epithet

Bushidoの原文・英語をインターネットから無料でダウンロードできたので引用文をタイプする必要もなくなり、従ってスペルのミスの心配が無くなっただけではなく、気になった単語、覚えたい単語がBushidoの中で一度しか使われていないものか、あるいは何度も使われているのかが簡単に分かり便利です。　今回取り上げる単語 "epithet" は次に引用する二ヶ所で使用されています。
If fighting in itself, be it offensive or defensive, is, as Quakers rightly testify, brutal and wrong, we can still say with Lessing, "We know from what failings our virtue springs." "Sneaks" and "cowards" are epithets of the worst opprobrium to healthy, simple natures.
...
Even in the latter days of feudalism, when the long continuance of peace brought leisure into the life of the warrior class, and with it dissipations of all kinds and gentle accomplishments, the epithet Gishi (a man of rectitude) was considered superior to any name that signified mastery of learning or art. The Forty-seven Faithfuls--of whom so much is made in our popular education?are known in common parlance as the Forty-seven Gishi.
"epithet" を辞書で見ます。
・Compact Oxford English Dictionary: an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing mentioned:　old men are often unfairly awarded the epithet ‘dirty’
・Dictionary.com:
1.any word or phrase applied to a person or thing to describe an actual or attributed quality: “Richard the Lion-Hearted” is an epithet of Richard I.
2.a characterizing word or phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and often used in place of an actual name, title, or the like, as “man's best friend” for “dog.”
3.a word, phrase, or expression used invectively as a term of abuse or contempt, to express hostility, etc.
自分で言うのは可笑しいですが 「コツコツ英単語」 "is an epithet of Bane"．

cry buckets

今朝のニュースにスペインのカタリューナで闘牛が禁止される議案が可決されたとありましたが、ちょっと驚きです。１９８８年１０月に米国から日本に戻る際に家族で南欧を旅行しながら帰って来たのですが、スペインで闘牛を観に行きました。でも実際に闘牛を観て、牛の虐待以外の何ものでもないと思い、ショーの途中で帰ってしまった事を思い出しました。スペインの人にとっては闘牛は伝統的な楽しみなので仕方がないとも思いましたし、それにしては趣味が悪いと思っていましたが、スペイン人でも闘牛が残酷だと思う人達が増えてきたと言う事でしょうね。
さて、Reader's Digest、5月号 What's happening in the literary world?と題された記事にあった文です。
You've watched the movie (2009) starring the formidable Helen Mirren as the feisty Countess Sofya and Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and cried buckets.
"cried buckets" は涙でバケツが溢れるほど泣けると言う大げさな表現の様ですが、辞書で確認します。 と言ったもののOneLookの辞書検索では "cry" でも "bucket" でも "cry bucket" の表現はリストされませんでした。 しかたなくGoogle検索でEnglish DailyのAmerican Idiomsのサイトに次のような "cry bucket" の説明がある事を見つけました。
If this isn't a sad sight ! There is Grandma watching her favorite afternoon television drama - and it is so sad that everyone in the room is crying buckets ! "To cry buckets means to cry lots and lots of tears," Grandma explained. "Grandma is crying buckets, and that has caused me to cry buckets too," Grandma's cat wept.
やはり想像通りでしたね。　でも、猫も本当に涙を流すの？

risibility

"Bushido" Chapter XI, SELF-CONTROLの一節です。
Indeed, the Japanese have recourse to risibility whenever the frailties of human nature are put to severest test. I think we possess a better reason than Democritus himself for our Abderian tendency; for laughter with us oftenest veils an effort to regain balance of temper, when disturbed by any untoward circumstance. It is a counterpoise of sorrow or rage.
この "risibility" は直ぐに憶えて置きたい単語です。　辞書の説明を見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
　1 : laughter
　2 : the ability or inclination to laugh -- often used in plural (our risibilities support us as we skim over the surface of a deep issue -- J. A. Pike)
・Webster's Revised Unabridged, 1913 Edition
The quality of being risible; as, risibility is peculiar to the human species.
・Webster's New World College Dictionary:
1. the quality or state of being risible; ability or inclination to laugh
2. a sense of the ridiculous or amusing; appreciation of what is laughable
Wordnikは例文が豊富な辞書で、そこから例文を一つ引用します。
No one enjoys a joke better than an Esquimaux, and when his risibility is excited he laughs with right good will, evincing in this, as in every other respect, the difference of disposition between them and the Indians, whose rigid features seldom betray their feelings.
上の辞書にも "risibility" は人間に特有の能力と説明がありますが、動物でも嬉しそうな表情を見せる時があるのであながち人間だけの能力でも無い様な気がします。

