Camden, NJ

今から二十数年前ですが、米国ニュージャージー州の南にあったNew York Times Cable TV（今は買収されて会社名が変っています）に仕事で、片道１00milesの距離を一週間毎日通ったことがあります。余りに大変なので、客先の近くにアパートを借りて週末だけ家に帰る生活が一年以上続きました。その時期に近くの町の
Camden（河を渡ると フィラデルフィアです）にある日本料理屋によく行った記憶があります。この
Camdenの事がReader's Digest 12月号のTRAVEL TRAVAILSというコーナーにあった投稿記事に出て来ました。
"When travelling through the US, I stayed in a town called Camden, which is in New Jersey.
Camden has the highest murder rate in the world per capita, but is ranked 17th for muggings. I don't like any place where my wallet is safer than my life."

parsimony

内村鑑三のRepresentative Men of Japan、上杉鷹山についての個所を読んでいます。
Still waste lands remained in his territory. In a rice-producing country like Japan, fertiliry means abundance of water-supply, and insufficient irrigation leaves large portions of land in comparative sterility. Conveyance of water through long distances seemed an impossibility with Yozan's exhausted treasury. But frugality with him meant no parsimony.
最後に出てきた "parsimony" が分かりません。辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: extreme care or reluctance in spending; frugality; niggardliness
・Vocabulary.com: Parsimony is a noun to us when you are watching your money very carefully. So you're not just saving your pennies for a rainy day ? you're clipping coupons, re-using dryer sheets, and refusing to pay full price for anything.
It's not a bad thing to engage in a little parsimony. Related to an ancient Latin word meaning "to spare," parsimony keeps your checking account in the black and your retirement plan well funded. But get a little too parsimonious and you might start to look like Uncle Scrooge ? an old miser who learned the hard way that practicing extreme parsimony doesn't win you love and admiration.
"little parsimony" はケチで "extreme parsimony" はドケチでしょうか。

exaction & penury

内村鑑三がRepresentative Men of Japanとして取り上げた二番目の人物は米沢藩の領主、上杉鷹山（Uesugi Yozan, A Feudal Load）です。状況の把握がし易い様に、ちょっと長くなりますが、今日取り上げる単語が出てくる文の一つ前の文から引用します。
Through its siding with the anti-Tokugawa party in the battle of Sekigahara (1600), the seat of the clan was again removed, this time to an out-of-the-way district of Yonezawa, with the reduced revenue of 300,000 koku. Then to make bad worse, the revenue was once more cut off one half, and when Yozan came to be the chief, the Uesugi was a daimyo of 150,000 koku, with subjects once supported by 1,000,000 koku, and all the habits and practices established upon the latter basis. We need not wonder, therefore, when we hear that the new territory scarcely supported the clan, that its debts amounted to millions, that taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed everywhere in the district.

"taxes and exaction scared off the population, that penury and destitution prevailed" の個所にある "exaction" と "penury" が今日覚えたい単語です。最初に "exaction" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the action of demanding and obtaining something from someone, especially a payment: he supervised the exaction of tolls at various ports
・Vocabulary.com: act of demanding or levying by force or authority: “exaction of tribute”: “exaction of various dues and fees”
基本的には "tax" と同類項ですね。すると "penury" は "destitution" と同じ様な意味だと推測できます。　今度は "penury" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: the state of being very poor; extreme poverty: he couldn’t face another year of penury
・Vocabulary.com: Penury means extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets. Economic downturns, job loss, shopping sprees, and weekends at the high rollers' table in Vegas can lead to penury.

