The Rose Tatooを読み終えましたが、その後に更に短い戯曲の THE DOG ENCHANTED BY THE DIVINE VIEW がありました。 その戯曲の最初のト書きの文を引用します。
Clara, a plump widow of Italian extraction, is seated in a tight-fitting pale blue silk dress in the exact center of a small sofa in the parlor of a shot-gun cottage.
上の "Italian extraction" が分からないので辞書を引きます。
・Collins Dictionary: .origin, descent, lineage, or ancestry ⇒ of German extraction
・Cambridge English Dictionary:to be from a family that originally came from another country: be of French, German, Chinese, etc. extraction
なるほど、よく考えれば推測できた意味ですね。
The Rose Tatooを読んでいます。戯曲なので状況の説明がやたらに出てきます。その中に出てきた単語 "apprehensively" の意味が分かりそうで分かりません。まだ６割ほど読んだところですが、この単語は次ぎの二個所に出て来ました。
[Despairing of the backdoor, Rosa rushes around to the front. A few moments later she pushes open the shutters of the window in the wall and climbs half in. Jack crosses apprehensively to Serafina before the Madonna.]
...
[But now she is suddenly frightened; the vehemence and boldness have run out. She grasps a little and backs away from the shrine, her eyes rolling apprehensively this way and that....]
"apprehend" の動詞は知っていますが、私の'理解'している "apprehend" の意味から上記の "apprehensively" の意味はちょっと推定できないので辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: with fear; nervously ⇒ I waited apprehensively for him to comment.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: feeling worried about something that you are going to do or that is going to happen: I'm a bit apprehensive about tomorrow's meeting.: I've invited a lot of people to the party, but I'm a bit apprehensive that no one will come.
なるほど、すると動詞の "apprehend" に「心配する」、「恐れる」と言う私の知らない意味があるのだなと思い "apprehend" をVocabulary.comで見ると次ぎの説明がありました。
The verb apprehend has remained much the same since the original Latin, both in form and meaning. It comes from apprehendere "to grasp or seize." The word came to refer to learning -- "grasping or seizing with the mind" -- but then came to mean "seize in the name of the law" or "arrest" around the 1540s, a meaning that remains to this day. The word can also be used to suggest an anxious feeling about something about to happen.
[Despairing of the backdoor, Rosa rushes around to the front. A few moments later she pushes open the shutters of the window in the wall and climbs half in. Jack crosses apprehensively to Serafina before the Madonna.]
...
[But now she is suddenly frightened; the vehemence and boldness have run out. She grasps a little and backs away from the shrine, her eyes rolling apprehensively this way and that....]
"apprehend" の動詞は知っていますが、私の'理解'している "apprehend" の意味から上記の "apprehensively" の意味はちょっと推定できないので辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: with fear; nervously ⇒ I waited apprehensively for him to comment.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: feeling worried about something that you are going to do or that is going to happen: I'm a bit apprehensive about tomorrow's meeting.: I've invited a lot of people to the party, but I'm a bit apprehensive that no one will come.
なるほど、すると動詞の "apprehend" に「心配する」、「恐れる」と言う私の知らない意味があるのだなと思い "apprehend" をVocabulary.comで見ると次ぎの説明がありました。
The verb apprehend has remained much the same since the original Latin, both in form and meaning. It comes from apprehendere "to grasp or seize." The word came to refer to learning -- "grasping or seizing with the mind" -- but then came to mean "seize in the name of the law" or "arrest" around the 1540s, a meaning that remains to this day. The word can also be used to suggest an anxious feeling about something about to happen.
お盆休みも今日までで明日からいつもの生活ペースに戻ります。
A man inserted an advertisement in the classifieds
"Wife Wanted".
The next day, he received hundreds of replies,
all reading the same thing: "You can have mine."
A man inserted an advertisement in the classifieds
"Wife Wanted".
The next day, he received hundreds of replies,
all reading the same thing: "You can have mine."
久し振りに小説を読みます。と言っても、The Rose Tatoo by Tennessee Williamsなので実際は戯曲です。最近ヤクザでもなさそうなのに刺青をしている人を見掛けますが、この本を選んだのはその事とは無関係で、単に本が厚くなかったからです。
この本から最初に取り上げる単語は本文ではなくIntroduction by John Patrick Shanleyの個所にありました。その序文の最初の部分を引用します。
The Rose Tatoo is over the top. It is a lurid play, redolent of the smell of goats, the cries of ragged children and squawing birds. Its perimeters are defined by women, hairy-legged women, gossiping clownish women, whores, and witches. The scenic descriptios call for red and more red. Tha language is riddled with roses, rose oil, wallpater with a rose motif, rose tatoo, and a daughter named Rosa. The play is set on the Gulf Coast, in a Sicilian community. You can feel, just out of view, the pases of the sea.
