ＲＤ Word Power は英単語のクイズのページですが、毎号難しいので半分以上正解の時は滅多にありません。最近読んだ2月号も例外ではなく、１５題の内知っている単語は５つほどで、知らない単語が多すぎて覚える気力は出ませんが、その中に一つだけ最近読んだジュニア小説にもあった単語languorousだけは覚えようと思います。
languorousのＲＤの解説は： Pleasantly tired; inert; lacking energy. "Emily's languorousSunday was evidence of too many sleeplsee nights." となっています。
ジュニア小説 "A Secret Friend" by Marilyn Sachs にあった文章は：
She had a slow, languorous way of speaking and often seemed surprised when she was called upon to answer questions in class.
一応languorousを辞書で引くと：
OneLook Quick Definition: lacking spirit or liveliness (Example: "A hot languorous afternoon")
Dictionary.com: lacking spirit or liveliness; "a lackadaisical attempt"; "a languid mood"; "a languid wave of the hand"; "a hot languorous afternoon"
こんな中学生レベルの単語も知らなかったと思うとlanguorousな気分になるのもしかたがないか？
ジュニア小説のA Secret Friendにあった一節です。
He always had hives and was scratching himself and making trouble.
"beehive" は知っていますがhivesは知りません。電子辞書のロングマンを見ました
hives：a condition in which someone's skin swells and becomes red, usually because they are ALLERGIC to something
なるほど、ジンマシンとか発疹の事ですね。そう言えば今日のニュースで今年は百日咳が流行っていると言っていたのでついでに調べると百日咳は "whooping cough" (医学用語は "pertussis" のようだ)だそうで。こう言う基礎的な言葉、特に生活用語、も知らないので英語の道はまだまだ遠しです。
He always had hives and was scratching himself and making trouble.
"beehive" は知っていますがhivesは知りません。電子辞書のロングマンを見ました
hives：a condition in which someone's skin swells and becomes red, usually because they are ALLERGIC to something
なるほど、ジンマシンとか発疹の事ですね。そう言えば今日のニュースで今年は百日咳が流行っていると言っていたのでついでに調べると百日咳は "whooping cough" (医学用語は "pertussis" のようだ)だそうで。こう言う基礎的な言葉、特に生活用語、も知らないので英語の道はまだまだ遠しです。
RD に "Haven't We Met?" と題したなかなか人の名前を思い出せないまるで私の事のような記事がありましたが、その中の表現です。
I'd like to suggest that the reason I didn't recognise you right off the bat is that you've done something to your hair.
"right off the bat" を電子辞書のロングマンを引くと：
"do something right off the bat" で "to do something immediately" とありました。
そして例文として "I asked him to help, and he said yes right off the bat." が出ていました。
人の名前も英語の意味も I can recall them right off the bat. だと良いのですが。
I'd like to suggest that the reason I didn't recognise you right off the bat is that you've done something to your hair.
"right off the bat" を電子辞書のロングマンを引くと：
"do something right off the bat" で "to do something immediately" とありました。
そして例文として "I asked him to help, and he said yes right off the bat." が出ていました。
人の名前も英語の意味も I can recall them right off the bat. だと良いのですが。
April 16のThe Japan Timesの見出しです。
LAPD detective in Miura probe a cold case expert
例のロス事件の記事なので "a cold case" は冷たい箱ではなく未解決の事件を意味していると推測ができます。記事を読むとその推測が正しい事が分かります。
The LAPD's Cold Case Special Section was established in 2001 to re-examine nearly 9,000 cases from the 1960s to the late 1990s that remain unsolved.
日本では裁判が終わったのですが、ロス警察はまだ未解決の事件として扱っているのですね。念の為にWebで"a cold case" の説明を調べました。enote.comにforensic-scienceなる項目があり次ぎの様な説明がありました。
A cold case is any criminal investigation by a law enforcement agency that has not been solved for (generally) at least one year and, as a result, has been closed from further regular investigations. A cold case may be closed for various reasons such as: previously available technology was not able to adequately analyze the evidence in order to form a conclusion; witnesses were hostile and uncooperative; various time constraints hindered the investigation; the originally assigned detectives had a heavy workload; a lack of worthwhile leads stalled the case.
1年以上未解決の事件あるいは迷宮入りも "a cold case" ですね。
Almost assuredly, every law enforcement agency in the United States and in foreign countries has cold cases on their books that could be reopened and solved. However, since agencies have limited amounts of manpower and resources, usually only the most terrible cold cases such as violent crime are reopened.
