parlance

"Bushido" 中で "parlance" と言う言葉が次ぎのように二度使われています。
RECTITUDE OR JUSTICEの章から、
・The Forty-seven Faithfuls--of whom so much is made in our popular education--are known in common parlance as the Forty-seven Gishi.（この文は "epithet" を取り上げた時にも引用しました。）
THE TRAINING AND POSITION OF WOMANの章から、
・In this connection, there comes before me the peculiar strength and tenderness of friendship between man and man, which often added to the bond of brotherhood a romantic attachment doubtless intensified by the separation of the sexes in youth,--a separation which denied to affection the natural channel open to it in Western chivalry or in the free intercourse of Anglo-Saxon lands. I might fill pages with Japanese versions of the story of Damon and Pythias or Achilles and Patroclos, or tell in Bushido parlance of ties as sympathetic as those which bound David and Jonathan.
この "parlance" の意味を辞書で調べます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language
・Dictionary.com: a way or manner of speaking; vernacular; idiom: legal parlance.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a group of words or style of speaking used by a particular group of people; Oral contraceptives are collectively referred to in common parlance as 'the pill'.
なるほど、確かに四十七士は日本語で特別な意味をもっていて、赤穂義士として通じますね。　 "parlance" にはこのような使い方や "jargon" の意味もあるようです。

Are You a Manager, or an Engineer ?

A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts: "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am ?"
The man below says: "Yes you're in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field."
"You must work in Customer Support", says the balloonist.
"I do", replies the man, "how did you know ?"
Well", says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's of no use to anyone."
The man below says "You must work in management."
"I do", replies the balloonist, "but how did you know ?"
"Well", says the man, "you don't know where you are, or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. And you're in the same position as you were before we met, but now it's my fault."

nailing Jell-O to the wall

July 25, 2010のArcaMaxは読者からの質問に答える内容でしたがその中の一つに面白い表現がありました。
Q: There seems to be some confusion with the verbs "wake," "awake" and "awaken" as well as with some of their possible tenses, such as "waked," "woken," "awakened," "awokened," etc. Any clarification would be appreciated. -- Joe Fadler, Corona, Calif.
A: Pinning down the various tenses of these verbs is like trying to (insert your favorite cliche here): herding cats, nailing Jell-O to the wall, trying to get a health care plan passed. Truth be told, no one has actually mastered these conjugations since the Great Awakening of the 1730s.
"nailing Jell-O to the wall" は日本語の「糠に釘」を思い起こさせる表現ですね。私が興味を覚えたのはここまでですが、気になる方のために説明の続きを最後まで引用します。
Nevertheless, here's a handy guide to present, past and past participle tenses, respectively, of these verbs:
I wake, I woke, I have waked (or have woken).
I awake, I awoke, I have awaked (or have awoken).
I awaken, I awakened, I have awakened.
I wake up, I woke up, I have waked up.
The biggest controversy centers around the past participle forms "woken" and "awoken." Some purists insist that both "woken" and "awoken" are non-standard, but both are predominant in Britain and widely used in the United States as well.
It's also worth noting that folks in the southern parts of the U.S. tend to favor the past tense "waked" as in, "I waked early to study the conjugations of 'wake.'"

gift

贈り物、プレゼントを相手に渡す際に「つまらないものですが」と言うのは日本ではよく聞く台詞ですが、英米ではこの様な言い方をしない事は英語を勉強している方なら誰でも知っていることだと思います。　日本人が「つまらないものですが」と言うのは単に謙遜表現で、しかし何故この様な謙遜表現をするのかは良く分かっていない、考えていなかったのですがBushidoに書かれていた次ぎの説明になるほどと思いました。
In America, when you make a gift, you sing its praises to the recipient; in Japan we depreciate or slander it. The underlying idea with you is, "This is a nice gift: if it were not nice I would not dare give it to you; for it will be an insult to give you anything but what is nice." In contrast to this, our logic runs: "You are a nice person, and no gift is nice enough for you. You will not accept anything I can lay at your feet except as a token of my good will; so accept this, not for its intrinsic value, but as a token. It will be an insult to your worth to call the best gift good enough for you." Place the two ideas side by side; and we see that the ultimate idea is one and the same. Neither is "awfully funny." The American speaks of the material which makes the gift; the Japanese speaks of the spirit which prompts the gift

