Japan Times Online、Oct.6の記事、"Has business blackballed the yakuza? Don’t bank on it"です。記事の最初のパラグラフを読みます。
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) publicly spanked Mizuho Bank last month by slapping it with a “business improvement order” for letting Japan’s organized crime groups use its facilities. At least $2 million in illegal transactions were cited.
例の事件の事だと分かります。City Bankも似たような悪徳銀行だった事を思い出したら、記事はこの後でCity Bankの件にも触れていました。さてそれよりも私の関心は "blackball" の意味なので辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: to exclude (someone) from a group, profession, etc; ostracize: Just like SARS, fear of mad cow disease will blackball Canadian beef the world over for at least a year.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to exclude socially: ostracize: the club secretly blackballs applicants who belong to that religion
・Vocabulary.com: When you blackball someone, you ban him from a group. A bunch of kids who kick a tattletale out of their secret club essentially blackball him.
You can use blackball as a noun or a verb ? a blackball is an act of excluding or ostracizing someone. Country club members might initiate a blackball against an eccentric member who wears tie dyed t-shirts on the golf course, for example. The origin of the word goes back to the 1700s, when club members would cast secret votes on membership using white and black wooden or ivory balls. The black balls represented "no" votes.
ところで記事のタイトルで使われている "bank on" は洒落ですね。
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) publicly spanked Mizuho Bank last month by slapping it with a “business improvement order” for letting Japan’s organized crime groups use its facilities. At least $2 million in illegal transactions were cited.
例の事件の事だと分かります。City Bankも似たような悪徳銀行だった事を思い出したら、記事はこの後でCity Bankの件にも触れていました。さてそれよりも私の関心は "blackball" の意味なので辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: to exclude (someone) from a group, profession, etc; ostracize: Just like SARS, fear of mad cow disease will blackball Canadian beef the world over for at least a year.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to exclude socially: ostracize: the club secretly blackballs applicants who belong to that religion
・Vocabulary.com: When you blackball someone, you ban him from a group. A bunch of kids who kick a tattletale out of their secret club essentially blackball him.
You can use blackball as a noun or a verb ? a blackball is an act of excluding or ostracizing someone. Country club members might initiate a blackball against an eccentric member who wears tie dyed t-shirts on the golf course, for example. The origin of the word goes back to the 1700s, when club members would cast secret votes on membership using white and black wooden or ivory balls. The black balls represented "no" votes.
ところで記事のタイトルで使われている "bank on" は洒落ですね。
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