イタリアの狭い路地や駐車スペースでの運転に米国人のRickは何度か四苦八苦しています。
As Rick pulled back into the street, he had the quick thought of moving on. The space was very tight, and it could take some time and effort to maneuver into it. He'd try once more. Shifting and turning and trying to ignore the headlights that were now very close behind him, he somehow allowed his foot to slip off the clutch. The car lunged, then died. The other driver then sat on the horn, a very loud shrill horn from under the hood of a shiny burgundy BMW. A tough guy's car. A man in a hurry. A bully unafraid to hide behind locked doors and honk at someone struggling. Rick froze, and for a split second thought again about racing off to another street. Then something snapped. He yanked open his door, flipped the bird at the BMW, and started for it. The horn continued. Rick walked to the driver's window, yelling something about getting out.
"flipped the bird" とは変わった表現ですが、どんな意味でしょうか、辞書を見ます。
・Wiktionary: (colloquial) To make a rude or obscene gesture (at somebody); particularly, to extend the middle finger.: I accidentally bumped into him, and he flipped me the bird.
・Cambridge Idioms Dictionary: to make a very impolite sign by raising your middle finger towards someone in order to show that you are angry with them: If he'd shouted at me like that I'd have flipped him the bird.
日本人はこんな事をする人はいませんね。
Playing for Pizza by John GrishamのPlaying for Pizzaを読んでいます。
After three quarters, it was obvious to both Sam and Rick that they needed more plays. The defense keyed on Sly every snap and double-covered Fabrizio. Sam was getting outfoxed by the very young Naples coach, a former assistant at Ball State.
"outfoxed" は見覚えのある単語で、自分のブログでも取り上げた様な気がしたのですが、記録は無いようです。 改めて辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Defeat or deceive (someone) by being more clever or cunning than they are; outwit.: They delight in outfoxing people, or seducing them, and they love the riskiness of rule-breaking.
・Vocabulary.com: To outfox someone is to defeat them at something using quick thinking or sneaky tricks. Some of the most popular fictional detectives cleverly outfox their foes.
You can attempt to outfox your opponent at poker using tricky strategies and bluffs. A political candidate can also try to outfox a rival, either through smart debate tactics or sneakier, more underhanded means. Outfox has been used in this way since the 1930s, from the old-fashioned verb fox, "to delude or deceive," which stems from the idea (popular in folklore) of foxes being wily or tricky.
日本でも昔話で狐は人を騙すイメージがありますが、何だか不思議ですね。
先日（4/1/2016） "passable English" を取り上げましたが、Playing for Pizzaに passable "Buongiorno" が次のように出てきました。
He walked to a bar, caught the attention of a barista, and said, "Espresso." The barista nodded to a corner where a plump lady sat behind a cash register. The barista had no interest in making an espresso for Rick, who retreated a step and again thought about fleeing. A well-dressed businessman entered in a rush, holding at least two newspapers and a briefcase, and walked directly to the cashier. "Buongiorno," he said, and she offered the same. "Caffe," he said as he pulled out a five-euro note. She took it, made change, and handed him a receipt. He took the receipt direcdy to the counter and laid it where one of the baristas could plainly see it. A barista finally took it, they exchanged "buongiornos," and everything worked fine. Within seconds a small cup and saucer landed on die counter, and the businessman, already deep in front-page news, added sugar, stirred, then demolished the drink in one long gulp.
So that's how you do it. Rick walked to the cashier, mumbled a passable "Buongiorno" and flung over a five-euro note of his own before the lady could respond. She made change and handed him a magical receipt. As he stood at the counter and sipped his coffee, he absorbed the frenzy of the bar.
これまでに三十数か国に行ったことがありますが、言葉の通じない外国での経験を色々と思い出させる場面でした。
John GrishamのPlaying for Pizzaを読んでいます。
He was Alex Olivetto, a former player, now an assistant coach, and a real Italian. He strutted up and down the lines of players barking orders like an angry field marshal, and there was no back talk. “He's psycho,” Sly said when Alex was far away. Rick was at the end of a line, next to Sly and behind Trey, copying the stretches and exercises of his teammates. Alex went from the basics--jumping jacks, push- ups, sit-ups, lunges--to a grueling session of running in place with an occasional drop to the ground, then back up.
"jumping jacks" はローリングストーンズの "Jumping Jack Flash" を連想させますが、ジャンプをする運動に違いありません。実際にはどんな動きでしょうか？
・Oxford English Dictionary: A calisthenic jump done from a standing position with legs together and arms at the sides to a position with the legs apart and the arms over the head.
この様な場合は辞書よりも百科辞典の方が詳しいはずなのでWikipediaを見ると次の説明がありました。
A jumping jack (Canada & US) or star jump (UK and other Commonwealth nations), also called side-straddle hop in the US military, is a physical jumping exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs spread wide and the hands touching overhead, sometimes in a clap, and then returning to a position with the feet together and the arms at the sides. The jumping jack name comes from the traditional toy of the same name, while "star jump" refers to the person's appearance with legs and arms spread.
