At the stroke of six

赤毛のアンを読み終えたので次に読む本として何年か前に読み始めたが厚いのと（413ページ）知らない単語が次から次に出てくるので途中で読むのを諦めた "41 Stories by O. Henry" に再挑戦することにしました。
しかし、最初の話（The Social Triangle）の最初のセンテンスで早速引っ掛りました。
At the stroke of six Ikey Snigglefritz laid down his goose.
知らない単語は何も無いのにいきなり "laid down his goose" と言われても状況がさっぱり分かりません。　しかたなく我慢して先を読んで見ました。
Ikey was a tailor's apprentice. Are there tailors' apprentices nowadays?
At any rate, Ikey toiled and snipped and basted and pressed and patched and sponged all day in the steamy fetor of a tailor-shop. But when work was done Ikey hitched his wagon to such stars as his firmament let shine.
知らない単語がどんどん増えていきますが、ここまで読んだら最初の "At the stroke of six" は６時の事で、Ikey Snigglefritzは洋服の仕立て屋で働いているので "goose" はガチョウの意味ではないはずと判断できます。　まず "stroke" を辞書で見てみました。
American Herritage Dictionary: The time so indicated: at the stroke of midnight.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary: a sound made by a striking clock.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: an exact time, or a sound or series of sounds that show this time; The fireworks will start at the stroke of 10.
６時であっていますね。　次に "goose" にガチョウ以外の意味があるか "lay down one's goose" と言う慣用句があるはずと推測して調べます。　すると適当な意味が "goose" にありました。
Dictionary.com: 7. a tailor's smoothing iron with a curved handle.
アイロンの一種なのですね。 "lay down one's goose" なんて言う慣用句ではありませんでした。
最初のセンテンスだけでこんなに苦労するなんて先が思いやられます。　

a slew of, a raft of

リーダーズダイジェスト9月号で "a slew of" が全く別の記事ですが続けて出てきたので覚えたいと思いました。
・That's the theory behind a slew of clinical trials now underway around Australia and the world.
・He's amassed fans through over two decades of work, making his rounds on the stand-up comedey circuit, joining the case of TV's "Saturday Night Live"(widely regarded as one of the best springboards to success for aspiring comedians) in 1990, and being part of a slew of hit movies that have established him as one of today's most popular actor-comedians.
"a slew of" を辞書で引きます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
・Dictionary.com: also slue: n. Informal: a large number or quantity: a whole slew of people.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a large amount or number; Mr Savino has been charged with three murders as well as a whole slew of other crimes.
"a slew of" は "a lot of" と同じと考えてよさそうですね。　やはり同じくＲＤ９月号の別の記事で使われている "a raft of" も確か同じ意味ですね。
Helping to alleviate the impact as well as the guilt, Airbus's A380, currently being introduced across a raft of airlines, has more efficient fuel-burn than most other aircraft.
"a raft of" も辞書の説明を引用します。
OneLook Quick Definitions: (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent
Dictionary.com: a great quantity; a lot: a raft of trouble.

guide dog

From RD July, 2009 Life it's really like that
My sight-impaired friend was in a grocery store with her guide dog when the manager asked, "Is that a blind dog?"
My friend said, "I hope not, or we'er both in trouble."
何年も前の事ですが通訳ガイドの試験に盲導犬が出ました。

regale

The Japan Times Online, Oct.27の "Rhetorical Hatoyama opens Diet" と題した記事に覚えて置きたい単語がありました。
Calling his mission the "bloodless Heisei restoration," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama regales the Diet with a speech long on rhetoric but short on specifics.
この "regale" が覚えたい単語です。　辞書の説明を見ます。
Dictionary.com:
1. to entertain lavishly or agreeably; delight.
2. to entertain with choice food or drink.
飲食で接待する事にも使われるようですが記事と同じような例を他の辞書で見てみます。
Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to give pleasure or amusement to; (regaled us with tall tales)
Cambridge International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs: regale sb with sth formal: to entertain a person or group of people by telling them things [e.g. stories, tales]; Adrian regaled us all with stories about his trip to Amsterdam.
もっと丁寧な説明のある辞書を見つけました。
V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary
Tips: When someone keeps his or her audience captivated and has talent for entertaining his listeners, he is able to regale. Regale can also be a noun, meaning "a feast," but this usage has become mostly obsolete.
The older gentleman regaled us with tales of his youthful expoits. (entertained, amused)
The puppy regaled the children with her playful barking and jumping. (amused, entertained)
最後の例は面白いですね。

have up their sleeve

昨日の日曜は久しぶりに快晴になったので昼の卓球練習はさぼって、お台場までジョッギングをしました。　荒川を下り河口近くの橋を渡り、後は湾岸道路沿いにお台場まで一本道。　夢の島公園、辰巳の森公園を過ぎると直ぐ臨海副都心に入り、有明テニスの森公園、終着は潮風公園の片道は地図で測ると１２ｋｍのコースです。　途中に信号も少ししかなくとても走り易いコースです。　往復で２０ｋｍ以上あるので、来週末もう一度少し走ることができれば今月２９日のハーフマラソンの完走は間違いなしです。　ジョッギングの後は江戸川区の文化センターに行きリバーサイドブラスバンドの定期演奏を聴き、夜はいつもの卓球の練習と結構忙しい日曜でした。
英語の話題に移ります。これもリーダーズダイジェスト9月号のVirusについての特集記事からです。 VirusのSurvival skillsについての説明文に慣用句らしい表現が出てきました。
There's another trick that viruses have up their sleeve: they mutate. Take the HIV virus. Every time it infects a new human, it slightly changes its composition.
"have up their sleeve" は慣用句に違いありません。　辞書を見ます。
・Dictionary.com: have something up one's sleeve, to have a secret plan, scheme, opinion, or the like: I could tell by her sly look that she had something up her sleeve.
・American Herritage Dictionary: up (one's) sleeve; Hidden but ready to be used: I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. to have a secret or surprise plan or solution (to a problem). (Alludes to cheating at cards by having a card hidden in one's sleeve.) I've got something up my sleeve, and it should solve all your problems. I'll tell you what it is after I'm elected. The manager has an ace up her sleeve. She'll surprise us with it later.
"have up one's sleeve" では説明の無い辞書でも "up one's sleeve" の説明はほとんどの辞書にありました。