これを読んだら、この熱い今の季節には読みたくない本だと思いましが、既に借りてしまったので一気に読むことにします。
さて、上の引用個所にある "redolent" が今日の単語です。早速辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary:
2.postpositive; foll by of or with having the odour or smell (of); scented (with) ⇒ a room redolent of country flowers
3.postpositive; foll by of or with reminiscent or suggestive (of) ⇒ a picture redolent of the 18th century
・Macmillan Dictionary:
reminding you of something: redolent of: The building was redolent of the 1950s.
smelling of something: redolent of/with: The air was redolent with the smell of wood smoke.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
a: full of a specified fragrance : scented: air redolent of seaweed
b: evocative, suggestive: a city redolent of antiquity
"remind" と似ていますが、普通匂いに関係がるのですね。
・Vocabulary.com:
When something is redolent of something, it makes you think of that thing by making a pretty strong impression on you. He had a shifty eye redolent of years of lying and petty crime.
People used to use redolent of something with a strong, distinctive odor. Now, think of it as "stinks of" ? but in a fancy way. If you're touring an old castle, you might say that the worn carpet and handsome woodwork are redolent of the place's former glory, though otherwise it's a dump.
匂いで思い出すもの... 何でしょう？ 鰻ですかね。高くなりました。絶滅危惧種になったら、それこそ食べられなくなり、匂いだけの思い出になるのも現実になるかも？
これから福岡に行くので、このブログのお盆休みに入ります。
この本から最初に取り上げる単語は本文ではなくIntroduction by John Patrick Shanleyの個所にありました。その序文の最初の部分を引用します。
The Rose Tatoo is over the top. It is a lurid play, redolent of the smell of goats, the cries of ragged children and squawing birds. Its perimeters are defined by women, hairy-legged women, gossiping clownish women, whores, and witches. The scenic descriptios call for red and more red. Tha language is riddled with roses, rose oil, wallpater with a rose motif, rose tatoo, and a daughter named Rosa. The play is set on the Gulf Coast, in a Sicilian community. You can feel, just out of view, the pases of the sea.
これを読んだら、この熱い今の季節には読みたくない本だと思いましが、既に借りてしまったので一気に読むことにします。
さて、上の引用個所にある "redolent" が今日の単語です。早速辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary:
2.postpositive; foll by of or with having the odour or smell (of); scented (with) ⇒ a room redolent of country flowers
3.postpositive; foll by of or with reminiscent or suggestive (of) ⇒ a picture redolent of the 18th century
・Macmillan Dictionary:
reminding you of something: redolent of: The building was redolent of the 1950s.
smelling of something: redolent of/with: The air was redolent with the smell of wood smoke.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
a: full of a specified fragrance : scented: air redolent of seaweed
b: evocative, suggestive: a city redolent of antiquity
"remind" と似ていますが、普通匂いに関係がるのですね。
・Vocabulary.com:
When something is redolent of something, it makes you think of that thing by making a pretty strong impression on you. He had a shifty eye redolent of years of lying and petty crime.
People used to use redolent of something with a strong, distinctive odor. Now, think of it as "stinks of" ? but in a fancy way. If you're touring an old castle, you might say that the worn carpet and handsome woodwork are redolent of the place's former glory, though otherwise it's a dump.
匂いで思い出すもの... 何でしょう？ 鰻ですかね。高くなりました。絶滅危惧種になったら、それこそ食べられなくなり、匂いだけの思い出になるのも現実になるかも？
これから福岡に行くので、このブログのお盆休みに入ります。
Japan Times Online July 9の記事に覚えたい単語がありました。
NRA starts accepting applications for reactor restarts
Japan restarts its vetting procedure for restarting nuclear reactors after adopting new safety regulations to reflect the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
"vetting" がその単語です。早速辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: (British) the act of making a prior examination and critical appraisal of (a person, document, scheme, etc), especially: MP Brian Pallister indicated the vetting would avoid a polarized view of the issue.
他の辞書は "vetting" ではなく、原形の動詞形 "vet" で説明がありました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance: vet the candidates for a position
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to examine something or someone carefully to make certain that they are acceptable or suitable: During the war, the government vetted all news reports before they were published.: The bank carefully vets everyone who applies for an account.