The jumping jack is the official state exercise of Missouri, USA as of July 2014.
動きがある場合には百科辞典よりも現代はYoutubeですね。Youtubeには "jumping jacks" の実演が幾つもあります。
GI FT
（雑誌上ではIとFの間はもっと間が空いていました。）
何を意味しているか分かりますか？
答えは： parting gift
Reader's Digest 4月号の英単語クイズWord Powerは編集者のfovourite wordsを特集していました。Reader's Digestを読み始めて十数年になるので見た事のない単語は15問中2語だけでしたが、正しく答えられたのは１１問、どこかで見た事があるのに間違えた2語の内の一つは "brouhaha" で、この単語は11/12/2009にこのブログで取り上げていました。
もう一つの単語は "blandish" で、今日はこの単語の意味をしっかりと覚えたい。
"blandish" の意味としてReader's Digestは次の解答を示しています。
coax with flattery: They blandished the guard into letting them through the prison gate.
念のために辞書でも確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: (archaic) Coax (someone) with kind words or flattery: I was blandishing her with imprudences to get her off the subject.
・Wiktionary:
1.(transitive) To persuade someone by using flattery; to cajole.
2.(transitive) To praise someone dishonestly; to flatter or butter up.
通常の会話では使われず、小説などには出てくるのでしょうね。
John GrishamのPlaying for Pizzaを読んでいます。イタリアなど初めてで、もちろんイタリア語も全く分からないフットボール選手のRickは色々ととまどうことが多い様です。
Carlo rumbled in from the kitchen in his starched white apron and chef's hat. Now, here is the center. Six feet two, at least 250 pounds, broad shoulders. But a slight limp. He greeted Rick warmly, a quick embrace, no kissing. His English was far below Nino's, and after a few words he ditched it and switched to Italian, leaving Rick to tread water.
水の上を歩ける訳はないので "tread water" は水たまりの上を歩いているのを連想しますが、上の箇所はそんな意味のはずはありません。辞書を引きます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Fail to advance or make progress: men who are treading water in their careers
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to not be advancing in any way: I think she feels that she's just treading water in that job.
・Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms: to be active but without making progress or falling farther behind Sales are about the same as last year, and the company is pretty much treading water.
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of tread water (to stay in one place in water by moving your legs quickly)
"tread water" の元の意味は立ち泳ぎですね。
"good riddance" は4/15/2011に取り上げた表現ですが、John GrishamのPlaying for Pizzaの次の箇所にも出てきました。
Rick was leaving, running away from the lease on the condo and the rented furniture therein, fleeing Cleveland and the Browns and their awful fans, scampering away to somewhere. He wasn't quite sure where. Wisely, he had signed only a six-month lease on the condo. Since college he'd lived a life of short leases and rented furniture and learned not to accumulate too many things. He fought the downtown traffic and managed to glance in the mirror for one last look at the Cleveland skyline. Good riddance. He was thrilled to be leaving.
Playing for Pizza by John GrishamのPlaying for Pizzaを読んでいると、数年前（2/18/2012）に覚えた "garden-variety" が次のように出てきました。
Arnie stopped at the nurses’ station and spoke to the doctor, who eventually made his way down the hall, past the security guards, and into Rick’s room. His bedside manner lacked warmth-a quick check of the basics without much conversation. Neurological work to follow. Just another garden-variety brain concussion, isn’t this the third one?
今日はThe Japan Times Online May 28, 2016の記事タイトルにあった単語を覚えたいと思います。
100 years of hubris in Middle East
One hundred years ago this month, a British aristocrat and a French diplomat drew a line across a map of the Middle East that is blamed for the chaos that dominates that region today. The Sykes-Picot agreement is faulted for its naivete, its imperialism, its betrayal of promises to Arab nationalists and its secrecy. It is a convenient scapegoat for the instability that reigns in the Middle East, but responsibility for the region’s tragedy is more diffuse.
中近東やアフリカの政情が不安定な元々の原因は西洋の大国が昔自分達の都合に良いように利用していたことから来ているのが上の記事でも分かりますね。しかし、"hubris" の意味がまだはっきりしません。
記事を更に読み続けると "hubris" が次の様に出て来ました。
Yet even if Sykes-Picot itself is not the cause of the Middle East’s trouble, the mentality that it represents, the hubris of the West and its readiness to meddle, has been and continues to be a problem for the region.
ここで辞書を引いて "hubris" を調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Excessive pride or self-confidence.: Arrogance, hubris, blind patriotism, and good old fashioned fear are our real enemy!
・Vocabulary.com: Hubris is an excess of confidence: a boxer who shouts "I'm the greatest!" even though he's about to get pummeled by a much stronger opponent is displaying a lot of hubris.
Hubris is from Greek, where it meant "excessive pride, violating the bounds set for humans" and was always punished by the gods. We no longer have the Greek gods, so in English it just refers to over-the-top self-confidence. If you call yourself the best in something, you better have the goods to back it up, since too much hubris can lead to embarrassment and humiliation. It's an age-old human failing: pride goeth before the fall.
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