grist to the mill

English Journal ７月号、Media VoicesのコーナーにあったNY1放送局のニュースからの引用です。
Alicon Park (British Social Attitudes manager): What we now find is that people are actually content with spending levels as they are now. Far fewer want to spend more. But I suppose the key point for politicians is that only about 8 per cent of people would want to see tax cuts and spending cuts on services like health and education.
Holt (reporter): And information like this is grist to the mill of politicians as they prepare for the general election, that's if they can get us out to vote.
"grist to the mill" で引っ掛かったのですが、 English Journalは英語勉強者の為の雑誌なので丁寧な注があり、 "grist to the mill"はもうけの種、利益、 "grist" は製粉用の穀物と説明がありました。
英英辞典で確認すると、 "grist to the mill" は　"grist for the mill" とも言われる事がわかります。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: grist for the mill and grist for someone's mill; grist to the mill
Fig. something useful or needed. Bob bases the novels he writes on his own experience, so everything that happens to him is grist for the mill. Ever since I started making patchwork quilts, every scrap of cloth I find is grist for the mill.
・Dictionary.com: grist for/to one's mill, something employed to one's profit or advantage, esp. something seemingly unpromising: Every delay was so much more grist for her mill.
また、"grist" は元々製粉用の穀物の事ですが、"grist" を辞書で見ると次ぎの説明のように "grist" だけで "useful material"、 "something turned to advantage or use" の意味で使うことができるようです。
・Compact Oxford English Dictionary:
1 corn that is ground to make flourmalt crushed to make mash for brewing
2 useful material, especially to support an argument: the research provided the most sensational grist for opponents of tobacco
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1 a : grain or a batch of grain for grinding b : the product obtained from a grist of grain including the flour or meal and the grain offals
2 : a required or usual amount
3 : matter of interest or value forming the basis of a story or analysis
4 : something turned to advantage or use ?used especially in the phrase grist for one's mill
早速この慣用句を使ってみます。
"English Collection" is grist to my mill.

cogent

"cogent" はBushidoの中で次ぎの文でたった一度使われているだけですが覚えておきた単語です。
RECTITUDE OR JUSTICE,
the most cogent precept in the code of the samurai. Nothing is more loathsome to him than underhand dealings and crooked undertakings.
"cogent" の意味を辞書で早速調べます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: a. having the power to influence or convince ("A cogent analysis of the problem") b. powerfully persuasive ("A cogent argument")
・V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary: convincing enough to compel belief or agreement--forceful and convincing
Tips: Cogent carries a connotation of rationality and is often used to describe arguments or analysis. Cogent is derived from the Latin cogere, which means "to drive" or "to force." Thus, the clarity and logic of a cogent argument are strong enough to virtually force belief. Cogent is a great word to describe an argument or an idea that is very well thought out and convincing.
Usage Examples:
You will receive an "A" if you make a clear, cogent argument in your essay. (persuasive, compelling)
His cogent presentation led me to sign up for the complete seminar immediately. (convincing, compelling)
V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionaryに掲載の語数は多くはないのですが、解説が丁寧なので これから多用したいと思います。

gentrify

中国本土には３年前に黄龍、九寨溝のある四川省に行ったことがあるだけで北京、上海にもまだ行ったことはありません。　THE NIKKEI WEEKLY, July 19, 2010 にTrendy Shanghai spot exposes gap between rich, poor と題された記事がありました。　その中に憶えたい単語があったのでその個所を引用します。
It has been over two months since Expo 2010 Shanghai China began. The changing face of Shanghai behind the scenes of the world's largest exposition is also the future face of China. One neighborhood in particular, rapidly gentrifying. Tianzifang, is a good example of the tensions confronting Chinese society.
"gentrifying" が分からないので辞書で "gentrify" を調べます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: renovate so as to make it conform to middle-class aspirations ("Gentrify a row of old houses")
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: to change a place from being a poor area to a richer one, by people of a higher social class moving to live there; The area where I grew up has been all modernized and gentrified, and has lost all its old character.
便利な単語ですね。　万博が開かれている間に上海に行って見たいとは思いますが多分都合は付きそうもありません。

Ad Hock

Nice 2-bedroom home. Termites have done some damage. Selling house 'as is'. Don't wait. This wonderful property will not last long.
Note: Above ad is an excerpt from Reader's Digest, May 2010. Ad Hock must be a twist of Ad Hoc.