English for apes

Sleep on firewood. Lick bitter liver. Expose test results.

A Bridge Too Far - Horrocks speech

2022-04-30 18:10:34 | Listening
Beebはマイナーすぎるのでdictationしても答え合わせができません。
古くて有名な場面はたいていYouTubeに上がっていて答え合わせができます。

Bowieに飽きてきたので違うもの。最初に思いついたのが、Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks。
肝心の笑いを取っているところがちゃんと聞き取れないので、この機会に答え合わせします。

Gentlemen, this is a story that you will tell your grandchildren and mightily bored they'll be.
The plan is called Operation Market Garden. Market is the airborne element and Garden is the ground forces. That's us.
Now, this is our position on the Belgian border, here.
Tomorrow, three airborne divisions will begin landing in Holland. Thirty five thousand men taking off from 24-hour fields in troop-carrying planes or towed in gliders.
The American hundred and first, here, around Eindhoven. [The] American eighty second, here, south of Nijmegen. And our own first airborne boys and Polish brigade here, Arnhem. 64 miles behind the enemy lines.
Now their job is to take and hold all the bridges in these three areas. Our job is to punch a hole through the German frontline, here.
And then right [....], up this road, linking up with each airborne division on the way.
Speed is the vital factor.
The plan is to rejoin Eindhoven in two to three hours. And Arnhem, in two to three days. That, Gentlemen, is the prize, bridge of the Rhine, the last bridge between us and Germany.
Kick off will be 14:35 hours tomorrow afternoon.
The Irish Guards under the command of Colonel Vandeleur will take the lead.
- Christ. not us, again.
What did you say to that, Joe?
-Delighted, sir. Truly delighted.
I've selected you to leader is not only because of your extraordinary fighting ability, but also because, in the unlikely event that the Germans ever get you, they will assume from your attire they've captured a wretched peasant immediately send you on your way.
Now maintaining the speed is our advance will no doubt be tough going as it's a single highway but no matter what we must reach those first airborne boys in 48 hours.
Gentlemen, I'm not saying that this will be the easiest party that we've ever attended.
But I still wouldn't miss it for the world.
I like to think of this as one of those American Western films. The paratroops lacking substantial equipment, always short of food, these are the besieged homesteaders. the Germans well they naturally are the bad guys and Thirty Corps, we, my friends, are the cavalry on the way to the rescue.

自動字幕も怪しいですが(2つの食い違う自動字幕とコメントから答え合わせしてます)、字幕を見ながら聞くと確かにその通りという感じ。
こんなにクリアなスピーチなのに、聞き取れていません。CAEはToo Farかも。
Comment

solicit fake reviews

2022-04-29 19:17:52 | Reading - not classified
たまにはビジネス記事。 使える表現がたくさん。

'My negative online review was blocked'
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60252909

<quote>
The complaints that Fashion Nova systematically hid any reviews below four stars suggest a "pretty egregious case", says Prof Dina Mayzlin of the USC Marshall School of Business, who believes large-scale suppression of reviews is unlikely given the risks of customer outcry.
<unquote>

<quote>
Former Fashion Nova customer Lauren Curry tried to alert the clothier to a missing order in 2017 - only to have her complaints scrubbed from the firm's social media sites. The 29-year-old from South Carolina says the experience permanently soured her perception of Fashion Nova - and made her wary of unfamiliar companies promoted on social media.
"You don't know who's legit," she says.
<unquote>

<まとめてquote>
But experts say that's not the only way companies are skewing buyer perception.
...
But the information they glean can be unreliable.
...
but when they do it, it becomes a slippery slope" ... "It's very hard to know when to stop."
...
"inadvertently failed to complete this process given certain resource constraints during a period of rapid growth"
...
that it "only agreed to settle the case to avoid the distraction and legal fees that it would incur in litigation".
<unquote>

単語覚えてなさすぎて焦ってきましたー。
Comment

repercussion/menacingly

2022-04-29 17:55:01 | Reading - not classified
Dave Lee Travisは、TOTPのプレゼンターをやっていたためか。セクハラ疑惑に巻き込まれてしまったようでした。

最近もRadio1のDJをやっていた人がセクハラで訴えられたようです。Radio1は全く聞かないですが。こちらは悪質。

DJ Tim Westwood accused of sexual misconduct
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61188603

<quote>
Some work in the music industry and fear repercussions - with the DJ continuing to have a prominent role in an industry long-criticised for its treatment of darker-skinned black women.
<unquote>

<quote>
She says the conversation dried up - to the point where it was almost "menacingly silent".
<unquote>

