black and white

Attending a wedding for the first time, Little Susie whispered to her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?"
"Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life."
Litte Susie thought about this for a moment, then said "So why is the groom wearing black?"

the whole nine

English Journal 6月号にあった、Discovery Channelの番組を紹介する記事です。　６月号はElvis Has Gone But People Are Still Lookingと題された番組の紹介でした。
Brad Klinge (president/founder): First thing we wanna do is neet with Teresa. She's kind of the unofficial historian of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Uh, we wanna see if she has blueprints. We wanna get claims of activity from her. Just meet with her and see what's going on here.
(to Teresa) One thing I really wanted to ask you was it's all true about Elvis. About he got his start here...
Teresa (auditorium caretaker): Yes, he did.
Brad: The whole nine?
Teresa: Elvis got his start here. It was in 1954, and in fact, in one of the rooms you'll probably see later -- in the Elvis Presly dressing room -- there's actually a copy of the, uh, contract he signed with the Louisiana Hayride.
上の会話に出て来る "The whole nine" が私の知らない台詞ですが、雑誌には the whole nine (yard): 「何もかも」　と注がありました。　慣用句の様ですが、何故この様な意味があるのか調べて見ます。　調べると "the whole nine yard" と言う慣用句がある事が分かりました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: all of a related set of circumstances, conditions, or details: who could learn the most about making records, about electronics and engineering, the whole nine yards - Stephen Stills - sometimes used adverbially with go to indicate an all-out effort
Wiktionary:
1. (idiomatic) All the way; with everything done completely or thoroughly. They really went the whole nine yards with this party.
2. (idiomatic) And everything. Often used, like etc., to finish out a list. They put up balloons, baked a cake, sent out invitations-the whole nine yards. They have books, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, the whole nine yards.
Etymology: The origin is unknown, but many theories exist. The earliest known print appearance in these senses is in an article by Stephen Trumbell in the 1964-04-25 Tuscon Daily Citizen, titled “Talking Hip in the Space Age” and discussing NASA jargon: “‘Give'em the whole nine yards’ means an item-by-item report on any project.” The synonymous variant “all nine yards” appeared in a letter from Gale F. Linster to the editor of the 1962-12 Car Life. There is a supposition that "The whole nine yards" refers to the length of the ammunition belts of the guns on WWII bombers- 9 yards. "Give em the whole nine yards" would then mean give them everything you've got.
由来説は複数あって定かではない様ですが、いずれにせよかなり新しい表現ですね。

placental abruption

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事、The Decision: A or A + B、にあった文です。双子を妊娠しているのですが、その内の一人の状態が良くない様です。
An ultrasound is done. One of the babies - Twin A, the doctors call her - is developing properly. The other - Twin B - has an abrupted placenta.
"abrupted placenta" ですが、意味は "placenta" を調べれば分かるのですが、解せないのは "abrupted" です。　まず "placenta" の意味です。
・Macmillan Dictionary: the organ through which a baby is connected to its mother’s blood supply in her womb before birth
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: the temporary organ which feeds a foetus (= developing baby) inside its mother's womb
となると "abrupted placenta" は "placenta" に異常がある急性の病気の様ですが、、辞書で見つかったのは "placental abruption" だけです。
・Wikipedia: Placental abruption (also known as abruptio placentae) is a complication of pregnancy, wherein the placental lining has separated from the uterus of the mother.
・Medical dictionary: Placental abruption occurs when the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus prior to the birth of the baby. This can result in severe, uncontrollable bleeding (hemorrhage).
"abrupt placenta" は辞書には見当たりませんが、Google検索では何百件がリストされるので、一般人が "placental abruption" の意味で "abrupt placenta" を使っているのだと推測します。
"abruption" の意味は辞書に次の様に書かれています。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a sudden breaking off or away
・Mosby's Medical Dictionary: a sudden breaking off or tearing apart.
"abrupt" は辞書を見ても形容詞しか載っておらず、動詞の "abrupt" の用法はないので、、記事の "abrupted placenta" は間違え英語と思わざるを得ません。

