casually

Harper Leeの "To Kill a Mockingbird" を読んでいます。

He was a man learned in the law, and although he seemed to take his job casually, in reality he kept a firm grip on any proceedings that came before him. Only once was Judge Taylor ever seen at a dead standstill in open court, and the Cunninghams stopped him.

形容詞の "casual" なら辞書に項目がありますが、"casually" は副詞なので普通は項目はありません.。　しかし、次の辞書には "casually" の項目もありました。
・Dictionary.com: in a way that shows indifference, apathy, or a lack of intention or understanding: She strolled in casually, as if she weren’t late.: I wonder if the people who are so casually throwing the word "radical" around know what it actually means.
・Vocabulary.com: Use the adverb casually for anything you do in a relaxed, informal sort of way. When you talk casually with a friend, you chat about this and that, rather than having a serious conversation or a formal debate.
Anything you do casually is really no big deal. If you're allowed to dress casually at work or school, you can pretty much wear whatever is comfortable. When you casually hit a home run during your softball game, you make it seem easy. And if you casually stroll down the street, you're clearly in no rush. This word comes from the adjective casual, which comes from the Late Latin casualis, "by chance."
"casually" のニュアンスの幅は広いなと感じます。

beholden to nothing

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.

"beholden to nothing" の意味を調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: beholden to somebody (for something) owing something to somebody because of something that they have done for you: She didn't like to be beholden to anyone.
・Collins Dictionary: If you are beholden to someone, you are in debt to them in some way or you feel that you have a duty to them because they have helped you.: He was made beholden to the Mafia.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: feeling you have a duty to someone because they have done something for you: She wanted to be independent and beholden to no one.

epithesis

The Japan Times September 12の記事から引用します。
Epithesis — offering appearance care to cancer patients
The use of epithesis — artificial reconstructions of body parts — is beginning to attract attention.

"epithesis" は知りませんでしたが、意味は文中に説明があるので分かります。　本文の冒頭も引用します。
As more focus is placed on providing cancer patients with appearance care to mitigate their psychological burden, epithesis — an artificial reconstruction of a body part — is also attracting attention.
Patient-specific epitheses that recreate each individual’s features including shape, skin color and wrinkles help them regain confidence in their day-to-day lives.
However, there are issues such as the shortage of epithesists with a high level of skill.

以前（6/1/2009）取り上げた "prostheses/prosthesis" を思い出しました。

dead shot

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

"Forgot to tell you the other day that besides playing the Jew's Harp, Atticus Finch was the deadest shot in Maycomb County in his time."
"Dead shot..." echoed Jem.
"That's what I said, Jem Finch. Guess you'll change your tune now. The very idea, didn't you know his nickname was Ol' One-Shot when he was a boy? Why, down at the Landing when he was coming up, if he shot fifteen times and hit fourteen doves he'd complain about wasting bullets."

"deadest shot" と "dead shot" の意味ですが、直ぐ後に、Jemの父、Atticus Finch、は射撃が極めて上手だったと言っているので、射撃の名手を指している様ですが、辞書で確認します。

・Wiktionary: An unerring marksman.
・Urban Dictionary: A marksman who never misses: Woah bruh, that was at least 75 yards out there. Seems like you're a Dead Shot
・Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913: An unerring marksman.; A shot certain to be made.

日本語の必殺必中と同じ発想ですね。

to Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。 小説の題名となっている "to kill a mockingbird" が次の場面に出てきました。

When he gave us our air-rifles Atticus wouldn’t teach us to shoot. Uncle Jack instructed us in the rudiments thereof; he said Atticus wasn’t interested in guns. Atticus said to Jem one day, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. “Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

このセリフ "it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird" はこの小説の主題になっているのでしょうね。

'druther

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

“You were a little to the right, Mr. Finch,” he called. “Always was,” answered Atticus. “If I had my ‘druthers I’d take a shotgun.”
...
"Jem, she's old and ill. You can't hold her responsible for what she says and does. Of course, I'd rather she'd have said it to me than to either of you, but we can't always have our 'druthers"

"'druthers" はどの辞書にも見当たりません。 "druthers" で調べたらありました。

・Oxford English Dictionary: used to say what you would prefer if you could choose: If I had my druthers I wouldn't be going to this meeting.
・Wiktionary: (US, informal, often jocular) Would rather; would prefer to: I druther stay home today.

