fall on his sword/break ranks

前のプログを書いているうちに辞任していました。

コロナのルールを破ったというのが辞任の理由。確かにディスタンスなさすぎ。
Matt Hancock quits as health secretary after breaking social distance guidance
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57625508

後任はJavid。この記事には、Hancockのお詫びビデオと、Hancockの辞表とJohnsonの返信が載っています。

Sajid Javid appointed health secretary after Matt Hancock resigns
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/26/matt-hancock-resigns-after-questions-over-relationship-with-aide

＜引用＞
The minister finally fell on his sword after a day that began with senior Tories observing a deliberate silence over Hancock’s future – seemingly to test public opinion in their constituencies – before many later broke ranks to insist he had to go.
＜引用終＞

まあ。やめるしかないですね。

untenable/seething

The Queenにpoor manと同情されたHancockの破壊力のあるgossip。

Matt Hancock: Calls for health secretary to quit after kissing colleague
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57622868

＜引用＞
Ms McVey, Conservative MP for Tatton, told GB News she would have resigned had she been in Mr Hancock's position and hoped he was "thinking the same thing".
She added that it would be "viewed more admirably" if he came forward and did not have to have it "pushed upon him".
＜引用終＞
GBNewsの引用ですね。典型的な仮定法の例文ですね。

＜引用＞
Christchurch MP Sir Christopher told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that Mr Hancock's position had become "untenable", saying that his constituents were "seething".
＜引用終＞
こっちはPMですね。

gossipが面白すぎていろいろ読んでしまったのですが。このScotsmanの記事はすごいまとまっていて情報が満載でかつ皮肉がきいてピカイチ。
Matt Hancock: Who is Gina Coladangelo? Alleged affair caught on CCTV rocks Whitehall
https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/matt-hancock-who-is-gina-coladangelo-alleged-affair-caught-on-cctv-rocks-whitehall-3286707

＜引用＞
The affair, seemingly supported by CCTV images showing Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo embracing in his office at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) HQ, has rocked the government.
This comes as the Conservative minister was supposedly called “f****** hopeless” by Boris Johnson according to former aide, Dominic Cummings.
＜引用終＞

＜引用＞
Unfortunately for the UK, affairs, gossip and sleaze have long held a place at the heart of British politics – making these latest accusations of an affair taking place at the highest levels of government nothing too out of the ordinary.
＜引用終＞

Matt Hancockの奥さんの家系は1st Baron Inchyraで、Coladangeloの旦那さんは Oliver Bonasの創業者。（名前の由来の元カノのBonasはCressida Bonasの親戚なんですね。）上流階級に食い込んだ人たちですねー。

ほんとToryって感じで面白すぎー。

the woe of the beleaguered/full of beans

コントみたいなビデオですネ。

Queen calls Matt Hancock ‘poor man’ at first weekly audience with PM in 15 months
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/23/boris-johnson-gets-first-face-to-face-weekly-meeting-with-queen-after-15-month-hiatus

＜引用＞
The Queen has held her first in-person weekly audience with the prime minister in 15 months, and revealed that the woes of the beleaguered health secretary Matt Hancock might not have escaped her eye.
＜引用終＞

＜引用＞
“I’ve just been talking to your secretary of state for health, poor man He came for privy council. He’s full of …”
“Beans,” added Johnson.
＜引用終＞

CummingsのHancockへの攻撃もなんだかなという感じですが。The Queenはゴシップ好きなんですかね。
ちなみにThe Queenですね。Queenだとフレディとかメイとかのほうですね。

riding roughshod over people

Barcowの殴り込み？により、風前の灯火なLabourが活気づいてきましたよー。

次期リーダーを期待されているBurnhamがAndrew Marr Showで気を吐きましたー。

Andy Burnham's anger at Manchester-Scotland travel ban
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-57544665

FCE、CAEに出てきそうな単語・表現が満載の記事です。

＜引用＞
Mr Burnham said the decision was "announced out of the blue" and was "completely disproportionate".
＜引用終＞

＜引用＞
"That is exactly what the SNP always accuse the Westminster government of doing - riding roughshod over people.
"The SNP are treating the north of England with the same contempt in bringing that in without any consultation with us."
He added: "I just think it's double standards, it's hypocrisy."
＜引用終＞

＜引用 Oxford Dictionary＞
Carry out one's own plans or wishes with arrogant disregard for (others or their wishes)
＜引用終＞

