Natsuo Kirinoの "OUT" を読んでいます。
As he peered in at them, cigarette in hand, they shrank away. He remembered how Anna had accused him of treating her like a lapdog. For just a moment, he missed the smooth skin and perfect features of the woman he'd turned into the top girl at Mika. The top pet in the shop.
Anna herself had known that once she'd cottoned on to this, she would never be able to keep that position, however hard she tried. That was just the way things worked.
"cotton on" は以前に取り上げていますが（2009/9/2）、忘れていたので再度辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: to begin to understand or realize something without being told: I suddenly cottoned on to what he was doing.
・Collins Dictionary: If you cotton on to something, you understand it or realize it, especially without people telling you about it.: It wasn't until he started laughing that they cottoned on!
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to begin to understand a situation or fact: I'd only just cottoned on to the fact that they were having a relationship.
そう言えば "cotton to" も "5/31/2012" に取り上げていました。
・Collins Dictionary: If you cotton to someone or something, you start to like them.: His style of humor was very human, and that's why people cotton to him.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To like someone or something; to view someone or something favorably.: It takes me a while to cotton to new people—I have to get to know them first.
As he peered in at them, cigarette in hand, they shrank away. He remembered how Anna had accused him of treating her like a lapdog. For just a moment, he missed the smooth skin and perfect features of the woman he'd turned into the top girl at Mika. The top pet in the shop.
Anna herself had known that once she'd cottoned on to this, she would never be able to keep that position, however hard she tried. That was just the way things worked.
"cotton on" は以前に取り上げていますが（2009/9/2）、忘れていたので再度辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: to begin to understand or realize something without being told: I suddenly cottoned on to what he was doing.
・Collins Dictionary: If you cotton on to something, you understand it or realize it, especially without people telling you about it.: It wasn't until he started laughing that they cottoned on!
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to begin to understand a situation or fact: I'd only just cottoned on to the fact that they were having a relationship.
そう言えば "cotton to" も "5/31/2012" に取り上げていました。
・Collins Dictionary: If you cotton to someone or something, you start to like them.: His style of humor was very human, and that's why people cotton to him.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To like someone or something; to view someone or something favorably.: It takes me a while to cotton to new people—I have to get to know them first.
トータル