三浦氏は、既に日本で決着がついた事件なので米国が裁く権利はないと主張しておりますが、どうなるのでしょうか？
LAPD detective in Miura probe a cold case expert
例のロス事件の記事なので "a cold case" は冷たい箱ではなく未解決の事件を意味していると推測ができます。記事を読むとその推測が正しい事が分かります。
The LAPD's Cold Case Special Section was established in 2001 to re-examine nearly 9,000 cases from the 1960s to the late 1990s that remain unsolved.
日本では裁判が終わったのですが、ロス警察はまだ未解決の事件として扱っているのですね。念の為にWebで"a cold case" の説明を調べました。enote.comにforensic-scienceなる項目があり次ぎの様な説明がありました。
A cold case is any criminal investigation by a law enforcement agency that has not been solved for (generally) at least one year and, as a result, has been closed from further regular investigations. A cold case may be closed for various reasons such as: previously available technology was not able to adequately analyze the evidence in order to form a conclusion; witnesses were hostile and uncooperative; various time constraints hindered the investigation; the originally assigned detectives had a heavy workload; a lack of worthwhile leads stalled the case.
1年以上未解決の事件あるいは迷宮入りも "a cold case" ですね。
Almost assuredly, every law enforcement agency in the United States and in foreign countries has cold cases on their books that could be reopened and solved. However, since agencies have limited amounts of manpower and resources, usually only the most terrible cold cases such as violent crime are reopened.
三浦氏は、既に日本で決着がついた事件なので米国が裁く権利はないと主張しておりますが、どうなるのでしょうか？
RD Laughter, The Best Medicineにあったジョークです。
Why are tenors like pirates?
They're both murder on the high C's.
テナー歌手も海賊も "high C's" に関係し(high C は high seaとかけているのは間違いないと思う）、海賊がmurderするのも分かるが、テナー歌手がmurderとはこれ如何に？
そこで電子辞書のロングマンを引くとありましたmurderにこんな意味が：
to spoil a song, play etc. completely by performing it very badly
例文: The opening act murdered "Love is All Aroung."
オンライン辞書のDictionary.comにはテナー歌手の例文もありました。
to spoil or mar by bad performance, representation, pronunciation, etc.
例文: The tenor murdered the aria.
私は音痴でカラオケが苦手なのですが、私が歌うとmurderになるからだったのですね。
Why are tenors like pirates?
They're both murder on the high C's.
テナー歌手も海賊も "high C's" に関係し(high C は high seaとかけているのは間違いないと思う）、海賊がmurderするのも分かるが、テナー歌手がmurderとはこれ如何に？
そこで電子辞書のロングマンを引くとありましたmurderにこんな意味が：
to spoil a song, play etc. completely by performing it very badly
例文: The opening act murdered "Love is All Aroung."
オンライン辞書のDictionary.comにはテナー歌手の例文もありました。
to spoil or mar by bad performance, representation, pronunciation, etc.
例文: The tenor murdered the aria.
私は音痴でカラオケが苦手なのですが、私が歌うとmurderになるからだったのですね。
水増し請求を英語で何と言うのか知りませんでしたが先日ジャパンタイムズの記事に "pad bills" の表現がありこれは日本語で言う水増し請求を意味している事は直ぐに分かりました。
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office suspects the 71-year-old former head and others padded bills totaling 120 million yen in the name of outsourcing business from PCI, based in Tokyo, to other companies in fiscal 2004 and 2005, the sources said.
三つの辞書で "pad" を引いて見ました。
Merriam-Webster
2: to expand or increase especially with needless, misleading, or fraudulent matter pad the sales : often used with out: they pad out their bibliographies
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
3 chiefly N. Amer. defraud by adding false items to (an expenses claim or bill).
The American HeritageR Dictionary
2. To lengthen or increase, especially with extraneous or false information: pad a lecture with jokes; pad an expense account.
日本語の水増しと同じで色々な物/事の見かけを増やす事に使えるのですね。プログを書くときに、私はなるべく水増しではなくスリムにと心掛けてはいるのですがどうしても無駄な言葉や内容が混ざってしまいます。
The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office suspects the 71-year-old former head and others padded bills totaling 120 million yen in the name of outsourcing business from PCI, based in Tokyo, to other companies in fiscal 2004 and 2005, the sources said.
三つの辞書で "pad" を引いて見ました。
Merriam-Webster
2: to expand or increase especially with needless, misleading, or fraudulent matter pad the sales : often used with out: they pad out their bibliographies
Compact Oxford English Dictionary
3 chiefly N. Amer. defraud by adding false items to (an expenses claim or bill).
The American HeritageR Dictionary
2. To lengthen or increase, especially with extraneous or false information: pad a lecture with jokes; pad an expense account.