辞書ではありませんが、Webに次の情報がありました。
Meaning: If I had my preference.
Origin: This is an American phrase which originated in the late 19th century. Druthers is a shortening of 'would rathers'.
It was first cited in the January 1870 edition of Overland monthly and Out West magazine, in a story called Centrepole Bill, by George F. Emery: "If I was a youngster, I 'drather set up in any perfession but a circus-driver, but a man can't always have his 'drathers."
Druthers, as opposed to its earlier variant drathers, is traced back to 1876 in Dialect Notes: "Bein's I caint have my druthers an' set still, I cal'late I'd better pearten up an' go 'long."

黙読ではなく、音読すれば分かった単語ですね。

tooth and nail

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

After my bout with Cecil Jacobs when I committed myself to a policy of cowardice, word got around that Scout Finch wouldn't fight any more, her daddy wouldn't let her. This was not entirely correct: I wouldn't fight publicly for Atticus, but the family was private ground. I would fight anyone from a third cousin upwards tooth and nail.

この "tooth and nail" は十年以上前（9/9/2010）に "fight tooth and nail" で取り上げていました。

pig's ear

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

Dill's father was taller than ours, he had a black beard (pointed), and was president of the L & N Railroad.
"I helped the engineer for a while," said Dill, yawning.
"In a pig's ear you did, Dill. Hush," said Jem. "What'll we play today?"

"pig's ear" の意味を調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: something that has been badly or clumsily done; a botched job (esp in the phrase make a pig's ear of (something)): I made a pig's ear of it last time and I'm going to make sure that won't happen again.

動詞のフレーズとして "make a pig's ear of" で掲載している辞書が幾つかありました。
・Wiktionary: To do badly; to make a mess of.: Instead, he had lain awake for hours, knowing he'd made a pig's ear of everything, and trying to think of a way to sort things out.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To do a very poor job of something; to ruin something completely. Primarily heard in UK.: I'm going to need to start this table over again from scratch—I really made a pig's ear of it.

このセリフを言ったJemも、言われたDillも子供なのでEngineerの手伝いをしたと言うDillを皮肉ったのですね。

into the quick

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。

The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, ahd his fingernails were black deep into the quick.

"the quick" は文章からして、爪が指の皮膚と離れる個所ですね。 以前（6/26/2014）に "wound to the quick" を取り上げたことを思い出しました。　この "the quick" に会うのはそれ以来です。

tail in a crack

Harper Leeの 'To Kill a Mockingbird' を読んでいます。
前回引用した個所の直ぐ後の場面です。
When I asked Jem what entailment was, and Jem described it a a condition of having your tail in a crack. I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us.

主人公の少女 Scoutが兄のJem（まだ小学生）に "entailment" の意味を質問したところ、"tail in a crack" と答えました。
"tail in a crack" の文字通りの意味だと、尻尾が隙間に挟まった状態の様なので、困った状況と推測は出来ますが、辞書を見ても "tail in a crack" の説明は見つかりませんでした。　仕方なく、ネットで調べると、'To Kill a Mockingbird' は学校での教材として良く読まれている様で、この個所についての質問があり、次の回答を見つけました。

In the given question, the scenario is that there is a legal restriction, called as entailment, with the Cunningham family, while selling a piece of their land for the purpose of gaining money or profit. According to the legal term, entailment, the owner of the land or house is unable to sell it for profit. The property can only be transferred to the other member of the family.
So now it is a logical example that having a tail in the crack. It means that when tail of an animal is stuck in a crack, that animal is unable to move. So this example best illustrates the situation of the Cunningham Family, as they are facing the entailment, and stuck with the land which they own and which they cannot sell for profit. They do not have any other choice than staying with the land, which means their tail is stuck in the crack.

なるほど、これなら "entailment" の意味との整合がとれるので納得です。