NRA starts accepting applications for reactor restarts
Japan restarts its vetting procedure for restarting nuclear reactors after adopting new safety regulations to reflect the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
"vetting" がその単語です。早速辞書を見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: (British) the act of making a prior examination and critical appraisal of (a person, document, scheme, etc), especially: MP Brian Pallister indicated the vetting would avoid a polarized view of the issue.
他の辞書は "vetting" ではなく、原形の動詞形 "vet" で説明がありました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance: vet the candidates for a position
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to examine something or someone carefully to make certain that they are acceptable or suitable: During the war, the government vetted all news reports before they were published.: The bank carefully vets everyone who applies for an account.
A man was wandering around in a field, thinking about how good his wife had been to him and how fortunate he was to have her.
He asked God, "Why did you make her so kind-hearted?"
The Lord responded, "So you could love her, my son."
"Why did you make her so good-looking?"
"So you could love her, my son."
"Why did you make her such a good cook?"
"So you could love her, my son."
The man thought about this. Then he said, "I don't mean to seem ungrateful or anything but why did you make her so stupid?"
"So she could love you, my son."
He asked God, "Why did you make her so kind-hearted?"
The Lord responded, "So you could love her, my son."
"Why did you make her so good-looking?"
"So you could love her, my son."
"Why did you make her such a good cook?"
"So you could love her, my son."
The man thought about this. Then he said, "I don't mean to seem ungrateful or anything but why did you make her so stupid?"
"So she could love you, my son."
Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.
(Excerpt from How to Win Friends and Influence People)
(Excerpt from How to Win Friends and Influence People)
Reader's Digest 6月号の英単語のクイズ、Word Power、はイギリス英語の特集でした。１５問中私が見た事がある単語は２語だけで、しかもその意味は覚えていなので全くのお手上げでした。しかし、気になったのは問題の単語ではなく、前書きの文にあった表現です。前書きの最後の個所を引用します。
The Queen's English has long been deemed the correct way to speak but these slang terms are common in day-to-day life. Is your Brit-speak up to snuff?
"up to snuff" は慣用句の様ですがどんな意味でしょうか？
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. as good as is required; meeting the minimum requirements. Sorry, Tom. Your performance isn't up to snuff. You'll have to improve or find another job. My paper wasn't up to scratch, so I got an F.
・Dictionary.com: up to a certain standard; satisfactory: His performance wasn't up to snuff.
この慣用句の由来についてWorld Wide Wordに説明がありましたが、長いので一部だけ抜粋します。
The snuff here is tobacco: nothing to do with the verb meaning to extinguish.
...
The first meaning of up to snuff was somebody who was sharp, not easily fooled. This may have come from the idea of snuff being itself a sharp preparation, but perhaps because it was mainly taken by men of adult years and some affluence (it was expensive) who would be able to appreciate the quality of snuff and distinguish between examples of different value.
...
Whatever its origin, the meaning of the phrase shifted slightly after a while to imply somebody who was efficient and capable; later still it often meant that something was up to standard, or of the required quality.
なるほど納得です。
The Queen's English has long been deemed the correct way to speak but these slang terms are common in day-to-day life. Is your Brit-speak up to snuff?
"up to snuff" は慣用句の様ですがどんな意味でしょうか？
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. as good as is required; meeting the minimum requirements. Sorry, Tom. Your performance isn't up to snuff. You'll have to improve or find another job. My paper wasn't up to scratch, so I got an F.
・Dictionary.com: up to a certain standard; satisfactory: His performance wasn't up to snuff.
この慣用句の由来についてWorld Wide Wordに説明がありましたが、長いので一部だけ抜粋します。
The snuff here is tobacco: nothing to do with the verb meaning to extinguish.
...
The first meaning of up to snuff was somebody who was sharp, not easily fooled. This may have come from the idea of snuff being itself a sharp preparation, but perhaps because it was mainly taken by men of adult years and some affluence (it was expensive) who would be able to appreciate the quality of snuff and distinguish between examples of different value.
...
Whatever its origin, the meaning of the phrase shifted slightly after a while to imply somebody who was efficient and capable; later still it often meant that something was up to standard, or of the required quality.
なるほど納得です。
今日覚えたい単語はJuly 5のJapan Times Onlineの記事にありました。
Shakespeare, in one of Nelson Mandela’s favorite lines, now strangely apposite, says that “the valiant never taste of death but once.” As the world waits for Mandela to make his final rendezvous with history, one woman ? his third wife ? who has been at his bedside throughout his illness, and now keeps vigil there, is almost perfectly cast for her role. Graca Machel (pronounced Mah-shell) has, after all, been here before.