日本語の水増しと同じで色々な物/事の見かけを増やす事に使えるのですね。プログを書くときに、私はなるべく水増しではなくスリムにと心掛けてはいるのですがどうしても無駄な言葉や内容が混ざってしまいます。
ソメイヨシノはすっかり散りましたが今は八重桜(double cherry blosom)が満開です。ハナミズキの花もあちらこちらで見かけます。ハナミズキの花は上を向いて咲いているので木より高い位置から見ると見事ですがハナミズキは何故か英語で"dogwood" と言います。犬にはこの花の良さが分かるはずは無いので不思議に思っていたので調べて見ました。
Wikipediaによると
The word dogwood comes from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers).
なるほど dagger と共通点があるのですか。そう言えば櫛の材料になる硬い木のツゲは英語で "boxwood" でしたね。
Wikipediaによると
The word dogwood comes from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers).
なるほど dagger と共通点があるのですか。そう言えば櫛の材料になる硬い木のツゲは英語で "boxwood" でしたね。
ソメイヨシノはすっかり散りましたが今は八重桜(double cherry blosom)が満開です。ハナミズキの花もあちらこちらで見かけます。ハナミズキの花は上を向いて咲いているので木より高い位置から見ると見事ですがハナミズキは何故か英語で"dogwood" と言います。犬にはこの花の良さが分かるはずは無いので不思議に思っていたので調べて見ました。
Wikipediaによると
The word dogwood comes from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers).
なるほど dagger と共通点があるのですか。そう言えば櫛の材料になる硬い木のツゲは英語で "boxwood" でしたね。
Wikipediaによると
The word dogwood comes from dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of very hard wood for making 'dags' (daggers, skewers).
なるほど dagger と共通点があるのですか。そう言えば櫛の材料になる硬い木のツゲは英語で "boxwood" でしたね。
先日NHKハイビジョンの新番組名探偵アマデウスでラベルのボレロを取り上げた番組を見ました。お陰でその日は一日中頭の中でラベルのボレロが何回も演奏されることになりました。こんな状況を表す便利な英語がある事を知りました。
"I couldn't get the song out of my head. It's like a broken record," Clark said Thursday while shopping at the Galleria at Tyler mall in Riverside. "I keep humming it, and you know, I don't even like Prince's music."
Her experience reflects a phenomenon shared by the vast majority of people, according to an ongoing study at the University of Cincinnati. Nearly everybody has been mentally tortured at one point in their lives by an "earworm": a tune that keeps repeating itself over and over in their heads.
The research also indicates that people who get the most earworms tend to listen to music frequently and have neurotic habits, such as biting pencils or tapping fingers.
Dictionary.comにある "earworms" の説明です。
a song or tune that gets stuck in one's mind and repeats as if on a tape; also written ear-worm, ear worm; also called cognitive itch, sticky tune
Example: The song played in the grocery store became an earworm for her.
Etymology: German ohrwurm
元はドイツ語なのですね。
"I couldn't get the song out of my head. It's like a broken record," Clark said Thursday while shopping at the Galleria at Tyler mall in Riverside. "I keep humming it, and you know, I don't even like Prince's music."
Her experience reflects a phenomenon shared by the vast majority of people, according to an ongoing study at the University of Cincinnati. Nearly everybody has been mentally tortured at one point in their lives by an "earworm": a tune that keeps repeating itself over and over in their heads.
The research also indicates that people who get the most earworms tend to listen to music frequently and have neurotic habits, such as biting pencils or tapping fingers.
Dictionary.comにある "earworms" の説明です。
a song or tune that gets stuck in one's mind and repeats as if on a tape; also written ear-worm, ear worm; also called cognitive itch, sticky tune
Example: The song played in the grocery store became an earworm for her.
Etymology: German ohrwurm
元はドイツ語なのですね。
"fiat money"（反語は "representative money"）についてS.M.さんからの補足メールがありました。
Do you know the Latin word ‘Fiat’? It means “let there be”. As in “God said, “let there be light and there was light.” Hence, “fiat lux”. Just a note on the derivation of the word ‘fiat’.
聖書の言葉ですね。
"lux” は照度の単位にもなっている言葉なので前に話題にした "lucubration" や luciferin、luciferase の接頭辞 "luc”と同じく光を意味している事は容易に理解できます。
Do you know the Latin word ‘Fiat’? It means “let there be”. As in “God said, “let there be light and there was light.” Hence, “fiat lux”. Just a note on the derivation of the word ‘fiat’.
聖書の言葉ですね。
"lux” は照度の単位にもなっている言葉なので前に話題にした "lucubration" や luciferin、luciferase の接頭辞 "luc”と同じく光を意味している事は容易に理解できます。
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