doxology

一月ほど前にＮＨＫで新渡戸稲造と内村鑑三についての番組がありました。新渡戸の武士道は読んだ事があります。内村鑑三についてはほとんど何も知らなかったのですが、番組を見て大いに興味を持ちました。そこで内村の書いた本が地元の図書館にあるか調べたところ　"Representative Men of Japan" があるのが分かり借りることにしました。借りた本は講談社インターナショナル出版の本（英語は１９０８年の改訂版）で、内村が英語で書いた原文に日本語の訳を付けた対訳本です。新渡戸の本を読んだ時にも思ったのですが、明治の人の英語力は感心するばかりです。現在の様に教材や辞書等々が豊富では無かった時代なのに英米の人に読ませるために英語で書いていたのは驚きです。　"Representative Men of Japan" は内村より前の時代の偉人を西洋人に紹介する内容で、最初に取り上げるのは西郷隆盛です。次ぎに引用する個所はその前書きの部分からです。
Matthew Calbraith Perry of the he United States Navy to be one of the greatest friends of Humanity the world ever seen. In his diaries we read that he bombarded the shores of Japan with doxologies, and not with ordnance. His mission was a delicate one of waking up a hermit nation without doing injury to its dignity, yet keeping its native pride at bay. His was the task of a true missionary, done with Heaven's gracious help, with many an invocation to the Ruler of nations.
文語的な文章で難しい単語が出て来ました。 "doxologies" の意味を調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a usually liturgical expression of praise to God
・Merriam-Webster's for kid: an expression of praise to God
・Oxford English Dictionary: a liturgical formula of praise to God: after the singing of the doxology the congregation separated
・Vocabulary.com: You're most likely to hear a doxology in a Christian church, since it's a short religious verse or prayer that is sung.
The brief chant or song that comes at the end of a prayer in a Catholic church is one kind of doxology. In the Lord's Prayer, which is common in many different Christian churches, the final line ending in "forever and ever, amen," was added on to the original ancient Biblical manuscripts and is considered a doxology. The word comes from the Greek doxologia, "praise or glory," a combination of doxa, "glory," and logos, "a speaking."
なるほど、内村鑑三はクリスチャンなのでこの様な言葉が出てくるのですね。

wily

Jan.26のJapan Timesの記事タイトルです。
Wherever the wily Ozawa goes, party soon to follow
"wily" の意味は小沢議員の行動を考えれば大体想像できますが、記事を読んでみます。内容は小沢氏が政党を作っては飛び出していった過去の経歴について書いています。
Ozawa has been nicknamed the “destroyer” for his record of eventually splitting up most of the parties to which he has belonged, including the LDP, Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), the Liberal Party, the DPJ and Nippon Mirai.
"wily" の意味を辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: characterized by or proceeding from wiles; sly or crafty: The British leader will have a tough job winning the wily Chirac over to his foreign policy outlook.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: (of a person) clever, having a very good understanding of situations, possibilities and people, and often willing to use tricks to achieve an aim: a wily politician
・Macmillan Dictionary: clever and willing to trick people in order to get what you want
政治家にとって "wily" は褒め言葉なのでしょう。
何れにせよ、問題があると秘書や周りの人のせいにする政治家はどんなに賢くても、優れていても、好きにはなれません。

shanghai

Jan.21のJapan Timesの記事タイトルが気になりました。
Japanese execs shanghaied in Chinese labor dispute
"shanghaied" が小文字で始まり、過去分詞形の様なのでこれはどんな意味なのかと思い、記事の中身を読みます。
SHANGHAI -　Employees at an electronics plant in Shanghai who locked up about 10 of the company's Japanese executives for two days to demand better pay and working conditions released them early Sunday after police intervention.
上海での人質事件の記事ですが、"shanghai" に上の記事の "lock up" に当たる意味があるのでしょうか？　辞書を見ます。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to force someone to do something or go somewhere: The two groups were shanghaied into signing the agreement, despite their objections.: The homeless are being shanghaied off the streets in some cities.
・Vocabulary.com: take (someone) against his will for compulsory service, especially on board a ship: “The men were shanghaied after being drugged”
なるほど、語源は当然上海と関係あるのでしょう。 Etymology.comを見ます。
1854, American English, "to drug a man unconscious and ship him as a sailor," from the practice of kidnapping to fill the crews of ships making extended voyages, such as to the Chinese seaport of Shanghai
北朝鮮が日本人をさらった卑劣な行動もこの "shanghai" の行為ですね。

second

Teacher: Can anyone tell me how many seconds there are in a year?
Pupil: 12 - 2nd January, 2nd February...!

