dollar bill

昨日卓球のシングルスの試合で久しぶりに優勝できました。
さて、日本は百円札はなくコインですが、米国では１ドルコインも記念硬貨などで存在しますが、実際に流通しているのは１ドル紙幣です。　今日はその１ドル紙幣と２０ドル紙幣の会話。
A one dollar bill met a twenty dollar bill and said,
"Hey, where've you been? I haven't seen you around here much."
The twenty answered, "I've been hanging out at the casinos went on a cruise and did the rounds of the ship, back to the United States for a while, went to a couple of baseball games, to the mall, that kind of stuff. How about you?"
The one dollar bill said, "You know, same old stuff church, church, church."

sputter

A History of Western Societyに覚えたい表現がありました。
Wartime needs led to many other major technical breakthrough. Germany had little oil and was almost completely cut off from foreign supplies. But Germany's scientists and engineers found ways to turn coal into gasoline so that the German war machine did not sputter to a halt.
"sputter" を辞書で調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: [no object] make a series of soft explosive or spitting sounds: the engine sputtered and stopped
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to make explosive popping sounds: The motor sputtered and died.
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: to make several quick explosive sounds: The car sputtered once or twice and then stopped.
日本語なら、「プスンプスンと音を立ててエンジンが止まった」などと、"onomatopoeia"（Ref. "rickety/wobbly" http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2008/03/3 "nyuk nyuk" http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2008/12/18 ）で表現するところですね。

in one's cups

MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis ClubのKawamura警部の家族が運転中に何ものかに襲われ大怪我をし、妻と二人の子供が皆救急車で病院に運ばれました。　連絡を受けた警部は急いで病院に駆けつけます。
Kawamura ran into Noriko's sister and her husband outside the nurse's station. They lived in Chiba and had responded to Suzuki-san's call immediately. The sister was in tears, her husband was in his cups.
Norikoは警部の奥さんです。　奥さんの姉/妹は泣いているのですが、その夫は "in his cups" とありますが、どんな状態なのでしょうか？　辞書を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: in your cups, old-fashioned: drunk
・Infoplease: in one's cups, intoxicated; drunk.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.: Euph. drunk. She doesn't make much sense when she's in her cups. The speaker-who was in his cups-could hardly be understood.
なるほどワンカップ大関を思い起せば良いかな、いや、常に複数形の "cups" が使われるのでワンカップでは足りません。
追記　"cup" を含んだ慣用句として以前　"my cup runneth over" (Ref.　http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2008/1/6 ) を取り上げています。

take someone under one's wing

MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Clubで殺されたShig Manabeが書き残したmemoirsの一節です。
I arrived in Ann Arbor without knowing a soul. I did have one name to contact, a Professor Glynn, and he took me under his wing. We went out drinking my first night in town, and I was sick for the next three days.
"took me under his wing" は慣用句の様です。　面倒を見てくれた、あるいはその後で飲みに行った事が書かれているので、"under his wing" が馴染みの場所/店の意味があるのかと勘ぐりましたがどうでしょう？
辞書には "under one's wing" の項に説明がありました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: under one's protection: in one's care: took her under his wing
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic) Under one's protection, sponsorship, or tutelage.
He took the promising student under his wing.
The promising student came under the professor's wing.
He remained under the great man's wing after graduation.
Now a professor himself he has young students under his wing.
・Dictionary.com: under one's wing, under one's protection, care, or patronage: She took the orphan under her wing.
面倒を見る感じで、馴染みの場所/店の意味は無いですね。（行った先の飲み屋をpatronageしていると解釈するのはどうも深読みに過ぎる様です。）

repair

父の故郷の長野県諏訪に行って来ました。車を運転して行くのは初めてで、東京の東端から中央道に行くには首都高で行かざるを得ないのですが、首都高というのはクネクネしていてジャンクションやら出入り口がやたらに多く、しかもその出入り口が左側に統一されている訳ではなく右側の出入り口もあるので本当に走りにくいし、目的の方向に間違えなく行くのは慣れない私にはとても疲れる運転でした。
さて、MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Clubに出て来る、Kawamura警部と息子との会話の後に出てきた見慣れた単語の意味は？
"Did you get a printout?" asked his son.
"Printout? Oh, I see. Yes, I, ah, programmed it."
"You did?"
"Of course," said Kawamura. "It was easy."
Kawamura's son repaired to his room and classic rock.
この "repaired" は文脈からして、部屋に戻った事を示しているに違いないと思いますが、 "repair" と来れば修理/修繕しか思い浮かばない私には意外です。　辞書で確認します。
・Wiktionary: To transfer oneself to another place.: I heard the visitors repair to their chambers. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte 1850.
・Infoplease:
1. to betake oneself; go, as to a place: He repaired in haste to Washington.
2. to go frequently or customarily.
・WordNet 1.7: resort -- (move, travel, or proceed toward some place; ``He repaired to his cabin in the woods'' )
確かに "go/resort" の意味がありました。

