"The House of Silk" からの引用です。
He spoke softly, but his voice had an edge that left you in no doubt that he was used to being obeyed. But it was his mercurial quality that most unnerved me, his refusal to connect emotionally with anyone at all.
"mercurial quality" とはどんな性格なのでしょうか？ 水銀は液体なので、気移りのし易い性格を指しているのでしょうか？ 辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: 1.(of a person) subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind: his mercurial temperament 2. (of a person) sprightly; lively: They require complex and varied solutions, involving complicated, multiplex, mercurial people who use a wide variety of approaches.
・Collins Dictionary: If you describe someone as mercurial, you mean that they frequently change their mind or mood without warning.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: 1. changing suddenly and often: She was entertaining but unpredictable, with mercurial mood swings. 2. intelligent, enthusiastic, and quick: a mercurial mind/wit
二つの異なる性格を示していますが、引用文の意味は文中に "unnerved me" とあるので、悪い意味の方の気分屋の方の意味ですね。
He spoke softly, but his voice had an edge that left you in no doubt that he was used to being obeyed. But it was his mercurial quality that most unnerved me, his refusal to connect emotionally with anyone at all.
"mercurial quality" とはどんな性格なのでしょうか？ 水銀は液体なので、気移りのし易い性格を指しているのでしょうか？ 辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: 1.(of a person) subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind: his mercurial temperament 2. (of a person) sprightly; lively: They require complex and varied solutions, involving complicated, multiplex, mercurial people who use a wide variety of approaches.
・Collins Dictionary: If you describe someone as mercurial, you mean that they frequently change their mind or mood without warning.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: 1. changing suddenly and often: She was entertaining but unpredictable, with mercurial mood swings. 2. intelligent, enthusiastic, and quick: a mercurial mind/wit
二つの異なる性格を示していますが、引用文の意味は文中に "unnerved me" とあるので、悪い意味の方の気分屋の方の意味ですね。
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