redux

The Japan Times Online, July 17, 2010にあったキャプションです。
A Cold War redux
記事の冒頭を引用します。
Cold War buffs slipped into nostalgia last week as the United States and Russia swapped spies. For some, the hasty exchange of 10 Russian "sleepers" convicted in the U.S. for four men held as spies in Russian jails seemed too familiar, prompting speculation that the arrests might have been intended to derail the "reset" of relations between Washington and Moscow. For others, the fear was that the speed of the swap revealed that any "reset" was based on faulty premises.
つい最近米ソ間で起きたスパイの交換は冷戦時代に戻ったと感じる人がいるようです。
"redux" を辞書で見ます。
・Dictionary.com: brought back; resurgent: the Victorian era redux.
・Compact Oxford English Dictionary: brought back; revived: Damian has the veneer of the angry young man redux
・Wiktionary: Of a topic, redone, restored, brought back, or revisited.; Company policy redux; Dirty tricks redux.
Usage notes: Redux is always used attributively and after the noun rather than before it. The word may have entered popular usage in the United States with the 1971 publication of the novel Rabbit Redux by John Updike although it had previously been used in medicine, literary titles, and product names.
中々便利な単語ですね。　以前使った話を再使用する時のタイトルにぴったりです。　もちろん内容によって復活にも二番煎じにもなりますが。
"A Cold War redux" の記事の締めくくりの文も最後に引用しておきます
They (arms control agreements) are built on a foundation of national self interest and verification measures. That is as true today as it was in the Cold War.

deserts

以前から読もうとは思ってはいたのですが、「国家の品格」で著者の藤原正彦氏が影響を受けた本として書かれていたので、やっと新渡戸稲造の "Bushido" を読みことにしました。"Bushido"は今から１１０年も前に出版され、新渡戸稲造が英語で書き、世界的に広く読まれた名著です。　まだ初めの部分しか読んでいませんが、英語はもちろん洞察の深さも名著と呼ばれるのに相応しい内容で、新渡戸の西洋文明に対する知識の深さも驚異的です。インターネットが発達している現在では、知識や洞察力もたいした事のない自分でも簡単に色々な事を調べることができ、あたかも自分で知っている、考えたような気になるのとは天地の差です。
私の場合はとにかく単語・慣用句の語彙が少な過ぎるので、凡人らしく、もっぱら英語を理解するための語彙力増加に務めることにします。
次ぎの文はChapter VI Politenessの一節です。
While thus extolling Politeness, far be it from me to put it in the front rank of virtues. If we analyze it, we shall find it correlated with other virtues of a higher order; for what virtue stands alone? While--or rather because--it was exalted as peculiar to the profession of arms, and as such esteemed in a degree higher than its deserts, there came into existence its counterfeits. Confucius himself has repeatedly taught that external appurtenances are as little a part of propriety as sounds are of music.
文中の "deserts" は私の知っている "deserts" の三つ程の意味では無い様なので辞書を見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1 : the quality or fact of deserving reward or punishment
2 : deserved reward or punishment --usually used in plural (got their just deserts)
3 : excellence, worth
・American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Something that is deserved or merited, especially a punishment. Often used in the plural: They got their just deserts when the scheme was finally uncovered.
2. The state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.
"deserts" にこの様な意味があるのですね。辞書に説明に使われている"deserve" を思い浮かべれば "deserts" のこの意味も直ぐにでてきますね。

the talk

Before my daughter went on her first date, I gave her "the talk".
"Sometimes, it's easy to get carried away when you're with a boy," I said. "Remember, a short moment of indiscretion could ruin your life."
"Don't worry," she said. "I don't plan on ruining my life until I get married."

belabour

次ぎの文はReader's Digest、5月号の記事、旅行に便利なハイテク "gadgets" の紹介記事からです。
Then there are the e-readers. I've covered these back in February, so I won't belabour this - but you can store the latest guides, phrase books and your summer reading in one of these, so save precious suitcase space and leave the deadweight!
文脈から "belabour" の意味は推測できますが初めて見る単語なので調べます。
・Dictionary.com: to explain, worry about, or work at (something) repeatedly or more than is necessary: He kept belaboring the point long after we had agreed.
・YAHOO!EDUCATION: To discuss repeatedly or at length; harp on: Don't belabor the point.
"belabour" は英国式のスペルで、米国などでは "belabor" が普通の様です。

