — it's more common these days to use the term cross-dresser.

Wiktionaryに書かれていた下記の注も留意した方が良さそうだ。
Transvestite should not be confused with transgender (see that term for more); transvestites are often happy with their gender and have no desire to change their sex, but simply enjoy being able to cross-dress from time to time. When speaking of to or about an individual who identifies as transgender, the term transvestite is typically seen as derogatory.

antediluvian politician

コロナの問題で開催さえも危ぶまれる東京オリンピックですが、その上にJOCの会長問題も発生しました。The Japan Times Feb.12　の記事から引用します。
Olympic chief Mori’s exit has been long overdue
The country has been embarrassed again by an antediluvian politician, with media at home and abroad condemning Mori’s remarks and the mindset it represents.
"antediluvian" は森さんを形容するのにピッタリなのが辞書の説明で良く分かります。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Ridiculously old-fashioned.: they maintain antediluvian sex-role stereotypes

・Collins Dictionary: Antediluvian things are old or old-fashioned.: ...antediluvian attitudes to women.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: extremely old-fashioned: My mother has some hopelessly antediluvian ideas about the role of women.

thunderbox

図書館から借りて読む雑誌のEnglish Journalに小説の "Midnight's Children" を推薦する記事がありました。著者のSalman Rushdieは小説「悪魔の詩」を書いたことでイランの最高指導者から死刑の宣告を受け、日本ではその本の翻訳者、五十嵐氏が暗殺された事件が起きたニュースを昔聞いたことを思い出し、読んで見たいと思い借りることにしました。先日読み終えた 'Homo Deus' を図書館で受け取った時に余りの大きさにショックを受けたのですが、 "Midnight's Children" は 'Homo Deus' 程大きい本ではありませんが、とても厚く、なんとページ数が６４７ページと私が借りて期限内に読めるページ数をはるかに超えています。しかたがないと読み始めたが、難しい単語が多く、かつ背景が昔のインドなので非常に分かり難い。とりあえず期限がまで読んで、多分読み終えないので、いったん返して休憩しよう。

Mumtaz was never brilliant; not as beautiful as Emerald; but she was good, and dutiful, and alone. She spent more time with her father than any of her sisters, fortifying him against the bad temper which was being exaggerated nowadays by the constant itch in his nose; and she took upon herself the duties of caring for the needs of Nadir Kahn, descending daily into his underworld bearing trays of food, and brooms, and even emptying his personal thunderbox, so that not even a latrine cleaner could guess at his presence.

"thunderbox" とは面白い単語ですが、何でしょう？　辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A primitive or makeshift toilet.: They were, however, equipped with a wooden W.C. or ‘thunderbox’.

・Collins Dictionary: a portable boxlike lavatory seat that can be placed over a hole in the ground; any portable lavatory:

・Urban Dictionary: It is called a thunderbox because sometimes when you go to the loo you fart, and it sounds like thunder. I don't think I have to explain the box part.: Ah that felt good! I did a big one in the thunderbox just now! Boy it smells!
最後に引用した俗語辞典(Urban Dictionary)の説明は具体的過ぎる。臭う！

I'd rather you be angry at me.

Reader's　Digest 12月/1月合併号の "Life in These United States" の記事からの引用です。

Husband: Don't be angry at me, but I accidentally spilled grease all over the oven.
Me: How about I won't be angry at you, but you have to clean it.
Husband: I'd rather you be angry at me.

この夫は怒られるのに慣れているのに違いない。

What is your biggest weakness?

Reader's　Digest 12月/1月合併号の記事 "All in a Day's WORK" からの引用です。

I hated going on job interviews until I realized the perfect answer to the question "What is your biggest weakness?" is "My interview skills."

この手は何か他にも応用できそう。

medevac / shunt

Reader's　Digest 12月/1月合併号の記事 "Don't Go into the VOLCANO" からの引用です。

Clay spent a painful week recuperating in a St. Kitts hospital before being medevaced to a hospital in Florida, where doctors placed a shunt in his spinal cord to drain excess fluid.

"medevaced" は昨年、"shunt" は10年前に取り上げた単語です。

bellyaching

Reader's　Digest 12月/1月合併号の記事 "How To Quiet the Family Complainer" からの引用です。

Some complainers will switch gears if you shift the conversation in a direction that interests them. If your neighbor is fussing over the phone company, tell her about an unexpected call you received from an old friend. If your coworker is bellyaching about your boss, ask whether he met the new employee.

"bellyaching" は文脈からすると、"complain" と同義の様です。腹が痛くなる程の苦情でしょうか？　辞書を見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: Complain noisily or persistently.: heads of departments bellyaching about lack of resources

・Collins Dictionary: If you say that someone is bellyaching, you mean they complain loudly and frequently about something and you think this is unreasonable or unjustified.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: to complain: Stop bellyaching and just get on with the job.

twin lobsters

Reader's　Digest 12月/1月合併号の "Life in These United States" の記事からの引用です。

After my wife and I took our seats at a restaurant, the waiter arrived to take our order. First, he let us know that the special of the day was twin lobsters. My wife was not inpressed. "That's silly," she said. "How can you tell they're twins?"

この奥さんはtwinは双子の意味しか知らないのですね。

run a gauntlet

Yuval Noah Harariの "Homo Deus" を読んでいます。

Even more importantly, information was allowd to flow increasingly freely throughout this global grid. When Columbus first hooked up the Eurasian net to the American net, only a few bits of data managed to cross the ocean each year, running a gauntlet of cultural prejudices, strict censorship and political repression. But as the years went by the free market, the scientific community, the rule of law and the spread of democracy all helped to sissolve the barriers.

"run a gauntlet" も以前（3/16/2018）取り上げていますね。
"Homo Deus" を読み終えました。著者のYuval Noah Harari氏は単にpolymathなだけではなく、世の中を俯瞰して見ることができる稀有の才能の持ち主です。地元の図書館には "Homo Deus" の他にもHarari氏の著書があと2冊あるので、その内に是非その2冊も読みたい。