マンデラ元南ア大統領も年には勝てなくなって来た様だ。 さて、"apposite" の意味を辞書で調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: well suited for the purpose; appropriate; apt: It was simply that she thought in both languages, and selected the most apposite phrase from either.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: highly pertinent or appropriate: apt: apposite remarks: enriched his essay on patriotism with some very apposite quotations from famous people on the subject
・Vocabulary.com: being of striking appropriateness and pertinence: Something apposite is fitting or relevant. It is apposite that radio stations play Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, and that your tax accountant takes vacation after April 15th. It all makes sense.
"apposite" は"opposite" とほとんど逆の意味だと覚えておこう。
Shakespeare, in one of Nelson Mandela’s favorite lines, now strangely apposite, says that “the valiant never taste of death but once.” As the world waits for Mandela to make his final rendezvous with history, one woman ? his third wife ? who has been at his bedside throughout his illness, and now keeps vigil there, is almost perfectly cast for her role. Graca Machel (pronounced Mah-shell) has, after all, been here before.
マンデラ元南ア大統領も年には勝てなくなって来た様だ。 さて、"apposite" の意味を辞書で調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: well suited for the purpose; appropriate; apt: It was simply that she thought in both languages, and selected the most apposite phrase from either.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: highly pertinent or appropriate: apt: apposite remarks: enriched his essay on patriotism with some very apposite quotations from famous people on the subject
・Vocabulary.com: being of striking appropriateness and pertinence: Something apposite is fitting or relevant. It is apposite that radio stations play Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, and that your tax accountant takes vacation after April 15th. It all makes sense.
"apposite" は"opposite" とほとんど逆の意味だと覚えておこう。
今日の表現もJohn McEnroeについての記事からです。
When I ask what is the single most important thing he learnt from therapy, McEnroe hums and haws for a few moments before saying that he doesn't think there is one. "I'm not saying I didn't learn something, but I can't say it was one specific thing where a lightbulb went on...
"hums and haws" は慣用句の様です。 "haws" は知らない単語ですが、"hums" はハミングの "hum" の様なので、"hums and haws" は軽く唸ったという感じでしょうか？辞書を見ます。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To be hesitant and indecisive; equivocate: "a leader who cannot make up his or her mind, never knows what to do, hems and haws" (Margaret Thatcher).
"hums and haws" で見つけたのは上の辞書だけですが、この表現は "hummed and hawed" 、"hemmed and hawed "、 "hems and haws" とも言われ、皆同じ意味の様です。
・Wiktionary: (UK, idiomatic) Procrastinate and take a long time before doing something or taking a decision.: We hummed and hawed before buying this house.
・Collins Dictionary: hesitate, waver, dither, vacillate, be indecisive, falter, swither (Scot. dialect) My mother hummed and hawed at first, then she agreed.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be uncertain and take a long time deciding something: We hummed and hawed for months before actually deciding to buy the house.
・Vocabulary.com: utter `hems' and `haws'; indicated hesitation: “He hemmed and hawed when asked to address the crowd”
唸り声が物理的に出るわけではないのですね。
When I ask what is the single most important thing he learnt from therapy, McEnroe hums and haws for a few moments before saying that he doesn't think there is one. "I'm not saying I didn't learn something, but I can't say it was one specific thing where a lightbulb went on...
"hums and haws" は慣用句の様です。 "haws" は知らない単語ですが、"hums" はハミングの "hum" の様なので、"hums and haws" は軽く唸ったという感じでしょうか？辞書を見ます。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To be hesitant and indecisive; equivocate: "a leader who cannot make up his or her mind, never knows what to do, hems and haws" (Margaret Thatcher).
"hums and haws" で見つけたのは上の辞書だけですが、この表現は "hummed and hawed" 、"hemmed and hawed "、 "hems and haws" とも言われ、皆同じ意味の様です。
・Wiktionary: (UK, idiomatic) Procrastinate and take a long time before doing something or taking a decision.: We hummed and hawed before buying this house.
・Collins Dictionary: hesitate, waver, dither, vacillate, be indecisive, falter, swither (Scot. dialect) My mother hummed and hawed at first, then she agreed.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be uncertain and take a long time deciding something: We hummed and hawed for months before actually deciding to buy the house.
・Vocabulary.com: utter `hems' and `haws'; indicated hesitation: “He hemmed and hawed when asked to address the crowd”
唸り声が物理的に出るわけではないのですね。
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