up the ante

June 22のThe Japan Times Onlineにあった見出しです。
China ups the ante in South China Sea disputes
"ante up" は賭け金を払う、掛け金を上げる、渋々払うなどの意味で良く見かける表現ですが、表題での意味は何でしょう。　記事を読んでみます。
China appears to be increasingly determined to strengthen its presence and control in areas of the South China Sea close to Southeast Asia that it sees as strategically and economically important.
引用したのは記事の冒頭ですが、この後を読んでも南シナ海での中国の存在が顕著になったこと以外に見出しの "ups the ante" との関係がいま一つ分かりません。　辞書で "ups the ante" を調べます。
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: If you up the ante, you increase your demands or the risks in a situation in order to achieve a better result: The government has upped the ante by refusing to negotiate until a ceasefire has been agreed.
・Collins English Dictionary: Informal to increase the costs, risks, or considerations involved in taking an action or reaching a conclusion whenever they reached their goal, they upped the ante by setting more complex challenges for themselves
中国の海軍は南シナ海に頻繁に出没するようになったので各国との衝突の危険が高まったと解釈できそうです。

chutzpah

John & Yoko & meと題されたReader's Digest 5月号の記事は、著者が１６才の時に学校新聞の記事のために１９６９年のJohn & YokoによるBed-In現場に潜入した事を書いたものです。著者は回想のためにそのBed-Inのあったホテルを訪ねました。
The present head of security, John Williams, was curious how I'd got past the security. I retraced my youthful steps up service lifts and back stairwells to the 17th floor. I marvelled at my chutzpah and wished I had more of it today.
上の文に出て来る "chutzpah" はYiddish（あるいはその由来の）で、いわゆる "pop word" の範疇に入る言葉だと言う事は覚えていますが、肝心な意味が直ぐに出て来ません。しかたがないので辞書を引きます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: approving : personal confidence or courage that allows someone to do or say things that may seem shocking to others: It took a lot of chutzpah [=nerve] to stand up to him the way she did.
・Oxford English Dictionary: extreme self-confidence or audacity (usually used approvingly): love him or hate him, you have to admire Cohen's chutzpah.
・American Heritage Dictionary: Yiddish term for courage bordering on arrogance, roughly equivalent to “nerve” (in the slang sense): “It took a lot of chutzpah to make such a controversial statement.”
・Yahoo! Education: Utter nerve; effrontery: "has the chutzpah to claim a lock on God and morality"
厚かましさ、ずうずうしさを意味している様ですが、日本語の大胆にも言える様に "usually used approvingly" のニュアンスを持っているので Pop Wordになっているのでしょう。

quarter

Reader's Digest 5月号にSit, Stay, Whoa!と題した、子供の教育、躾に悩む著者が "gun-dog training manual" を参考にしたという内容の記事です。:
Millie hunts close, quarters well, points beautifully, is staunch to wing and shot, and retrieves with verve. My children... are doing OK in school, I guess. They look very sweet - when they're asleep.
動詞としての "quarter" は以前にも取り上げましたが (Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2008/09/28) 、上の引用文の "quarter" はそんな恐ろしい意味ではありません。　別の意味を調べかけて思い出しました。　ここの意味は "The Old Man and the Sea" に出てきた "quarter" (Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2010/01/07 ) と同じで、"to traverse (the ground) from left to right and right to left while advancing, as dogs in search of game; to range to and fro, as dogs in search of game" ですね。

fit the bill

今日の表現もLinked by Albert-Laszlo BarabasiのThe Random Universeの章にあった表現です。
If a network was too complex to be captured in simple terms, it urged us to describe it as random. Sure enough, society, the cell, communication networks, and the economy are all complex enough to fit the bill.
引用文の最後に出てきた "fit the bill" は初めて見る慣用句ですが、文字通りに解釈しても意味はだいたい分かります。　念のために辞書で確認します。
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: to be suitable for a particular purpose: This new software certainly fits the bill.
・WordNet: (or fill the bill): be what is needed or be good enough for what is required ("Does this restaurant fit the bill for the celebration?")
・Cambridge Idioms Dictionary: to have the qualities or experience which are needed I'm looking for someone with several years of publishing experience and you seem to fit the bill.: The city needs a strong leader, and the new mayor just doesn't fill the bill.

suck

日曜日はいつもジョークを紹介する日にしているのですが、明日は朝早くから出かけるので今日のうちに投稿しておきます。次ぎのジョークは今朝のトピックに続き "suck" の意味の復習です。
A little boy is in school working on his arithmetic. The teacher says, "Imagine there are 5 black birds sitting on a fence. You pick up your BB gun and shoot one. How many blackbirds are left?"