long shot

MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Clubで殺されたShig Manabeがmemoirsを書いていた事を知り、Kawamura警部はそのmemoirsを入手し、殺された原因を突き止めるヒントは無いかと入念に読み始めました。
Kawamura made a note to check on Hamada's mother's maiden name. It was a long shotlong shot" には大穴の意味があったと思いますが、Hamadaが犯人だとしたら大穴と言うことでしょうか。　辞書で "long shot" を確認します。
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: something you try although it is unlikely to be successful: It's a long shot, but you could try phoning him at home.
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic, nautical) Something unlikely; something that has little chance of happening or working. The term arose from the accuracy of early ship guns, which were effective only at close range and unlikely to hit the mark at any great distance.: We can try your plan, but it's a long shot and it probably won't work.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. a risky bet; an attempt, bet, or proposition that has a low probability of success.: Your solution is a long shot, but we'll try it and hope it works.
遠くから、ましてや揺れる船からの砲撃では中々的に当たらないのも当然ですね。

reservation

来週の火水と久しぶりに一泊旅行をする事になり、ホテルの予約をしました。直前だったので中々空いている適当なホテルがなかったのですが、なんとか予約できました。と言うわけで、恒例の日曜日のジョーク紹介、今日の題は "reservation" です。
How do we know the Indians were the first people in North America?
They had reservations.

tease

MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis ClubでKawamura警部と相棒のSuzuki-sanが道でタクシーをつかまえようとしている場面です。
Taxis whizzed past, not even slowing and teasing.
タクシーが見込み客をからかう訳はないし、５月に取り上げた "tease" の意味は全く無関係だし、何でしょう？　辞書を見ます。
・Vocabulary.com: to arouse hope, desire, or curiosity without satisfying them: “The advertisement is intended to tease the customers”; “She has a way of teasing men with her flirtatious behavior”
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it
・Wiktionary: To entice, to tempt.
なるほど。　からかう意味とちょっと似ている気もしますが、微妙に違う意味ですね。

prequel

Reader's Digest 6月号の映画紹介コーナーでX-MEN: FIRST CLASSについての記事にあった単語が気になりました。
Superhero movies are turning back the clock this summer, with Captain America set during World War II, and now, this prequel to the hit X-Men franchise that uses the Cuban Missile Crisis in the '60s as backdrop.
"prequel" の意味は "sequel" と文脈から推測できます。　前作より後に作られたのだが、舞台の背景は前作より古い映画の事のようです。　辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: a story or film containing events which precede those of an existing work: the film is a prequel to the cult TV series
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a work (as a novel or a play) whose story precedes that of an earlier work: His next film will be a prequel to last year's hit movie.
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: a film, book or play which develops the story of an earlier film, etc. by telling you what happened before the events in the first film, etc: Jean Rhys's novel 'Wide Sargasso Sea' is a prequel to Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'.

give a wide berth

MURDER at the Tokyo Lawn Tennis Clubのメインキャラクター、Kawamura警部が電話で署に連絡している時の会話の後にあった表現です。
"A burglary? What's that got to do with us?"
Pedestrians were now giving Kawamura a wide berth on the sidewalk.
"give someone a wide berth" は多分慣用句でしょう。
・American Heritage Dictionary: Avoid, as in After Jane told on them, they gave her a wide berth . This expression alludes to giving a vessel enough room to swing at anchor so as to avoid a collision.
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic, by extension) A considerable or comfortable distance from a person or object, especially for safety or deliberate avoidance.: Our cat always gives the vacuum cleaner a wide berth.: He's so obnoxious that everyone gives him a wide berth.
「君子危うきに近寄らず」を思い起こさせますね。