preposterous

今日の単語もO. Henryの短編 The Enchanted Kissにあったものです。
The outrageous villainy of Captain Peek, the unnatural mystery of the situation, his preposterous conflict with the improbable dwarf--these things roused and angered him, but left no impression of the unreal.
"preposterous" の意味を辞書で調べます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: completely devoid of wisdom or good sense ("A preposterous attempt to turn back the pages of history")
・Dictionary.com: completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd; senseless; utterly foolish: a preposterous tale.
と言う意味ですが、語源を知るとこの単語を覚えるのは簡単です。
・Online Etymology Dictionary: c.1540, from L. praposterus "absurd, contrary to nature," lit. "before-behind" (cf. topsy-turvy, cart before the horse), from "pre" = "before" + "posterus" = "subsequent."

plug

The Japan Times Online, Jan.27のタイトルです。
English textbook plugs governor
"plugs" の意味が日本語にもなっている電気プラグなどのプラグの意味ではないのは明らかです。　記事を読んで見ます。
Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru appears in an English textbook to be used by about 100 universities nationwide, its publisher said Tuesday.
タレント出身の東国原氏が宮崎県知事になった事を英語の教科書で取り上げたとの記事ですが、結局 "plug" の意味が分からないので辞書で調べます。
"plug" には名詞、動詞として私の知らない多くの意味・用法があるのが分かりましたが上のタイトルの意味は辞書にあった次の説明に近いでしょう。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: make a plug for; praise the qualities or in order to sell or promote
・Dictionary.com: Informal. to mention (something) favorably, as in a lecture, radio show, etc.: He says he will appear if he can plug his new TV series.
と言うわけで東国原知事は次のように喜んでいます。
"I am humbled by my appearance in the textbook but also grateful," Higashikokubaru said.

sycamore

Adam bit the apple and, feeling great shame, covered himself with a fig leaf. Eve, too, felt shame and covered herself with a fig leaf.
Then she went behind the bush to try on a maple leaf, a sycamore, and an oak.
"sycamore" はどの辞書で見ても少なくも三種類の木の説明が載っているので困った植物、いや単語ですが、挿絵はその内のAmerican "sycamore" を示しています。

license

"license" は日本語にもなっている英語ですが、O. Henryの短編 The Enchanted Kissの次の文に出てきた "license" は許可を得るライセンスの意味ではなさそうです。
The face of a libidinous heathen idol, small eyed, with carven folds in the heavy jowls, and a consuming, pagan license in its expression.
早速辞書で "license" を見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: 1. freedom to deviate deliberately from normally applicable rules or practices (especially in behavior or speech) 2. excessive freedom; lack of due restraint ("When liberty becomes license dictatorship is near
・Dictionary.com: 1. intentional deviation from rule, convention, or fact, as for the sake of literary or artistic effect: poetic license. 2. excessive or undue freedom or liberty
なるほど、異教徒（比喩的な意味で使っていると思う）のする事は勝手気まま、常識・ルールを守らず自由勝手と見えることがあるでしょうね。

pickle

The Japan Times Online, Jan. 21のタイトルです。
DPJ drawn into Mr. Ozawa's pickle
"pickle" とは面白い表現ですね。　記事を読みます。
The arrests have plunged the Hatoyama administration and the DPJ into the biggest crisis since the DPJ-led administration came to power four months ago. In fact, the latest survey by Kyodo News shows that for the first time since its inauguration, the Cabinet's approval rating (41.5 percent) is lower than its disapproval rating (44.1 percent).
小沢氏の政治資金に関するスキャンダルの話ですね。"pickle" を辞書で見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: informal terms for a difficult situation
・Dictionary.com: Informal. a troublesome or awkward situation; predicament: I was in a pickle after the check bounced.
いずれも頭に "informal" がついています。　今回のスキャンダルの中でマスコミが使う「関係者からの情報」云々も取り上げられましたが、英字新聞で使われる英語は辞書で "informal" とされている言葉が結構多用されているので何をもって "informal" なのか疑問です。

"gibe" and "atavistic/atavism"

O. Henryの短編 The Enchanted Kiss に出てきた単語です。
But to-night the gibes of his associates had stung him to a feeling of forward, lawless mutiny; a defiant, challenging, atavistic recklessness.
時々 "give" の発音を間違えて "gibe" と言っているかも知れませんが、そんな "gibe" と言う単語がある事さえ知りませんでした。　早速辞書を引きます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
・Dictionary.com: a taunting or sarcastic remark.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionaryを引くと自動的に "jibe" のページにジャンプし、jibe: (US usually gibe):an insulting remark that is intended to make someone look stupid Unlike many other politicians, he refuses to indulge in cheap jibes at other people's expense.
の説明があり、発音は "gibe" も "jibe" もカタカナで書くとジャイブとなり、動詞としても使われることが分かりました。
文の後半に出てくる難しい単語 "atavistic" は "of, pertaining to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type."(Dictionary.com)とあり、更に "atavism" を見ると：
1. The reappearance of a characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence, usually caused by the chance recombination of genes.
2. An individual or a part that exhibits atavism. Also called throwback.
3. The return of a trait or recurrence of previous behavior after a period of absence.
とありましたが、引用文ではこの3.の意味で使っていると推測します。