The little boy thinks for a moment and says, "NONE!" The teacher replies, "None, how do you figure that?" The little boy says, if I shoot one, all the other birds will fly away scared, leaving none on the fence." The teacher replies, "Hmm, not exactly, but I do like the way you think!"

The little boy then says, "Teacher, let me ask you a question. There are 3 men sitting on a park bench eating ice cream cones. One is licking his cone, another is biting it and the third one is sucking it. How can you tell which one of the men is married?"

The teacher ponders the question uncomfortably and then finally replies, "Well, I guess the one sucking his cone."

To which the little boy replies, "Actually, its the one with the wedding ring, but I do like the way YOU think!"

(Note: I modified the original joke a little. Please don't ask why/how.)

Suck It In

今日は "Suck It In" と題されたジョークの中に出てきた表現を取り上げます。
I noticed my husband standing on the bathroom scale, sucking in his ample stomach.
Thinking he was trying to weigh less with this maneuver, I quipped, "I don't think that is going to help much, hon?"
"Sure it does," he said. "How else can I see the numbers!"
ちょっと肥満度が高過ぎる様ですね。　それはともかく "sucking in his ample stomach" は面白い表現です。　今年の初めに "suck it up" （To cope with something unpleasant without complaining　－ Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2011/01/08）を取り上げましたが、 "suck" も色々な意味に使われますね。　上のジョークの "sucking in his ample stomach" の意味は次ぎの辞書に出ていました。　
・Macmillan Dictionary: suck your stomach/gut in to hold your stomach in with your muscles so that it does not look big
確かに、体重は減りませんが、おなかは引っ込んで若干細くなります。　但し、あくまでも一時的ですが。
試してはいませんが、下記のURLに "suck in your stomach" が何度も出て来る Easy Ab Workouts と言うWebsiteがあります。
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/easy-ab-workouts-7010.html

sea squirt

今日の英語もReader's Digest 5月号の韓国料理の記事にあったものです。
While my less-adventurous countrymen settled down to their meat and two veg, Koreans are at the cutting edge of the culinary arena, serving up a feast of sea squirts and deer antler tea, alongside plates of kimchi, rice and deliciously spicy soups.
"sea squirts" の "squirt" は結構頻出する単語で、" cause (a liquid) to be ejected from a small opening in a thin, fast stream or jet: cause (a liquid) to be ejected from a small opening in a thin, fast stream or jet" を意味する動詞で使われている場合が多いので、"sea squirts" は海水を噴出す生物のはずです。　貝類、イカ、タコも対象となる気もしますが、まず辞書を見ます。
・Vocabulary: ascidian that can contract its body and eject streams of water
・American Heritage Dictionary: Any of various sedentary tunicates of the class Ascidiacea, having a transparent sac-shaped body with two siphons. Also called ascidian.
動植物は辞書ではイメージがはっきりしないので Wikipedia（Ascidiacea (commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts)の項）を見るとこんな記述があります。
Various Ascidiacea are used as food. Sea pineapple (Halocynthia roretzi) is cultivated in Japan (hoya, maboya) and Korea (meongge) and, when eaten raw, has been described by Lonely Planet as tasting like "rubber dipped in ammonia". The peculiar flavor is attributed to an unsaturated alcohol called cynthiaol.
The Korean fish stew agujjim traditionally contains the tunicate Styela clava. According to the LA Weekly, "they are actually farmed in parts of Korea, and sea squirt bibimbap is a specialty of Geojae-do island, not far from Masan."
日本や韓国では食用にされるとなると、の "squirt" はホヤの事かなと思いますが、あまりホヤを食べる事はないし、韓国人の食べる "sea squirt" と日本のホヤが同じかどうかは、韓国の食生活に詳しい方に聞かないと分かりませんね。