Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「世間知らず」、英語タイトル "Babes in the Woods" の項の一部を引用します。
The Japanese have presented both a mystery and a challenge to the outside world ever since they first involved in internatinal affairs. A significant percentage of the American occupation forces in Japan in the late 1940s and early 1950s habitually described the Japanese as stupid and incompetent.
From the mid-1950s this refrain was picked up by Amarican importers who began visiting Japan by the thousands to get consumer products copied at low prices. Unable to see beyond their own cultral blinders, many of these frequent visitors carped continuously, accusing the Japanese of not being able to do anything right without detailed instructions and of making mistakes that were so irrational they were unbelievable.
英語の "Babes in the Woods" を見ただけでは、 「世間知らず」は思いつきませんでした。 "Babes in the Woods" が一般的な表現なのか、辞書で確認します。
・Wiktionary: babe in the woods (plural babes in the woods): (idiomatic) A person who is innocent, naive, inexperienced, or helpless.
・Dictionary.com: an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. a naive or innocent person; an inexperienced person. (Like a child lost in the woods.) Bill is a babe in the woods when it comes to dealing with plumbers. As a painter, Mary is fine, but she's a babe in the woods as a musician.
引用文中にある "carp" は既出（http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/6/3）です。
The Japanese have presented both a mystery and a challenge to the outside world ever since they first involved in internatinal affairs. A significant percentage of the American occupation forces in Japan in the late 1940s and early 1950s habitually described the Japanese as stupid and incompetent.
From the mid-1950s this refrain was picked up by Amarican importers who began visiting Japan by the thousands to get consumer products copied at low prices. Unable to see beyond their own cultral blinders, many of these frequent visitors carped continuously, accusing the Japanese of not being able to do anything right without detailed instructions and of making mistakes that were so irrational they were unbelievable.
英語の "Babes in the Woods" を見ただけでは、 「世間知らず」は思いつきませんでした。 "Babes in the Woods" が一般的な表現なのか、辞書で確認します。
・Wiktionary: babe in the woods (plural babes in the woods): (idiomatic) A person who is innocent, naive, inexperienced, or helpless.
・Dictionary.com: an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. a naive or innocent person; an inexperienced person. (Like a child lost in the woods.) Bill is a babe in the woods when it comes to dealing with plumbers. As a painter, Mary is fine, but she's a babe in the woods as a musician.
引用文中にある "carp" は既出（http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/6/3）です。
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