Lazy Susan

中華料理屋でよく見かける回転式のテーブルの事を英語で "Lazy Susan" と言うのは通訳ガイドの受験勉強で覚えた単語ですが、当時は試験に出さそうな単語を丸暗記しただけなので、何故 "Lazy Susan" が回転式テーブルになるのか気にしていませんでした。
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a circular piece of wood or plastic which is put on a table and can be turned around so that everyone can reach the food that is on it
先日、Feb.25, 2011の単語メルマガArcaMax にその "Lazy Susan" の由来について触れていました。
Lazy Susan: This term may be named for a lass, but, alas, we don't know which one. Some suggest "Lazy Susan," which first appeared in English during the early 1900s, is derived from a common first name for a female servant, just as "Bridget" became a general term for an Irish maid.
Others believe a clever advertising copywriter simply concocted the term because he liked the repeated "z" sound in "Susan" and "lazy." On this one, it seems we're destined to go round and round.