BBCはここまで書くのですね。読むだけで気分が悪くなります。

<quote>
During her strict religious upbringing in the Midlands in the early 2000s, contemporary music was banned at home, but she spent Sundays singing gospel in church.
<unquote>
ここだけは興味深かったです。イギリスにも信心深い黒人コミュニティがあるんですね。upbringingのアクセント。
Comment

Dave Lee Travis Show 20th October 1969

2022-04-29 17:52:14 | Listening
Dictationをしてみたものの。意味が通じない箇所多数。リスニング力のなさを痛感。

David, the record would you have them chart in Britain at the moment is that would be the biggest success today, isn’t it?
- My ONLY success today.
Well, wouldn’t say that. Tell us a little bit about you. Was it planned long time ago or is it very recent?
- Most people [presume..] it written because of anticipating the space shot, but in fact, it started last November and the recording of it started last December and it was finally finished in June, after which is released within three weeks which is very good going
So, right, now, you are not doing it in the studio, today
- No, No
Why is this?
- We'd need about five orchestras to get them, the right sound I think. That's possibly [pass] everybody’s budget.
Yeah. that could be true. Do you do live version of it when you travelling on
- Just with twelve string. Just with twelve string guitar
Yeah? And now with your little electronic gadget
- Yes. I use that too
That's it.
- then mention
[but the real, real] know too really.
Have you got anything that you are doing today’s program that is not on record
- Oh yeah. We’ve got a number that we [dug] up today, which was written about four years ago. hasn’t been out of the house. its the first airing its [over] had anywhere.
Really. Why it was not recorded?
- Why? My mother thought the lyrics were dirty
Are they?
- No. Not at all.
Oh, dear. What is it called?
- Very [serial]. Let me sleep beside you.
Can we hear it?
- Yes


2001 Space Odyssey UK release: 15 May 1968
Space Oddity release: 11 July 1969
Apollo 11 space shot: 16 July 1969



Comment

weary/over the top

2022-04-24 20:56:26 | Reading - not classified
5月5日は統一地方選挙。イギリスの。

この記事は面白かったです。難しい単語やフレーズは出てきませんが。
Local elections: ‘It’s Partygate versus low council taxes’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/23/local-elections-its-partygate-versus-low-council-taxes-wandsworth

<quote>
There was also increasing weariness over Partygate, he said, adding that more fines for the prime minister could make a difference as polling day approaches.
<unquote>
Collinsではwearinessはアメリカ英語ですね。weary wearily

<quote>
Liam Garrett, 30, said he did not know the local elections were coming up.
The marketing business owner said he was fed up with all the talk of Partygate, which was “over the top
he does not usually vote in local elections.
<unquote>
いかにも30歳の男性といった感じの発言。桜を見る会への反応みたいな。

Collims<quote>
You describe something as over the top when you think that it is exaggerated, and therefore unacceptable.
<unquote>

<quote>
“There’s definitely a shift,” she said, adding that, like her, many of her friends in the area would no longer vote Conservative.
During the period when Johnson attended parties in lockdown, some of her friends were expelled from university for mixing. “I would feel guilty if I was complaining all the time and voted for them.” In contrast, she thought Keir Starmer was doing a good job: “He’s becoming a figure. I’m much more aware of.”
<unquote>
Sir Keirの認知度が上がっているようですね。
Collims<quote>
Someone who is referred to as a figure of a particular kind is a person who is well-known and important in some way.
<unquote>

Wandsworthは勝手に注目の選挙区にしようっと。
コロナ直前にpub crawlに参加した時のエリアがWandsworthでした。なかなかの穴場。
Comment

condescending/crass

2022-04-24 18:45:59 | Reading - not classified
続報。

Jacob Rees-Mogg empty desk note to civil servants insulting, says union
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61202152

前回の記事でも意地悪さを形容する単語がたくさん出てきましたが、さらに。
<quote>
"These notes from JRM are not only condescending, crass and insulting, they completely undermine the leadership of the service."
<unquote>

<quote>
The note, which was signed off by the Cabinet Office minister "with every good wish", was left in a "completely empty" office, the source said.
<unquote>

ビジネスではサインオフって日常的に使いますが。こちらの意味もあるんですね。

これは参考になる記事
This common email sign-off is actually 'charmless, impersonal and abrupt' according to one expert
https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/why-best-is-the-worst-way-to-end-your-emails-and-what-you-should-be-using-instead-work-technology-colleagues-workplace/60603

