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。

policy wonk

2012年01月24日 | 英語学習
Jan.14付のThe Japan Times Onlineニュースの記事 "New Noda Cabinet on tax push" に覚えたい単語がありました。
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reshuffles his Cabinet to draw the opposition into the tax hike debate and appoints policy wonk Katsuya Okada deputy prime minister to head up the talks.
上の引用文の岡田氏についている形容詞 "policy wonk" がそれです。 日本語で政策通などと言う言葉がありますが、 "policy wonk" がその様な意味になるのでしょうか?  "wonk" を辞書で見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field; broadly: nerd :a policy wonk; a computer wonk
・American Heritage Dictionary: 1. A student who studies excessively; a grind 2. One who studies an issue or a topic thoroughly or excessively: "leading a talkathon of policy wonks in a methodical effort to build consensus for his programs"
・Vocabulary.com: The noun wonk is an informal way of referring to an overly studious person. Wonk is as derogatory as words like "dweeb" or "geek," and it implies someone who is boringly focused on work or school ? like your physics major friend "the science wonk." Extreme fans of politics are sometimes called policy wonks. The word originated in the 1950s from American student slang, possibly from the word wonky, or "shaky and unreliable."
ほめ言葉とも言えますが、皮肉を込めている言葉の様です。
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