fry

A Stranger is Watching by Mary Higgins Clarkを読み始めました。この作家の作品を読むのは初めてで、A Stranger is Watchingは映画化もされたサスペンスものだそうです。
話は何者かに妻を殺されたSteve PetersonとジャーナリストのSharon Martinが死刑制度の是非をテレビで討論することから始まるユニークな出だしに思えました。
'Because she doesn't believe in killing bad people and your father does. My dad said that your dad's right. He said that the guy who killed your mother should fry.' Sandy repeated the word with emphasis. 'Fry!'
話からすると上の "fry" は死刑と関係する動詞に違いありません。辞書を見ます。
・Wiktionary: To be executed by the electric chair. He's guilty of murder — he's going to fry.
・Macmillan Dictionary: to kill someone officially as a punishment using the electric chair, or to be killed in this way
電気椅子で処刑することでした。

doppelganger

The Japan Times Online Aug.31のCommunity Storiesの欄にあった記事タイトルです。
I’ve often thought about your doppelganger, but have you?
この "doppelganger" は見覚えのある単語ですが、思い出せません。 "dopple" は "double" と関係があった様な気もします。新聞記事なので先を読めば分かる場合が多いので記事を読みます。
There is a theory that we all have a twin -- that somewhere in the world, maybe even in your own country, there is someone else who looks almost exactly like you. We’ve all been told before that we look like a person someone knows, or that our mannerisms are so similar to someone else’s that it is uncanny. Even some Japanese people look or remind me of friends back home who are not even Asian. Your equal may be the same of heart and mind, not just looks.
そうですが、すると "doppelganger" は自分の分身を指している様です。辞書で確認します。
・Dictionary.com: a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person.: He says the character of Matt is, in a way, his doppelganger.
・Vocabulary.com: Someone who looks spookily like you, but isn't a twin, is a doppelganger. Originally, this was a type of ghost.
The word doppelganger is German and literally means double walker — as in a ghost or shadow of yourself. An easy way to remember it is that doppelganger sounds like double, as in "That movie star is my double. We look so much alike." These days, most people don't refer to the ghost meaning when talking about doppelgangers: they just mean someone who looks a lot like you or could be your twin. Still, that is pretty spooky.

cataract surgery

Mr Harper sued a hospital, saying that after his wife had surgery there, she lost all interest in sex.
A hospital spokesperson replied, "Mrs Harper was adimtted for cataract surgery. All we did was correct her eyesight."

spring tide and neap tide

Reader's DigestのTrivia Quizはいつも英語圏の人にもかなり難しいと思われる問題が出題されているのですが、７月号の問題に興味深い単語があったので取り上げます。
Q.9 Arctophilists are collectors of what night-time staple?

Q.11 Relating to the sea, what are spring and neap?
難しいので答えを見ます。
A.9 Teddy bears
テディベアの収集家、つまりテディベア・オタクを示すこんな単語があるのでね。 "arctophilist" を知っていたら英単語オタクですね。 "arctophile" だと単にテディベアが好きなだけかな？
A.11 Tides
tideに関係する言葉で直ぐに連想するのは "ebb and flow" ですが、"spring and neap" は同じ意味なのでしょうか？　辞書で調べます。 まず "spring" は、
・Collins Dictionary: "spring tide"; either of the two tides that occur at or just after new moon and full moon when the tide-generating force of the sun acts in the same direction as that of the moon, reinforcing it and causing the greatest rise and fall in tidal level. The highest spring tides (equinoctial springs) occur at the equinoxes
つまり大潮のことですね。それなら "neap" はその反対で小潮に違いありません。同じ辞書の説明を見ます。
"neap tide"; either of the two tides that occur at the first or last quarter of the moon when the tide-generating forces of the sun and moon oppose each other and produce the smallest rise and fall in tidal level
"arctophilist" は覚えられなくても "spring tide" と "neap tide" は覚えたい。

spelunk

Reader's Digest Julyの記事、Stuck in an Ice Cave、に出て来た見慣れない単語を取り上げます。
All told, the guys weren't seriously injured, and the incident hasn't diminished their love of spelunking. They even plan to return to the caves this summer.
"spelunking" を辞書で調べます。
・Vocabulary.com: To spelunk is to explore natural caves. Geologists do a lot of spelunking.
This is a weird-looking word, but it has a simple meaning: to explore natural caves. Scientists who study natural formations of the Earth do a lot of spelunking. Through spelunking, you can find evidence of difference(sic) minerals, as well as fossils of various animals. Archaeologists spelunk to find remnants of previous civilizations. Some people spelunk as a hobby: they are spelunkers.
・Urban Dictionary: the exploration of natural caves: Bat researchers usually spelunk many caves to find their information.
Urban Dictionaryから引用したからといって "spelunk" はスラングではありません。例文が載っている辞書が他にはほとんどなかったので引用したのです。ラテン語、古仏語由来の外来語でした。

measure up

Reader's Digest Julyの記事、The Golden Rules of FACEBOOKに7 Things to Never Do on FACEBOOKが書かれていて、してはいけない事の一つ、Try to Keep Up With the Jonesesからの抜粋です。
Most people present themselves in a favourable light on Facebook, and there's nothing wrong with that. Like a 21st-century scrapbook, "Facebook is a forum for highlighting your strength and the good things that are happening in your life," says psychologist, Phoenix Deerhawke. When all you see on a friend's page are upbeat posts and happy photos, it can make you feel like your life doesn't measure up.
最後に出てきた "measure up" の意味がぴんときません。辞書で調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Reach the required or expected standard; fulfill expectations: ‘I’m afraid we didn’t measure up to the standards they set.
・Dictionary.com: To meet expectations; to be as good as. It's a passable substitute, but it will never measure up to the original.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: to compare well to someone or something. He just doesn't measure up to Sarah in intelligence. This meal doesn't measure up to my expectations.
なるほど、期待や何かの基準に合わないのは比較するから分かるのですね。この項目のタイトルに "Keep Up With the Joneses" が使われているのに対応していますね。

fly

今日の単語は Reader's Digest Julyの記事に出てきた基本的な単語 "fly" で私の知らない意味で使われていました。
4 Medical Excuses for Missing Work (people actually thought might fly)
My dog wasn't feeling well, so I tasted his food, and then I got sick.
実に馬鹿馬鹿しい理由ばかりなので他の３例は省略しますが、私の興味はタイトルの補足にある "fly" で、文脈からすると、通用するとの意味の様ですが、辞書でそんな意味があるのか調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to work successfully : win popular acceptance (knew … a pure human-rights approach would not fly ? Charles Brydon)
・Macmillan Dictionary: if an idea or a statement flies, people accept or approve of it: It’s a great idea, but will it fly?
・Vocabulary.com: Fly describes moving through the air, like birds that fly in the sky, or getting something accepted, like your silly excuse that's not going to fly with your history teacher.
引用した最後の辞書の２番目の説明は今回の例にピッタリですね。