＜引用＞
She said travel would be prohibited "between Scotland and those cities" to "minimise the risk of either exacerbating the situation there or indeed allowing more virus to come back here to Scotland"
＜引用終＞

まあScotlandではLabourは壊滅的ですが。SNPよりTory。Barcowのほうが喧嘩に強そう。

Former Speaker and Conservative MP John Bercow joins Labour
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57541836

＜引用＞
He told the Observer the Conservatives under Boris Johnson were "reactionary, populist, nationalistic and sometimes even xenophobic".
＜引用終＞

スカッとしますね。
Starmerはキャラがつまらないです。Corbynはともかく、せめてEd Milibandくらいの面白みがないとー。

deride/unutterable

やばすぎるGBNewsはマードック系列のようでした。
オーストラリアの印象はマードックのせいでどんどん悪くなってしまいました。オリンピック選手団は最初に日本に来たし。

GB News will flourish if the success of partisan, rightwing TV in Australia is any guide
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/19/gb-news-will-flourish-if-the-success-of-partisan-rightwing-tv-in-australia-is-any-guide

ガーディアンがけなすのはまあお約束として、右のテレグラフまでもがけなしまくっています。
＜引用＞
The Telegraph derided the content as “unutterably awful; boring, repetitive and cheapskate”. Others criticised its claims of being “anti-woke” and unbiased as simply bias in another direction.
＜引用終＞
一生見ないと思うけど、たぶんYouTubeみたいなすごい安っぽい作りなのだろうなー。

woke
＜引用 Oxford Dictionary＞
ADJECTIVE
informal US
Alert to injustice in society, especially racism.
＜引用終＞

推測でそんなような意味かなと思いましたが、Oxfordにもちゃんと載っている単語でした。

ちなみに、オーストラリアで嫌いなのは一部の体育会系。
文化系は好き。一押しはAlex Cameron。
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmlEM--lmdo
懐かしのHastings。

congregate/travails

先週はちょっとしたサプライズ/Upsetがありました。

選挙を振り返ったこのコラムが興味深かったです。コロナの影響が大きそうですが、ブレア政権の影響もあるとは。
What the loss of a Conservative seat tells us about England’s changing middle class
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/18/conservative-seat-england-middle-class-chesham-and-amersham-tories

＜引用＞
The English middle class and the places where it tends to congregate are changing. The way Brexit has revolutionised Conservative politics is accelerating that shift. And now, there are clear signs that the appeal of the Tories is weakening in places they once took for granted: an apparent mirror-image of Labour’s travails in so-called red wall seats that is in its comparatively early stages, but might turn out to be just as fascinating.
＜引用終＞

Lib Dems can topple Tory ‘blue wall’ in south of England, says leader
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/18/lib-dems-can-topple-tory-blue-wall-in-south-of-england-says-leader

今のLibDemsのリーダーは誰？写真で崩している壁は、てっきり赤と青を混ぜた紫だと思ったのですが。赤はもはや風前の灯火で、緑にも抜かれそうです。まさにTravails。

しかし。コラムの文末に出てきたGB Newsはやばいです。長くなりそうなので、次の投稿で。

indemnity/earmark

なんとピーガブ様がTodayに登場！

Peter Gabriel: festivals risk ‘losing everything’ without government insurance
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jun/17/peter-gabriel-festivals-risk-losing-everything-without-government-insurance

a government spokespersonのコメント
＜引用＞
“Festival organisers have received more than £34m from our unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund, with more support on the way. We are aware of the wider concerns about securing indemnity cover for live events and are exploring what further support may be required when the sector is able to reopen.”

Black Deer festivalのorganiserのコメント
＜引用＞
“It’s endless, the repercussions of this. This isn’t a quick fix. This is our suppliers who have earmarked all of their kit to come to our site and turned down other jobs; it’s the artists, who have been so amazing; and the agents. It’s a whole raft of people that have been affected by this. This is people’s lives.”
＜引用終＞

NTIA CEOのコメント。NTIA..
＜引用＞
“Any delay will drive confidence in the sector to a new low, culminating in workforce leaving the sector, and customers who are starved of social engagement, attending illegal unregulated events in place of businesses that are well operated, licensed and regulated.”
＜引用終＞

長めの記事なので難しめの単語がいくつも出てきますが。

でもって今年のフェスティバル情報。UKといってもESなので南に偏っていますが。Carl Cox御大のイベント２つはさすがのSold Out。
UK festivals 2021: Line-ups confirmed for this summer, from KISSTORY Festival to Creamfields
https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/uk-festivals-2021-music-line-ups-best-tickets-a4498056.html