blinkered

ROGER PULVERS氏がThe Japan Timesに毎週書いているコラムCUNTERPOINTのJuly 4, 2010のキャプションです。
Japanese betray some blinkered views of their foreign coworkers
"blinkered" の原形は恐らく "blinker/blink" で、そうなると私は車などの点滅器/点滅するしか頭に浮かんできませんが、それではこのキャプションの意味には合わないでしょう。　とりあえず記事を読んでみます。　内容は日経新聞による「職場の外国人の同僚についての日本人意識の調査結果」について書かれたものでした。
Bearing in mind that the majority of Japanese were quite at home with people of other nationalities sharing their work space, it is the negative sentiments that may be notable when it comes to analyzing where, exactly, the Japanese stand today regarding their attitudes toward non-Japanese.
In taking a closer look at these negative sentiments, it is also important not to dismiss them out of hand as groundless. It may very well be true that a certain proportion of non-Japanese employees do in fact resist, or view with disdain, any number of Japanese customs--particularly those practiced in the workplace.
私の経験からすると同じ日本人、日本の会社でも会社の雰囲気、職場の雰囲気はかなり違っていて慣れるのに時間がかかったり、あるいは何時まで経っても自分には馴染めない（それでも我慢しましたが）職場はあるのでこの様な話は当然の気がします。　キャプションにあった単語の "blinkered"
・Dictionary.com:
1.narrow-minded and subjective; unwilling to understand another viewpoint.
2.having blinkers on; fitted with blinkers.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: A blinkered person is unable or unwilling to understand other people's beliefs, and blinkered opinions or ways of behaving show someone is unable or unwilling to understand other people; "He's very blinkered in his outlook."
"blinker" を調べると "blinkered" が上記の様な意味を持っている事が分かりそうなので "blinker" も辞書を見ます。
・Dictionary.com:
1.a device for flashing light signals.
2.a light that flashes intermittently, esp. one that serves as a traffic signal.
3.either of two leather flaps on a bridle, to prevent a horse from seeing sideways; a blinder.
なるほど、競走馬にする目隠しの事ですね。 "blinkered" が視野が狭い意味になるはずだ。
PULVERS氏の記事最後のパラグラフも最後に引用しておきます。
The Japanese have no monopoly on ishindenshin. Discovering that may help them gain confidence when living and working side by side with people of other nationalities. And it may also go a long way to making this society a more open and tolerant one for all of us.

suss out

Reader's Digest、5月号の記事 "Voluntour Yourself" はサブキャプションにSee the world and feel good at the same time, says Katrina Blowers とある様に、外国に行ってボランティア活動をしようと言う記事です。　従って、 "Voluntour" は "volunteer" と "tour" を組み合わせた造語でしょう。　覚えたい言葉は "voluntour" ではなく、次の文中にあります。
"Credible volunteer outfits tend to be members of peak bodies such as FORUM(forum-ids.org). Registered charities regulated by national bodies are also generally a safe bet. "To be part of a longstanding effort, suss out the time frame of the programme. Before you go: To give and get the most out of your experience, ask yourself what you hope to gain from it.
"suss" あるいは "suss out" の意味は何でしょう？　辞書を引きます。
・Dictionary.com: Chiefly British Slang. to investigate or figure out (usually fol. by out).
・American Heritage Dictionary: To infer or discover; figure out: "I think I'm good at sussing out what's going on"
語源を調べたらこの表現は簡単に覚えられそうでした。
・Online Etymology Dictionary: "to figure out, investigate and discover," 1966, earlier "to suspect" (1953, police jargon), a slang shortening of suspect (v.).
元は警察の用語でしたか。

gore of war

A History of Western SocietyのThe Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914の個所にあった表現です。
Then, after the victory of the combined Franco-Sardinian forces, Napoleon III did a complete about-face. Nauseated by the gore of war and criticized by French Cartholics for supporting the pope's declared enemy, Napoleon III abandoned Cavour.
"gore of war" は前に "Nauseated" があるので、戦争の悲惨な状況を想像できますが、この表現、"gore" の単語に会うのは初めてなので辞書を見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: coagulated blood from a wound; the shedding of blood resulting in murder
・Dictionary.com: 1.blood that is shed, esp. when clotted. 2.murder, bloodshed, violence, etc.: That horror movie had too much gore.
Wordnikにあった次ぎの例文も "gore" でやはり吐き気をもよおすと書かれています。
The gore is literally nauseating, and will certainly repel American viewers unaccustomed to Al-Jazeera's videography, but "Lebanon" is a powerful, thought-provoking film, because of its perspective.
現実はもちろん映画やＴＶでも余り観たいシーンではありませんね。