car horn began to blast

昨日 "cheeky" を取り上げた引用文に:"When we were halfway down to the water, our car horn began to blast." とありましたが、この "our car horn began to blast":の経験をつい先日しました。 最近の車にはたいてい盗難防止の装置が付いていますが、私も初めてこの装置が働く事を確認しました。　車を駐車場に止めて、卓球をするために体育館に向かって歩いていったところ、どこからか大きな警報の音が聞こえて来ました。どこから音が聞こえて来ているのか気になりましたがそのまま体育館に入ろうとしたところ、たまたま防犯のパトロールをしていた警官がやって来て駐車場の車から警報が鳴っていると言う、話をよく聞くと自分の車の様だ。結局原因は後部座席が半ドア(ajar)になっていた事が分かりましたが、警報が鳴るのに１分以上もかかっていたので直ぐには半ドアが気が付かなかったのです。これからは良く注意しなくてはと思いました。

cheeky

Reader's DigestのSmart Aninalsのコーナーは毎号読者からのペットにまつわる話題を紹介しています。昨年の１２月号にあった話を引用します。
Beach blast
We knew that Leroy Brown, our corgi cross, was clever, having mastered at least 30 words of command.
He was a regular on family outing, and a few years ago he joined us on an impromptu trip to the beach. Upon arrival, we saw a sign saying that dogs were banned on the beach. So, to Leroy's disgust, he was left in the car while we set off for a stroll.
When we were halfway down to the water, our car horn began to blast. I turned around and, sure enough, there was Leroy's cheeky face peeking over the driver's wheel as he madly beeped the horn to get our attention. I joked horn to some surprised onlookers: "So? He wanted to come with us!"
"cheeky" は前にどこかで見た表現ですが、思い出せません。今度はしっかりと覚えたい。
・Macmillan Dictionary: showing a lack of respect, but in a way that seems lively and attractive instead of rude
a cheeky grin/look
・Collins Dictionary: disrespectful in speech or behaviour; impudent ⇒ a cheeky child
・Vocabulary.com: If you're being cheeky you're being brash or irreverent. If you're a cheeky child, you're probably just being impudent and disrespectful ? and you're probably going to get in trouble.
Cheeky has shades of meaning according to the degree of offense taken, and this may vary between British and American English. At the offensive end are the synonyms rude, disrespectful, and insulting. Less offensive are sassy, arrogant, and shameless. Rounding out the cheeky spectrum are bold, assertive, and daring, which are about getting noticed but without causing injury.
幾つかの辞書を見ると "cheeky" は単に「生意気」、「厚かましい」だけでは片付かないニュアンスがあるのですね。翻訳者が苦労する単語でしょうか。

corporal

Reader's Digest 12月号の記事 The Dog that Detects Cancerから一部を抜粋します。
We're in the kennels of the French Air Force's Orleans-Bricy Air Base. On this April morning in 2008, French army corporal Fremont is playing a crucial role in cancer research.
...
In just a few lines he emphasises the olfactory capacity of dogs, which is much higher than that of the most sensitive electronic nose.
患者の尿の臭いからガンにかかっているかどうか犬の臭覚で判断できるという実験をしている話です。
さて、私が知りたいのは "corporal" の意味です。　早速辞書を見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army above a private first class and below a sergeant and in the marine corps above a lance corporal and below a sergeant
・Oxford English Dictionary: a rank of non-commissioned officer in the army, above lance corporal or private first class and below sergeant.
なるほど軍隊の階級を示していたのですか。
軍の階級についてはWikipediaに詳しい記述がありますが、"corporal" についてのほんの一部のみ次に引用します。
Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4.