out of sorts

日本人作家の小説を英訳版で読むのは結構面白いのですが、現代作家の作品は村上春樹の作品を除き余りありません。（私の地元の図書館の蔵書としてです。）　私は全く聞いたことのない日本人作家のYoko Ogawa作品の英訳本が4冊もあることが分かり、読むことにしました。Yoko Ogawaは漢字で小川洋子で芥川賞を始め多くの賞を獲得したかなり有名な作家のようです。最初に読むのは "The Housekeeper and the Professor" で原書の題名は『博士の愛した数式』と英語の題名とは離れています。

On the sixth of May, at the end of the spring holidays, Root cut himself with a kitchen knife. The Professor did not take it well.
After the four-day break, I arrived at the Professor's house only to discover that the sink had been leaking and a puddle had spread into the hall. By the time I'd called to have the water shut off and hired a plumber to come in. I was probably a bit out of sorts, the Professor had seemed more remote than ever, and to matter how often I pointed out my picture among the tags on his coat, he seemed confused or oblivious.

"Root" は子供のニックネームです。
慣用句らしい "out of sorts" の意味を調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: Slightly unwell.: She's been feeling nauseous and generally out of sorts.

・Collins Dictionary: If you are out of sorts, you feel slightly unwell, upset, or annoyed.: And I'll have a huge pang of regret and I'll be out of sorts for a few days and my friends will wonder what's up.

・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: In an irritable, grouchy, or unhappy mood; not feeling well or in good spirits.: I think something is bugging John, because he's been rather out of sorts lately.

さて今日は2回目のワクチンを受ける日です。個人的には少し安心できますね。"out of sorts" の正反対です。

lichen

Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builderの"symbiousis" 項にあった例文を引用します。
The lichen that grows on rocks is produced by the symbiosis of a fungus and an alga, two very different organisms.
The prefix sym-, "with," in symbiosis produces the notion of cooperation. The symbiotic relationship between an alga and a fungus results in a creation--lichen--that neither organism could achieve on its own. Symbiotic associations are not limited to the botanical world.
Entertainment celebrities exist in symbiosis with the press that swarms about them. Neither group could exist, let alone flourish, without the other.
"lichen" は写真で見た感じでは苔の一種だと思っていましたが、"symbiosis of a fungus and an alga, two very different organisms" とはビックリです。
英英辞書での "lichen" の説明も見てみます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: A simple slow-growing plant that typically forms a low crusty, leaflike, or branching growth on rocks, walls, and trees.
Lichens are composite plants consisting of a fungus that contains photosynthetic algal cells. Their classification is based upon that of the fungal partner, which in most cases belongs to the subdivision Ascomycotina, and the algal partners are either green algae or cyanobacteria. Lichens obtain their water and nutrients from the atmosphere and can be sensitive indicators of atmospheric pollution

barnstormer

Richard Bachの小説 "Illusions" を読むことにしました。著者は 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'(カモメのジョナサン)を書いた作家として有名ですね。
飛行機を操縦する自身の経験に基づく著作が多く、この本も飛行機の操縦士が主人公です。

He was not a large man. Hair to his shoulders, blacker than the rubber of the tire he leaned against. Eyes dark as hawk's eyes, the kind I like in a friend, and in anyone else make me uncomfortable indeed. He could have been a karate master on his way to some quietly violent demonstration.
I accepted the sandwich and a thermos cup of water. "Who are you, anyway?" I said. "Years, I've been hopping rides, never seen another barnstormer out in the fields."

