dead ringer

O. Henryの短編 "The Enchanted Profile" の最後個所です。
"By jingo!" said he. "Isn't Ida's head a dead ringer for the lady's head on the silver dollar?"
"By jingo!" は感嘆詞的な意味（ Informal. (an exclamation used to emphasize the truth or importance of a foregoing statement, or to express astonishment, approval, etc.): I know you can do it, by jingo!）なので余り気になりませんが、"dead ringer" は興味を引く表現です。 辞書を見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: a person who is almost identical to another
・Dictionary.com: a person or thing that closely resembles another; ringer: That old car is a dead ringer for the one we used to own.
人にも物にも使えるのですね。 語源も気になるので調べてみました。
Excerpt from The Word Detective:
First found in about 1890, "ringer" was originally horse-racing slang for a horse with a proven track record that was surreptitiously substituted for a less qualified, untested horse. "Ringer" is now used as slang for anything that has been tampered with or unfairly altered. The "dead" in "dead ringer" is simply an intensifier, meaning "absolutely," and since a "ringer" must resemble the thing it replaces, "dead ringer" has come to mean something indistinguishable from another thing or person.

That's what you think

Germanyのジョークです。
Wandering around a fairground, a man enters a fortune-teller's tent for a laugh. "I see you're the father of two," says the seer, gazing into her crystal ball.
"Ha! That's what you think," says the man scornfully. "I'm the father of three."
"Ha!" says the fortune-teller.
"That's what you think."

decile

"Kotler on Marketing"の"Acquiring, Retaining, and Growing Customers"の章にあった文面です。
Once that is done customers can be ranked in deciles of profitability. One frequently quoted rule is the 20/80 rule, which says that the top 20 percent of profitable customers account for 80 percent of the company's profits.
"deciles" は初めて見ますが、後の文章や "decimal" と語幹が共通なので１０あるいは１０パーセントと関係がある事が分かります。 "decile" を辞書で確認します。
・Webster's New World College Dictionary: Statistics any of the values which divide a frequency distribution into ten groups of equal frequency; also, any of these groups
・Deardorff's Glossary of International Economics: One of ten segments of a distribution that has been divided into tenths. For example, the second-from-the-bottom decile of an income distribution is those whose income exceeds the incomes of from 10% to 20% of the population.
・A Dictionary of Units of Measurement: a statistical unit equal to 10 percentiles, or 1/10 of a ranked sample. See percentile. The word is pronounced with a soft "c": des-ile.
"percentile" と兄弟の言葉ですね。　上の最後に引用した辞書で "percentile" の説明を見ます。
a unit used in statistics to describe a portion of the individuals or events being studied. Suppose the data are arranged by numerical scores, from highest to lowest. A score belongs to the 78th percentile, for example, if it is greater than 78% of the scores but it is not greater than 79% of the scores. This procedure divides the scores into 100 percentiles, numbered 0th through 99th.
"deciles" が使われている例を "Investopedia" からもう一つ引用します。
When an analyst or statistician ranks data and then splits them into deciles, it is in an attempt to discover the largest and smallest values by a given metric. For example, by splitting the entire S&P 500 Index into deciles (50 firms will be in each decile) by the P/E multiple, the analyst will discover the companies with the highest and lowest P/E valuations in the index.
１２月も後半にはいりましたが、Decemberも "decile" と親戚でしたね。

block

O. Henryの小説は私の知らない単語が山のように出てくるので中々進みません。しかし、興味の湧く単語や表現があれば良いのですが、時代がちょっと古いせいか余り興味の湧く単語、覚えておきたい単語が余り出てきません。　代わりにReader's Digest, ９月号のWord Power、既に一部の単語を取り上げましたが、ハリウッド映画用語特集にあった単語を覚えたいと思います。
さて、ハリウッドの映画業界での "block" の意味は次ぎのどれでしょう？
A: set position in a scene.
B: label a scene by number
C: edit raw footage
答えはA.で、RDにあった例文は：
He spent an hour and a half blocking the scene with the clown.
でした。　辞書にこのような用例があるか調べてみます。
・Dictionary.com: Theater. a. Also, block out. to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play, pageant, etc.: Tomorrow we'll block act one.; b. to draw a floor plan on (a stage) in order to indicate placement of scenery, stage property, etc.
ハリウッド用語というより演劇用語で大きな辞書にはだいたいこの用例がありました。

