A lawyer visits his client in jail. "I've got good news and bad news."
"Give me the bad news first," says the prisoner.
"Your blood has been found all over the house," replies the lawyer.
"So what's the good news?"
"Well, your cholesterol is quite low," the lawyer answers.
明日から冬休みに入りますのでブログはしばらくお休みします。
RとLの発音を耳で区別するのが苦手な私は、元同時通訳者の村増氏から聞いたオペレッタ "Pirates of Penzance" は乳母がPilotをPirateと聞き違えて、若者を海賊に修行に出した物語と知り、英語のネイティブでもRとLを区別できない事があると安心した覚えがありますが、 Reader's Digest 11月号に出ていた "Voices in the Night" の話もRとLの発音を聞き違えています。
My mum is quite elderly and has a vivid imagination, so when she called me in the middle of the night to say she'd heard a voice speaking in her. I was sceptical.
"Something's wrong," she said. "Every so often I can hear someone saying, 'Hello Valerie."
I told her she must have been dreaming and to go back to sleep. But she called back a few minutes later, clearly worried.
"The voice is still speaking to me," she claimed. "It's saying, 'Hellow Valerie.'"
At this point my husband, who was quietly cursing at having been wakened, realised what it was - the automated voice in my mum's smoke detector saying, "Low battery.'"
あらあら、これはRとLだけではなくVとBも聞き違えていますね。いずれの話も聞き間違えたのは年配者であり、ネイティブでもRとLを区別できない事があると安心してどうなるの、と言われそうですね。私も年配者になったのでRとLを聞き違えても無理はないと胸をはって言えると思っていますが、やはりそれじゃダメじゃんですね。
注： "Pirates of Penzance" の話題は2/26/2006に取り上げました。
My mum is quite elderly and has a vivid imagination, so when she called me in the middle of the night to say she'd heard a voice speaking in her. I was sceptical.
"Something's wrong," she said. "Every so often I can hear someone saying, 'Hello Valerie."
I told her she must have been dreaming and to go back to sleep. But she called back a few minutes later, clearly worried.
"The voice is still speaking to me," she claimed. "It's saying, 'Hellow Valerie.'"
At this point my husband, who was quietly cursing at having been wakened, realised what it was - the automated voice in my mum's smoke detector saying, "Low battery.'"
あらあら、これはRとLだけではなくVとBも聞き違えていますね。いずれの話も聞き間違えたのは年配者であり、ネイティブでもRとLを区別できない事があると安心してどうなるの、と言われそうですね。私も年配者になったのでRとLを聞き違えても無理はないと胸をはって言えると思っていますが、やはりそれじゃダメじゃんですね。
注： "Pirates of Penzance" の話題は2/26/2006に取り上げました。
Reader's Digest 10月号の記事 "World of Medicine" から引用します。
Having shingles at a young age may increase your risk of having a stroke or heart attack, according to new research in neurology.
...
The risk wasn't as severe in patients who first had shingles at older ages.
"shingle" に「医者や弁護士などの看板」、「屋根板」、「丸石、砂利浜」などの意味があることは知っていましたが、上の引用文の意味はそれらの意味ではないのは明らかです。改めて辞書を見ると、"shingles" で次の意味になることが分かりました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: An acute, painful inflammation of the nerve ganglia, with a skin eruption often forming a girdle around the middle of the body. It is caused by the same virus as chickenpox. Also called herpes zoster.
・Collins Dictionary: (functioning as singular) an acute viral disease affecting the ganglia of certain nerves, characterized by inflammation, pain, and skin eruptions along the course of the affected nerve Technical names: herpes zoster, zoster
"shingles" で単数扱いにもなるようです。
注：以前に "shingle" を取り上げ、記録が残っているのは 5/12/2012 だけです。
思い出が染み込んだ縫い包み動物についてのReader's Digest 10月号の特集記事からの引用です。
Turts the Turtle started life in a claw machine in an arcade. I burned through $19 untill my son Sam came away with the now much-loved Turts. Sam has since handed down Turts to his younger sister Ellie.
"claw machine" は以前(7/6/2012) "claw game" を取り上げた時に覚えました。teddy picker, candy crane, claw machine, crane vending machine, arcade claw, grab machine, crane game, skill tester, or simply the claw などとも呼ばれるとありました。
今日取り上げるのは "burned" ですが、文脈からするとお金を費やした意味と思いますが、辞書にこの用法が出ているか確認します。
・WordNet 3.0: spend (significant amounts of money) ("He has money to burn")
・infoplease.com: to consume rapidly, esp. to squander: He burned energy as if he never heard of resting
短時間にかなりの金額を無駄に費やす時に使われるのですね。
Japan Times Online Nov.25の記事のサブタイトルに見慣れない単語が出て来ました。
Craft beer distributor on sabrage, Cat Stevens and whimsical trademarks
新聞記事の場合はタイトルやサブタイトルに見慣れない単語があっても本文を読むとその意味が分かる事が多いので記事のページに行くと、そこはCOMMUNITY欄で日本に住んでいる外国人への２０の質問に対する答えの形式になっていました。質問されているのは２９才の米国人で職業はDirector of Beer Catsとなっていました。"sabrage" 関する個所はと探すとありました。
6. What’s your favorite phrase in any language? Sabrage, which describes the act of cutting off the top of a Champagne bottle with a sabre.
