accost

THE TELOMERE EFFECTを読んでいます。
人の "telomere" を短くする、すなわち寿命を短くする要因にストレスがありますが、住んでいる環境もそのストレスを作る原因となる生活環境の一つです。
We have friends in a beautiful gated neighborhood, where the houses sit on acres of rolling hills. There are positive signs of social cohesion, including Fourth of July picnics and holiday dances. But there's also mistrust and infighting, and it's not free of crime. It's a a neighborhood full of doctors and lawyers, but if you live there you might wake up in the morning to the sound of a police helicopter hovering over your house, searching for an armed robbery suspect who has jumped over the gate. When you take out the trash, a neighbor who is unhappy about your plans for remodeling might accost you. Check your messages, and you could find that your neighbors are in a heated e-mail fight about whether to hire a security patrol and who will pay for it.
"accost" は1/24/2014に取り上げたので復習ですが、今回はV2 Vocabulary Building Dictionaryの説明を引用します。
Tips: Accost is derived from the Latin word accostare, “to adjoin,” from costa, “rib or side.” The underlying sense is “to be alongside.” If you come up "alongside" someone in a rather aggressive or threatening way, you are accosting them. Accost usually refers to approaching and talking to someone abruptly and in a surprising way. Accost can refer simply to approaching someone to talk, but it usually refers to approaching someone and verbally attacking or threatening the person: "He accosted me in the lobby and called me a liar." Accost can also refer to approaching someone regarding sexual favors: "I was accosted by the prostitute as I walked down the street."