contronym

メルマガArcaMax, Jan.23の記事は同じ単語なのに相反する意味を持つ４つの単語を取り上げていました。
For some odd reason, words related to the act of reading seem to create ambiguity. "Peruse," "scan," "leaf through" and even "legible" can convey contradictory meanings.
この様な言葉は "contronym" と呼ばれているそうです。
At any rate, some dictionaries now list both definitions, so "peruse" has essentially become a "contronym," a word with two opposite meanings. If you do use "peruse," make sure your context indicates whether you mean "scrutinize" or "skim."
先日読んだＲＤのジョークで使われていた表現 "leaf through" にも次の両方の意味があるそうです。（残念ながらこのジョークのオチは分かりませんでした。）
And consider the seemingly innocent "leaf through." Does this phrase conjure up images of someone reading casually and superficially or of someone reading carefully and slowly? I'd lean toward the former, but there's also a suggestion of close examination.
辞書で再確認しましたが、後者の意味を載せている辞書は見あたりませんでしたので最近の用法なのでしょう。　
"contronym" が出てきた時は文脈に要注意と言うことですね。

S. P. C. A.

O. Henryの短編 The Princess and the Puma に出てきた略語です。
The look on Givens's face would have secured him a high position in the S. P. C. A.
"S. P. C. A." についての説明はこの話の後にも先にも出ていません。　辞書を見ます。
・American Heritage Dictionary: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
O. Henryは百年前の人ですから "S. P. C. A." はその頃には既にあったのですね。
Wikipedeaにもう少し詳しい説明がありました。 The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is any of a number of animal welfare organizations whose operations include protecting and providing shelter to animals in danger. The SPCAs are non-profit organizations that campaign for animal welfare and take in abused or abandoned animals, and help them to get adopted.The S.P.C.A. is a group that helps protect sick and injured stray animals and animals in danger.
"S.P.C.A." は一般用語になっているようですね。

parallel

これはThe Japan Times Online, Jan. 12 にあったタイトルです。
Italian culture rep probes parallels
"parallel" 言とうと、意見が平行線をたどる事を直ぐに連想してしますのですが、上の文だとイタリア文化と日本文化の相似点、もしくは対比を調べているようです。更にサブキャプションを読みます。
Promoter hones art of bilateral understanding, especially when whim and planning converge
タイトルと直接関係する文を抜粋します。
Always working with people from different cultural backgrounds, he said he believes Japanese lack flexibility compared with Italians. "Japanese seem to organize everything beforehand. Italians tend to act on a whim, but they don't always do everything they came up with," he said.
中略
"If we mix good parts of both sides, I think we can create a really good environment for Italians and Japanese (to work together)," he said.
ここで "parallel" を辞書で見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: something having the property of being analogous to something else
・Dictionary.com: having the same direction, course, nature, or tendency; corresponding; similar; analogous: Canada and the U.S. have many parallel economic interests.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: something very similar to something else, or a similarity between two things; I'm trying to see if there are any obvious parallels between the two cases.; It would be easy to draw (= make) a parallel between the town's history and that of its football club.
物理的な位置、方向としての平行の意味は英語でもありますが、日本語で言う「意見が平行線をたどる」を表すには "parallel" は意外にも使われないようで、 "parallel" はむしろ相似点がある場合に使われるようです。

humanely trapped

今日は朝早くから浦安マラソンのために出かけていて、今は帰ってきてほっとしているところです。寒いし北風が強く、最近は普段ジョッギングをしていないので足の筋肉が固まった感じのままでした。時間はともかく完走できたので良しとします。　さて、いつもの日曜日のようにジョークを紹介します。　リーダーズダイジェスト12月号のLaugh!にあったジョークです。
Three buildings in town were overrun by squirrels - the town hall, the hardware store, and the church.
The town hall brought in some cats. But after they tore up all the files, the mayor got rid of the cats, and soon the squirrels were back.
The hardware store humanely trapped the squirrels and set them free outside town. Three days later, the squirrels climbed back in.
Only the church came up with an effective solution. They baptised the squirrels and made them members. Now they see them only on Christmas and Easter.
葬式の時だけ仏教徒になる日本人と似ていますが、英国の話でしょうか、米国の話でしょうか？　米国の中西部、東部では町中にリスが沢山いました。多くの英米人も毎週教会には行かなくなったのでしょうか？