"barnstormer" とは何でしょう？ "barnstorme" を辞書で引きます。


・Collins Dictionary: in the early days of aviation, to tour (the country) giving short airplane rides, exhibitions of stunt flying, etc.:

・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to pilot one's airplane in sightseeing flights with passengers or in exhibition stunts in an unscheduled course especially in rural districts
・Oxford English Dictionary: Tour rural districts giving theatrical performances, originally often in barns.: ‘he barnstormed up and down both coasts and eventually played New York’

"barnstormer" 広い米国ならではの職業ですね。

米国のニュースで時々見聞きしますが、"barnstorme" は政治家が地方を飛行機で選挙キャンペーンなどで行くことにも使われるようになりました。
(Oxford English Dictionary)Make a rapid tour of an area as part of a political campaign.: ‘he was barnstorming down in Georgia’

rendering

ブログに取り上げる英語は通勤途上、昼休み、勤務前にカフェで、つまり仕事のある日だけ昼間に読む本からとりあげています。しかし、仕事のない日はほとんど日中は本を読みません。但し、夜寝る前にベッドで昼間読む本とは別の本を読んでいます。夜読む本は月刊誌のEnglish Journalを除き、日本語で書かれた本です。最近読んだ「辞書のすきま　すきまの辞書」（清水　由美著）はユーモアにあふれ、大変面白く、興味の沸く内容でした。「イメージは妄想です」と題されたトピックは広告の下に書かれていることの多い「写真はイメージです」を取り上げているのですが、その中に出てきた英文：
The rendering of the completed project is based on the design drawings.

この "rendering" が気になったので辞書の説明を見ることにしました。

・Oxford English Dictionary: A work of visual art, especially a detailed architectural drawing.: a consummately lifelike three-dimensional rendering of a building interior

Computing: The processing of an outline image using color and shading to make it appear solid and three-dimensional.: For professional usage, when time is money, using a dual core CPU for 3D rendering is a must.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: the way that something is performed, written, drawn, etc.: Her rendering of the song was delightful.
・Vocabulary.com: Anything that's been interpreted in an artistic form is a rendering — a song, a drawing, a theatrical performance.
On a more technical note, an architect's drawing or plan is known as a rendering. While we're still architect-related, the coat of stucco placed over the surface of a masonry wall can be a rendering as well. Rendering can also represent the giving of something, as in Gandhi's famous quote, that "We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party." Don't associate rendering with the verb rend — which means quite the opposite — "to break apart or destroy."

なるほど、"interpreted in an artistic form is a rendering"、こんな意味もあるので私にはピンとこない時もあるのですね。

batten down the hatches

Reader's Digest ５月号の記事 "Don't Panic!" を読んでいます。
1964年、アラスカのアンカレッジを襲った大地震の際に活躍した地元のラジオ局(KENI)の女性アナウンサーの話から引用します。
Speaking fast between sharp, quik breaths, Genie told those listening, "It has become obvious that the earthquake that struck Anchorage was a major one. A great deal of damage has been done throughout the city." She advised people to check their supplies and keep their doors closed to retain the heat in their homes since the temperature would be in the high 20s. "But, uh, now another thing," she continued. She was making it up as she went along, warning about as many hazards as she could remember from when she had dashed through downtown: Avoid tall buildings, which may still be susceptible to aftershocks; stay clear of power lines; stay put. And most of all, don't panic. "Check on your neighbors. See if they have transistor radios. If they don't, maybe they could move in with you and share one for the night. It seems like it's going to be a long, cold night for Anchorage, so prepare to batten down the hatches, and stay tuned to KENI."

"batten down the hatches" は 7/17/2015 に取り上げた表現で、フレーズとして覚えましたが、"batten" の意味を調べるのを忘れていたので今回辞書を見ました。

・Oxford English Dictionary: A long, flat strip of squared wood or metal used to hold something in place or as a fastening against a wall.: The horizontal timber battens of the south wall overlay profiled metal sheets, changing the scale of the wall and introducing shadow animation.
・Collins English Dictionary: A batten is a long strip of wood that is fixed to something to strengthen it or to hold it firm.: ...a batten to support the base timbers.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to fasten something by fixing pieces of wood onto it: The boxes were securely battened before the journey.

"batten" のこの意味を知っていれば "batten down the hatches" の意味も容易に推測できましたね。

Colonel Sanders

Reader's　Digest 5月号の記事 'Humor in UNIFORM' からの引用です。

My mom was ex-Army, so during the holidays she and Dad would invite local Marines from Camp Pendleton over for dinner. One night, my sister came home from work at Kentucky Fried Chicken, still in her uniformm. One of the Marines asked where she'd been.