freemasonry

O. Henryの短編 "Transients in Arcadia" の一節です。
Perhaps there was a mystic freemasonry between the discriminating guests of the Lotus.
"freemason" に石工組合（員）とか秘密結社（員）のような意味があることは聞いた事はありますが、上の文の "freemason" の意味はそれらとはちょっと意味が離れているようです。　辞書を見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: a natural or instinctive fellowship between people of similar interests ("He enjoyed the freemasonry of the Press")
・Dictionary.com: secret or tacit brotherhood; fellowship; fundamental bond or rapport: the freemasonry of those who hunger for knowledge.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: literary friendly understanding between people who are similar or do similar things; The two rivals were nevertheless united by the freemasonry of the acting profession.
石工組合や秘密結社の仲間内の親密な関係が一般的な仲間内の関係にも適用されるようになったようですね。

foil, sequel

昨日の "foil" のハリウッド用語としての意味は：　"role contrasting with another role" でした。 RDに掲載の例文: The twins were natural foils for each other.
この例文だけでは物足りないので辞書の説明と例文もチェックしました。
・Dictionary.com: a person or thing that makes another seem better by contrast: The straight man was an able foil to the comic.
・American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: One that by contrast underscores or enhances the distinctive characteristics of another: "I am resolved my husband shall not be a rival, but a foil to me" (Charlotte Bronte).
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: something or someone that makes another's good or bad qualities more noticeable; The older, cynical character in the play is the perfect foil for the innocent William.
RDに掲載のハリウッド用語はこれまでに紹介した５単語の他にも１２単語あり、いずれも興味深い意味をもっています。投稿する話題が切れたときに使うことにします。

foil

The Japan Times Online, Nov.22の記事に私の知っている意味の "foil" が使われていました。
Locks foil pirate attack on tanker
The robbers tried to enter the ship's cabin but failed as all the doors were locked.
１１月１１日の "denouement" についての投稿の際に、ハリウッド用語としての "foil" は上記の文の意味、あるいはアルミフォイルのフォイルとは全く違う興味のある意味をもっている事に触れましたが、さてその意味は次ぎのどれでしょうか？
A: sword fight scene.
B: first version of a script
C: role contrasting with another role
答えは明日までお待ち下さい。

frozen capital

Reader's Digestの９月号に "6th Annual Humour Special" と題して世界２８ヶ国のベストジョークの特集がありました。RDの日本語版が無いせいだと思いますが、日本のジョークは掲載されていませんでした。２８ヶ国のジョークの内、私が面白いと思った６ヶ国のジョークをこれから毎週日曜日に紹介します。
最初は中国のジョークです。
My cousin always "borrows" money from her older brother's piggy bank, which drives him crazy. One day, she found the piggy in, of all places, the refrigerator. Inside was this note: "Dear sister, I hope you'll understand, but my capital has been frozen."

Businesses before going to the office.

私の平日の朝の「お勤め」（出勤前の「お仕事」です）は二つあり、ブログに日記を投稿する事と、もう一つはリーダーズダイジェスト10月号のMy Story, "Flushed Away" の記事にもあった "business" です。
With my short legs, I had to squat in an awkward position to ensure I could carry on my "business" without creating a mess.
"business" の内容はもうお分かりだと思いますが、世の中には毎日はこのような "business" をしない方もいるようなので、同記事の後半にある文も引用しておきます。
I find myself dreaming of the ultimate Japanese toilet that offers self-flushing functions. It has automated jet streams with regulated hot or cold sprays of water that eliminate the need for toilet paper.
記事の著者はマレーシアの方で、記事は子供の頃（１９６０年代）の思い出の話でした。
When I was a child, the outhouse was the scariest place I knew. Even so, I remember it fondly.
日本でも田舎では昔は "business" は "outhouse" で行われたというのを聞いた事があります。

eyes in the back of your head

リーダーズダイジェスト8月号Kids As Kids See Itに投稿された記事です。
One afternoon, Karyn, my sister-in-law, was driving with her two little girls, Taylor and Tyneel, in the back seat. After a few minutes of listening to them argue, Karyn yelled, "Knock it off, both of you!"
Taylor, the eldest, asked, "How did you know what we were doing?"
"Mummies have eyes in the back of their heads," Karyn replied.
A few weeks later, the gang was again out driving, doing some errands.
"Mummy," Taylor asked innocently, "do you still have eyes in the back of your head?"
"Of course I do."
Karyn responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," she said, pointing to the object in her hands, "I thought maybe you could read us this book while you drive."
子供に嘘はつけないですね。