この人ライトオンなんですね。そういえばPCのLord Presidentやってましたね。
Collins<quote>
Rt Hon. is used in Britain as part of the formal title of some members of the Privy Council and some judges. Rt Hon. is an abbreviation for 'Right Honourable'.
<unquote>

人を小馬鹿にしながらも面白いというアッパークラスなスキルが筋金入り。まあメーガンみたいのがやっていけるわけがないですね。
麻生さんとか河野太郎とかはこういうのを真似しているんでしょうけど。笑えないー。
Comment

vindictive/league table/denigrate

2022-04-20 03:29:54 | Reading - not classified
大好物な記事を発見。

Civil service unions condemn Rees-Mogg’s ‘vindictive’ back-to-office drive
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/19/civil-service-unions-condemn-rees-moggs-vindictive-back-to-office-drive

<quote>
Rees-Mogg has circulated a league table of all 16 Whitehall departments’ office occupancy in an attempt to end civil servants working from home.
<unquote>

NOUN British
a set of statistics used to compare the performance of a number of individuals, groups, or institutions

<quote>
“The government rightly lauded our members when it mattered. Now they seek to denigrate and offend them. Instead, they should embrace the benefits of hybrid working and make good on their promise to build back better.”
<unquote>

<quote>
“Meanwhile, the luddites in cabinet insist on micro-managing the civil service, which will only deter good people from joining while simultaneously demotivating those already there.”
<unquote>
発音はラッダイトではないですね。

相変わらずの超保守ぶりと、それを批判する言葉がたくさんでてきて面白すぎです(&単語の勉強になります)。
在宅勤務は生産性が低いという決めつけは全く説得力がないです。(在宅勤務最高!)
Comment

London Bye Ta-Ta 1968

2022-04-17 15:37:53 | Listening
単語はあまり勉強にはならないのですが。
早すぎて口がついていけないので。只管朗読。

The boys in the clothes shop
sold me curry for a pound
His cardboard face is soggy
and his sellings thorny crown

cardboard face is soggyはこの意味かな?

(prenominal)
without substance
a cardboard smile

informal
lacking in spirit or positiveness
(以上引用はCollins。)

his sellingsの使い方がわからないー。
his selling isの短縮かな??もっと英語に触れないとだめだなー。

She loves to love all beauty
and she says the norm is funny
but she whimpers in the morning
when she finds she has no money

normの意味がわからないー。当時の流行語とか??
ずっとThe Laughing Gnomeのgnomeだと思ってましたが。発音が違うんですよね。聞き取り・・。

幻のシングル曲。1968年は最初の録音年。
1970年に再録音されたのに、The Prettiest Starに置き換わったようです。
なんかいろいろタイミングを逃した感じですが、まあまたそこがたまらない曲です。
Comment

baseless/categorical/smear

2022-04-10 14:42:28 | Reading - not classified
あまり難しい単語はない記事なのですが。面白いゴシップ、かつ、国をまたぐ生活の参考になるかもということで。

Chancellor's wife pays £30,000 a year for non-dom status
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-61027058

今までノーチェックでしたが。今回の件でSunak夫婦がどういう人たちなのか一通り知ることになりました。
<quote>
And 10 Downing Street has dismissed reports that it is behind a series of politically damaging leaks against the chancellor as "baseless" and "categorically untrue ."
<unquote>

<quote>
"To smear my wife to get at me is awful," he added, saying: "And if she was living here and didn't just happen to be married to me, this obviously would not be at all relevant."
<unquote>
[British, informal] If you get at someone, you keep criticising or teasing them in an unkind way.

今回の件で広く認知されることになったnon-domの定義。domはdomicile。
<quote>
A non-dom is a UK resident who declares their permanent home, or domicile, outside of the UK.
A domicile is usually the country his or her father considered his permanent home when they were born, or it may be the place overseas where somebody has moved to with no intention of returning.
<unquote>

奥さんはイギリス人と結婚したインド人ではありますが。実家がすごすぎ。ほんと新時代のパワーカップルという感じ。
Comment

Space Oddity 1969

2022-04-10 14:40:42 | Listening
今年のチャレンジの只管朗読のテキストはBowie at the Beeb。
聞き流すだけだったのを、シャドーウィングして、音読して、歌って、単語やフレーズも習得するというところまで踏み込んでみます。

般若心教に匹敵するのは、というか、繰り返しに耐えられるのは、好きなものしかない。
古典は引用できるので役に立ちます。とはいえ、Beebは有名ではない曲が多いので、やっぱり繰り返しに耐えられるというその一点だけですね。

散歩しながら一緒にぶつぶつ歌っていますが、フレーズをちゃんと習得するためにブログに文字に書きます。
初回はSpace Oddity。何万回聞いたかわからないくらい聞いてますが。こうやって改めて取り組むとoddityの綴りを間違います。
歌詞はほぼ暗記していたつもりでしたが、Use of Englishはちゃんとしてなかったかもということで見直し。

And may God's love be with you.