"I've been to visit the colonel," my sister joked.
The Marine looked confused.
"Colonel Sanders!" she explained.
"Sorry, ma'am," he said, "I don't know those higher-ups."

priceless

Reader's　Digest 5月号の記事 'Your True Stories' からの引用です。

Many years ago, my two sons spent time coaching their toddler sister to say something special to me on Mother's Day. They had been teaching her, "Your are priceless." Certain that she had the words lined up right, they watched, peeking our from behind their door, as their little sister made her way down the hall. She called out to me and then proudly announced, "Mommy, you are worthless."

convoluted

Reader's　Digest 5月号の記事 "The Vaccine Hunter" からの引用です。

Marty Verel, a 59-year-old kidney transparent recipient in Ohio, should have been near the top of the list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet like millions of others, he wasn't having any luck scheduling an appointment. Marty and his wife, Nancy Verel, would sit with computers on their laps trying for hours to book an appointment on different sites, all of which were slow and convoluted.
"I felt hopeless," Nancy says.

日本でも年寄の為にネットでの申し込みを若い人が助けている話をニュースで見ました。　引用文に出てきた "convoluted" ですが、渦巻きに関係する単語なのは知っていますが、ここでの意味を調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: (especially of an argument, story, or sentence) extremely complex and difficult to follow.: its convoluted narrative encompasses all manner of digressions

・Collins Dictionary: If you describe a sentence, idea, or system as convoluted, you mean that it is complicated and difficult to understand.: Despite its length and convoluted plot, this is a rich and rewarding read.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: (esp. of expression in speech or writing) having a complicated structure and therefore difficult to understand: Her book is full of long, convoluted sentences.


私の地元のワクチン接種予約のサイトは "convoluted" ではありませんでしたが、とにかくアクセスが集中して、結局予約開始から15分で５月分の予約は締め切られたことが分かりました。

siren song

'Getting to YES'　からの引用です。
When you are trying to catch an airplane your goal may seem tremendously important; looking back on it, you see you could have caught the next plane. Negotiation will often present you with a similar situation. You will worry, for instance, about failing to reach agreement on an important business deal in which you have invested a great deal of yourself. Under these conditions, a major danger is that you will be too accommodating to the views of the other side--too quick to go along. The siren song of "Let's all agree and put an end to this" become persuasive. You may end up with a deal you should have rejected.

"siren song" の意味を調べます。
・Merriam-Webstery: an alluring utterance or appeal especially: one that is seductive or deceptive: the opportunity for fame and fortune is the siren song that has long lured the ambitious to the big city
・Collins English Dictionary: a dangerously attractive, esp. seductive, proposal or offer: The husky sound he drew from her throat was a siren song urging him to forget whatever danger might wait in the surrounding darkness.
・Wiktionary: An enticing but dangerous appeal, especially a misleading one.: Romance never sang to him her siren song, and Adventure had never shouted in his sluggish blood.
この辞書には語源についても次のように触れていました。
Etymology: From the songs of the sirens in Greek mythology, whose bewitching song lured mariners to their doom.

face-saving

Isabella Birdの "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" を読み終えました。　地元の図書館でKazuo Ishiguroの "Klara and the sun" を予約していますが、予約順の番号が１３番なので、当分、恐らく一年先まで借りられそうにありません。とりあえず、'Getting to YES' by Roger Fisher, William Ury and Rruce Pattonを借りて読み始めました。

Face-saving: Make your proposals consistent with their values. In the English language, "face-saving" carries a derogatory flavor. People say, "We are doing that just to let them save face," implying that a little pretense has been created to allow someone to go along without feeling badly. The tone implies ridicle.

"face-saving" は日本語で言う「顔を立てる」とか「面目を保つ」意味なのは辞書を見なくても推測できますが、一応辞書でどの様な説明をしているか見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: The preserving of one's reputation, credibility, or dignity.: a face-saving solution for both sides
・Collins English Dictionary: A face-saving action is one which prevents damage to your reputation or the loss of people's respect for you.: The decision is a face-saving compromise which will allow the government to remain in office.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: done so that other people will continue to respect you: a face-saving exercise/gesture