English Collection

日頃目に付いた覚えたい英単語、慣用句などの表現についてのメモです。

good riddance

2011年04月15日 | 英語学習
"The Drunkard's Walk" に16世紀の学者、Gerolamo Cardanoの話が出てきます。ちょっと長くなりますが、私が覚えたいと思った表現が出てくる前の記述個所はその表現が使われたことを理解するのに必須だと思うので、Gerolamo Cardanoがこの世に生まれてきた背景の個所を含めて引用します。
Chiara and Gerolamo's father, Fazio Cardano, were not married, but they often acted as if they were -- they were known for their many loud quarrels. A month before Gerolamo's birth, Chiara left their home in Milan to live with her sister in Pavia, twenty miles to the south. Gerolamo emerged after three days of painful labor. One look at the infant and Chiara must have thought she would be rid of him after all. He was frail, and worse, lay silent. Chiara's midwife predicted he'd be dead within the hour. But if Chiara was thinking, good riddance, she was let down again, for the baby's wet nurse soaked him in a bath of warm wine, and Gerolao revived.
"good riddance" が出てくる前に "rid of" があるので "riddance" は "rid" の名詞形と見当が付き、文脈からすると、母親は死産か流産を期待していた様なので、日本語では逆の表現になる厄介払いに相当するのではと思いますが、辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: said to express relief at being free of an unwanted person or thing.
・American Heritage Dictionary: A deliverance from or removal of something unwanted or undesirable: "Compeyson took it easy as a good riddance for both sides" (Charles Dickens).
・Macmillan Dictionary: used for saying that you are pleased to be free of someone or something that is annoying or unpleasant; When he left I thought, “Good riddance.”
英語では厄介払いできて「良かった」の意味が強いのですね。
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbsに
Cliche a phrase marking the departure of someone or something unwanted. Fred: Supposing I was to just walk out of here, just like that--Mary: I'd say good-bye and good riddance. As the garbage truck drove away, carrying the drab old chair that Mary hated so much, she said, "Good-bye and good riddance ".
もしかして、"Good-bye and good riddance" は離婚の時の台詞かしらとふと思った。
コメント
  • X
  • Facebookでシェアする
  • はてなブックマークに追加する
  • LINEでシェアする