Reader's Digest 9月号にあったジョークです。
At a restaurant one night, the man at the next table was pulling out all the stops to impress his underwhelmed date.
He crowned a lengthy list of lifetime achievements by stating, "At least I can say I have been a Hollywood movie producer."
The woman nodded and said, "I'll make a note of that: 'Has-been movie producer.'"
オチが分からないジョークがたまにありますが、このジョークのオチは "Has-been" の意味（One that is no longer famous, popular, successful, or useful.）を知っていれば分かりますが、出だしの "pulling out all the stops" ですが、何か私が知らない意味の "stops" を取り出して見せたのかと思い "stop" を調べましたが、"an order to refuse payment of a check"などを自慢げに見せる訳はないし、悩みましたが、"pull out all the stops" と言う興味ある慣用句であることが分かり納得です。
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: to do everything you can to make something successful; They pulled out all the stops for their daughter's wedding.
・American Heritage Dictionary: Use all the resources or force at one's disposal, as in The police pulled out all the stops to find the thief.
この慣用句の由来を知れば意味は直ぐに覚えられそうです。（The Phrase Finderより）
The popular belief is that this phrase derives from the manner of construction of pipe organs. These instruments have stops to control the air flow through the pipes and pulling them out increases the musical volume.
At a restaurant one night, the man at the next table was pulling out all the stops to impress his underwhelmed date.
He crowned a lengthy list of lifetime achievements by stating, "At least I can say I have been a Hollywood movie producer."
The woman nodded and said, "I'll make a note of that: 'Has-been movie producer.'"
オチが分からないジョークがたまにありますが、このジョークのオチは "Has-been" の意味（One that is no longer famous, popular, successful, or useful.）を知っていれば分かりますが、出だしの "pulling out all the stops" ですが、何か私が知らない意味の "stops" を取り出して見せたのかと思い "stop" を調べましたが、"an order to refuse payment of a check"などを自慢げに見せる訳はないし、悩みましたが、"pull out all the stops" と言う興味ある慣用句であることが分かり納得です。
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: to do everything you can to make something successful; They pulled out all the stops for their daughter's wedding.
・American Heritage Dictionary: Use all the resources or force at one's disposal, as in The police pulled out all the stops to find the thief.
この慣用句の由来を知れば意味は直ぐに覚えられそうです。（The Phrase Finderより）
The popular belief is that this phrase derives from the manner of construction of pipe organs. These instruments have stops to control the air flow through the pipes and pulling them out increases the musical volume.
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