MODAL VERB [formal]l: People sometimes use may to express hopes and wishes.

You've really made the grade.

PHRASE [informal]: If someone makes the grade, they succeed, especially by reaching a particular standard.
BeebだとYou'veがほとんど聞こえないですが。

Here am I floating round my tin can.

Here am Iの使い方。Here comes the Sunでおなじみの倒置。
GooleするとHere I amが正しいという説明も出てきますが。アメリカ英語か?
Davide Bowieの名曲にあるので、少なくともインフォーマルイギリス英語としては正しいはず。

あとround。float round。動詞+round。
Round is an adverb and preposition that has the same meanings as 'around'. Round is often used with verbs of movement, such as 'walk' and 'drive', and also in phrasal verbs such as 'get round' and 'hand round'. Round is commoner in British English than American English, and it is slightly more informal.
こちらもインフォーマルイギリス英語でした。

(以上引用はCollins。)
あとはPlanet Earthはtheがつかない。The Spiders from Marsもそう。でも、Far above the moon。

やっぱり聞き流しているだけではもったいない。
Comment

scrutinise/unsavoury/beleaguered

2022-04-04 02:23:37 | Reading - not classified
備忘録にしようと思っていたPrivate EyeのWebサイトの'Lord' Lebedevの記事がなくなっていました。

Lord Lebedev passed security test says PM
https://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers/Evgeny_Lebedev

'ES'と'independent'はロシア系なんですよねー。ESといえばGeorge Osborneですが。
ちなみに'i'はindependentとは今は別オーナーみたいでした。よかったー。

代わりにLebedevのGardianとBBCの記事を読みます。

Evgeny Lebedev peerage: Labour seeks to force ministers to publish advice
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/mar/28/evgeny-lebedev-peerage-labour-seeks-to-force-ministers-to-publish-advice

<quote>
The Guardian revealed in October 2020 that Johnson met Lebedev in March, shortly before the House of Lords appointments commission, which scrutinises all nominations, wrote to the prime minister.
<quote>
この記事から飛んでる昔の記事が面白すぎるー。Borisは市長になった頃から既にロシアに取り込まれてたんですね。Pro-Brexitになるわけです。

MPs vote to back publication of Lord Lebedev peerage security advice
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60915336

<quote>
Paymaster General Michael Ellis, for the government, condemned what he called Labour's "unsavoury" personal attacks on Lord Lebedev.
<quote>
Paymaster Generalってこういう時に登場してくるんですねー。

<quote>
Mr Ellis said Lord Lebedev's claim that Sir Keir congratulated him on his peerage was "embarrassing" for Labour, but the SNP's Pete Wishart said Mr Ellis was just trying to throw up a "smokescreen to protect his beleaguered prime minister".
<quote>
このSNP議員の言う通り。で、Sirの使い方。Sir Keirなんだー。今までずっとジョークだと思ってましたー。

Borisはロシアじゃなくてトルコがはいってるんですよね。
前にWho do you think who you are?で見たのですが、YouTubeはなくなったようでした。

Stermerも取り込まれてたっぽいのでロシアは全方位的なんでしょうけど。
BorisとかTrumpとかポピュリストがトップになるとろくなことにならない。Zelenskyも然り。
Comment

weak at the knees/incanate

2022-04-03 20:53:21 | Reading - not classified
少し前の記事の備忘録。
コロナを言い訳に怠けている間に。修了生が出てきてしまいましたー。修士コースができるというニュースはもう2年前でした・・。[訂正]Full-timeは1年なので、1年前でした。

Naming of new performance centre after Yoko Ono ‘means a lot’, says son Sean
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/yoko-ono-john-lennon-liverpool-university-of-liverpool-new-york-b2044166.html

難しい単語は出てこないのですが。
PA news agencyがひっかかりました。Associated Pressと逆。Press Association。

<Quote>
“Now the first time seeing him as an adult I just went weak at the knees because he is John incarnate.”
<Unquote>

ショーンの曲を聴いたことがないのでなんとも言えないですが。遠い親戚に有名人がいるって感じのローカルな記事でいいですね。
Comment