今週末開催のBigfootのラインナップは好みかも。Fat White Family。Sports Team。Erol Alkan。
Bigfoot: How the Primal Scream-headlined music festival is going ahead
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-57497825

まあ。ひよわな文化部系は体育会系にはまったくかないません。

＜引用＞
Gabriel lamented the fact that sporting events can go ahead while music fans faced repeat setbacks. “If we’re doing these test events and we’re doing the Euros or Ascot, let’s give the festival sector a chance too. Maybe it’s a different sector of the population, but they deserve a go at this as well.”
＜引用終＞

ちなみに。当の体育会系はすごい密ぶりです。マスクなんてほとんどしていません。全員ワクチン打ったのか？
In pictures: Scotland fans celebrate England result
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-57525529

問題は体育会系なんですけどね。

poignant/dwindling

6月6日といえば。D-Dayですね。

Normandy marks D-day anniversary with new memorial
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/06/memorial-to-british-d-day-heroes-opens-in-poignant-ceremony

＜引用＞
Once again, the coronavirus has prevented British and other veterans from returning to relive, as they have in previous years, their longest day. On Sunday, 77 years on, most are aged over 95, and frail. Their numbers are of course dwindling.

It is particularly poignant this year as for the first time, surviving British Normandy veterans and their families have their own dedicated memorial to the largest sea invasion in history.
＜引用終＞

こっち↓の記事の方が記念碑と記念式典について全貌がよくわかるのですが、辞書を引かなくても読めてしまうところがこのブログの目的とあいません。

British Normandy Memorial unveiled in France to honour veterans
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57373932

しかし。この手の記事はWikipedia地獄にはまりがちです。

Battle of Normandy = Operation Overlord: 6 June – 30 August 1944
Operation Bluecoat : 30 July – 7 August 1944
Arromanches > Gold Beach > Mulberry
Pegasus bridge over the Caen canal

Britannicaもやばい。
https://www.britannica.com/event/Normandy-Invasion

かくして英語の勉強ができなくなります。

inhumane/abysmally

G7 は今年の議長国はイギリスでした。麻生さんがChanceller Sunakと一緒に笑顔で写真に写っていましたね。

Homeless lose beds as G7 takes over Cornwall hotels, says charity
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/06/homeless-lose-beds-as-g7-takes-over-cornwall-hotels-says-charity

＜引用＞
It is inhumane that she has to live in a car...She is one of many who have been evicted because of the G7...They have not even put in her a safe place. She has been treated abysmally.
＜引用終＞

＜引用＞
It is a seasonal issue which has been exacerbated by the exceptional number of people we are supporting due to the pandemic.
＜引用終＞

サミットに抗議しに来るような活動家たちの怒りを買いそうな記事ですね。

Cornwall G7: Police confirm four demonstration sites
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-56934018

G7なのに。韓国、インド、豪州、EUからも参加。日本はもはやアジアのリーダーではないということですね。

undertaking police on hard shoulder

毎日新しい単語をblogに乗せようと思いましたが。平日は仕事が忙しすぎです。
ラジオニュースの聞き流しとヘッドラインにザーッと目を通すのが関の山で、辞書を引く暇もありません。
もう少し仕事が減るといいのですが・・。

さて、イギリスとアメリカで違うのは自動車に関する単語。

この記事のタイトルを最初見たときは意味がわかりませんでした。うっかりpoliceに引きずられます。
Collinsを見てもあてはまる説明が見つからず。やはりOxford。

＜引用 Oxford Dictionary＞
VERB [WITH OBJECT]
British
Catch up with and pass (another vehicle) while travelling on the inside.
＜引用終＞

＜引用 Oxford Dictionary＞
NOUN
British
A hardened strip alongside a motorway for stopping on in an emergency.
＜引用終＞

記事中の映像を見ると意味がわかります。
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-57358040

＜引用＞
Dashcam footage shows Simon Pagett undertaking on the M6 on 5 November last year and an officer exclaiming "Really?" in disbelief.
He appears as if he is going to stop but then drives off, goes through red lights, hits a central reservation and does a lap of a Toby Carvery car-park as he tries to escape.
Pagett was arrested after pulling over a short time later.
＜引用終＞

undertakeやhard shoulderはイギリス英語すぎるのでテストに出るとは思えません。
イギリスでのドライブ中の会話で使えますね。あとはTop Gear(Grand Tour?)を見るときとか？