To Eat or Not To Eat

昨日はお台場までジョッギングする予定でしたが雨なので中止しました。　体重は1kg、体脂肪も1-2ポイント増えているのに昨晩気が付きました。　家でコーヒーを飲む時に柿ピーを食べる習慣がついてきたのが影響している見たい。　こういうのって中々止められないのですよね。
To Eat or Not To Eat, That is the Question
The biggest drawback to fasting for seven days is that it makes one weak.
Eat, drink, and merry, for tommorrow you diet!

land office business

BizCommuneと言うサークルで "Kotler on Marketing" を読んでいます。　小説と較べると英語は単純明快ですがその分興味を引く表現も滅多に出てきません。　とは言ってもたまに気になる表現があります。　次ぎの文は最近の例会で読んだ個所にありました
Each of the four P's are in a competing as well as a complementary relationship. An automobile dealer decided one day to fire his ten salesmen and to use the saved cost to lower his car prices substantially. That resulted in a "land office" business.
車の価格を大幅に下げれば車は売れる事は容易に想像できるので "land office" business は商売が上向いた事を意味しているのではと簡単に予想が付きます。　 "land office" の個所に引用符がついているのでこの表現はそれ程一般的ではないようでもありますが辞書に説明があるか調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: extensive and rapid business land-office business on payday
・American Herritage Dictionary: A thriving, expanding, or very profitable concern or volume of trade. For example, After the storm they did a land-office business in snow shovels and rock salt. This term, dating from the 1830s, alludes to the throng of applicants to government land offices through which Western lands were sold. It has been used for other booming business since the mid-1800s.
"land office businessはほとんどの辞書で "land-office business で説明がありました。
Kotlerのテキストで "land office" の個所に引用符が付いているのは "land office" の通常の意味 "a government office for the transaction of business relating to public lands" ではない事を示しているものと考えます。

trolley

Virus, Invadersと題したビールスに関するリーダーズダイジェスト9月号の記事の冒頭です。
You're pushing the trolley around the supermarket and absentmindedly rub your nose.
この "trolley" は明らかに "shopping cart" の事ですね。 "trolley" は　トロリーバスかトロリー電車だけのものと思っていましたので意外です。　念のために辞書で確認します。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: chiefly British : a cart or wheeled stand used for conveying something (as food or books)
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: UK (US cart) a table on four small wheels with one or more shelves under it which is used for serving food or drinks; Betty almost ran me over with her tea trolley as I was walking into the office!; Every thirty minutes or so the flight attendant would wheel the drinks trolley down the aisle.
どうも英国で使う用法のようです。
冒頭の記事の続きです。
The person who last used the trolley has a cold. On their way down the same aisles, they sneezed and politely covered their mouth with their hand. Within the droplets that flew from their mouth were thousands and thousands of virus particles, which were then deposited on the trolley handle.
と言う訳で、外出したら手をよく洗いましょう。

brouhaha

何度も出くわした事のある単語ですがまた意味を忘れている単語、"brouhaha" がThe Japan Times Online, Oct.17のキャプションにありました。
Brouhaha stirs over Belgian brew
Japan develops taste for fragrant, full-body beers
この余り英語らしくない "brouhaha" は時々目にするのですが、さっぱり覚えられません。　しかたなく又辞書を引きます。
・Dictionary.com:
1. excited public interest, discussion, or the like, as the clamor attending some sensational event; hullabaloo: The brouhaha followed disclosures of graft at City Hall.
2. an episode involving excitement, confusion, turmoil, etc., esp. a broil over a minor or ridiculous cause: A brouhaha by the baseball players resulted in three black eyes.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a lot of noise or angry complaining about something; the brouhaha over his latest film
・Wiktionary: A stir; a fuss or uproar; It caused quite a brouhaha when the school suspended one of its top students for refusing to adhere to the dress code.
何とか印象に残る様に例が出ている辞書を三つ引用しましたがこれで何とか覚えたい。
ついでに語源辞典も見ます。
・Online Etymology Dictionary: 1890, from Fr. brouhaha (1552), said to have been, in medieval theater, "the cry of the devil disguised as clergy." Perhaps from Heb. barukh habba' "blessed be the one who comes," used on public occasions.
英語らしくないと思ったらやはりフランス語経由で入ってきた言葉でした。

Answer - denouement

昨日の問題 "denouement" の解答は "plot resolution" で例文は "In the Bergmanesque denouement, the boys discover that they're brothers only after they've shot each other." です。
Dictionary.comの説明は：
1. the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
2. the place in the plot at which this occurs.
3. the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.
ハリウッド用語問題の最後として "foil" をメモしていたはずなのですがメモをなくしました。