7. Describe your most embarrassing moment. Failing repeatedly at sabrage in front of 150 guests.
上の文で "sabrage" の意味はもう分かりましたが、一応辞書の説明も見ます。
・Wiktionary: The opening of a bottle, normally of champagne, by slicing off the bottle's neck with a sabre sword.
"sabre sword" はシャンペンを開ける専用のサーベルです。
昨日取り上げた "ingenue" を説明するVocabulary.comの記述に "stock character" が次の様に出て来ました。
Ingenue comes from the French ingenu meaning "ingenuous, innocent." The term is used to describe the innocent girl stock character in film or literature. She's usually gentle, sweet, virginal, and pretty naive -- which makes her susceptible to the harsh dangers of the world.
"stock character" は何年も前に取り上げた表現ですが、何度かブログの引っ越しがあった際に記録がなくなったようです。ユニークな表現なので再度採り上げます。上の引用文でおよその見当はつくと思いますが、辞書には次の説明が載っています。
・Wiktionary: Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.
・Dictionary.com: a character in literature, theater, or film of a type quickly recognized and accepted by the reader or viewer and requiring no development by the writer.: From the outset, the cowboy was a stock character of the motion picture industry.
辞書の説明はこの程度ですが、Wikipediaには英語版にも日本語版にももっと詳しい説明がありますので興味が湧いた方は是非見て下さい。
Ingenue comes from the French ingenu meaning "ingenuous, innocent." The term is used to describe the innocent girl stock character in film or literature. She's usually gentle, sweet, virginal, and pretty naive -- which makes her susceptible to the harsh dangers of the world.
"stock character" は何年も前に取り上げた表現ですが、何度かブログの引っ越しがあった際に記録がなくなったようです。ユニークな表現なので再度採り上げます。上の引用文でおよその見当はつくと思いますが、辞書には次の説明が載っています。
・Wiktionary: Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.
・Dictionary.com: a character in literature, theater, or film of a type quickly recognized and accepted by the reader or viewer and requiring no development by the writer.: From the outset, the cowboy was a stock character of the motion picture industry.
辞書の説明はこの程度ですが、Wikipediaには英語版にも日本語版にももっと詳しい説明がありますので興味が湧いた方は是非見て下さい。
現在放送中のＮＨＫ朝ドラ「まっさん」の奥さん、エリーはスコットランド出身ですが、Foreign Wives of Japanese (AFWJ)メンバーのドラマに対する感想などをJapan Times Onlineが記事（Nov.11）にしていました。その記事からの引用です。
At the same time, members acknowledged that some of Ellie's behavior mirrors that of the standard morning drama heroine, who typically starts out as a sweet-natured but gauche ingenue before growing in confidence and competence throughout the series.
まず "gauche"
の意味を調べます。 ・Oxford English Dictionary: Lacking ease or grace; unsophisticated and socially awkward.: There were awkward speeches saying kind and clumsy things, gauche jokes and real fondness.
・Merriam-Webster: having or showing a lack of awareness about the proper way to behave : socially awkward: Would it be gauche of me to ask her how old she is?
次に "ingenue" を辞書で見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: (formal) an innocent and unsophisticated young woman ⇒ This was no fragile ingenue. Caroline knew exactly what she was doing.
・Vocabulary.com: What do Ophelia, Snow White, and Sandy from the movie "Grease" all have in common? You could call each one an ingenue, or a young female character in literature or film who is wholesome and innocent.
Ingenue comes from the French ingenu meaning "ingenuous, innocent." The term is used to describe the innocent girl stock character in film or literature. She's usually gentle, sweet, virginal, and pretty naive -- which makes her susceptible to the harsh dangers of the world. Ingenue can also be used to describe an actress who specializes in playing this kind of character specifically.
上の説明に出てきた "stock character" は何年か前に取り上げて覚えた言葉ですが、どうもブログの引っ越しで消えたようです。明日 "stock character" を再度取り上げたいと思います。
日曜日はジョークを紹介しています。今日はドイツ語のいろは、もとえ、１，２，３を思い出して下さい。
A German walks into a bar and asks for a martini.
The bartender asks, "Dry?"
The German replies, "Nein, just one."
大分前に採り上げた（５年以上前なので記録が無い）単語 "misogyny" がJapan Times Online, Nov.11の記事に出て来ました。
Now-internationally reviled misogynist “pick-up artist” Julien Blanc is supposed to be coming to Japan this month. On Monday, a petition signed by over 36,000 people opposing his entry into Japan was submitted to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau, claiming that he is a criminal and shouldn’t be allowed into the country. Blanc was recently kicked out of Australia after the immigration minister canceled his visa.
私は "misogynist " ではありませんが、"gynephobia" 気味です。少なくとも "hen-pecked husband" とは言えるでしょう。
短編 Mkondo を読んでいます。タンザニアから連れてきた妻は米国の生活には慣れるどころか精神的にも病んでいる様です。
How Ward Beach suffers so quietly, his neighbors said, the museum volunteers said. He should find someone new, they said. Someone a little moregrounded. Someone with his taste.
"grounded" はイタリック体で印刷されているので通常は使われない意味でもあるのでしょうか？ いずれにせよ辞書を見ます。 ・Oxford English Dictionary: Well balanced and sensible: the kids have money and a rock-star dad, but they seem grounded
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: Someone who is grounded makes good decisions and does not say or do stupid things: He's very grounded even though he has so much money.
"grounded" がこの意味で使われるのは健全の様です。イタリック体になっているの一種の強調、あるいは皮肉の意味を込めているのでしょう。
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