TODAY MATTERSのToday's COMMITMENT Gives Me Tenacityの章にあった文章です。
Liz grew up in the Bronx, a notoriously rough part of New York City, the child of two parents who were alcoholics and IV drug users.
この "IV drug users" ですが、ドラッグには縁がないので、最初はドラッグユーザーにレベルがあるのかなどとと思いました。 "IV drug users" を第４段階の末期段階のドラッグユーザーかと思いました。 しかし調べて見ると、とんでもない想像だと分かりました。
ドラッグの話なので辞書ではなく最初に "IV drug" をWikipediaで調べるとDrug injectionの項に転送され、そこでの説明を読んだら、"IV drug" の "IV" はローマ数字ではなく "intravenous injections" を意味する略語だと気が付きました。 今日はお粗末な一節でした。
昨日取り上げた The Japan Times OnlineのSept. 11のキャプション "Kan, Ozawa draw flak for fiddling while Rome burns" の続きです。
"fiddling while Rome burns" が慣用句の様なので辞書で確認します。
"fiddle while Rome burns" で次ぎの説明がありました。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: to enjoy yourself or continue working as normal and not give any attention to something important and unpleasant that is happening that you should be taking action to prevent
Environmentalists claimed governments were fiddling while Rome burned.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. to do nothing or something trivial while knowing that something disastrous is happening. (From a legend that the Roman emperor Nero played the lyre while Rome was burning.) The lobbyists don't seem to be doing anything to stop this tax bill. They're fiddling while Rome burns.
これではどちらが党首・首相になっても日本の状況は中々改善しそうもない気がします。 残念ながら。
"fiddling while Rome burns" が慣用句の様なので辞書で確認します。
"fiddle while Rome burns" で次ぎの説明がありました。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To do something trivial and irresponsible in the midst of an emergency; legend has it that while a fire destroyed the city of Rome, the emperor Nero played his violin, thus revealing his total lack of concern for his people and his empire.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary: to enjoy yourself or continue working as normal and not give any attention to something important and unpleasant that is happening that you should be taking action to prevent
Environmentalists claimed governments were fiddling while Rome burned.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. to do nothing or something trivial while knowing that something disastrous is happening. (From a legend that the Roman emperor Nero played the lyre while Rome was burning.) The lobbyists don't seem to be doing anything to stop this tax bill. They're fiddling while Rome burns.
これではどちらが党首・首相になっても日本の状況は中々改善しそうもない気がします。 残念ながら。
The Japan Times OnlineのSept. 11のキャプションに次ぎのような面白い表現がありました。
Kan, Ozawa draw flak for fiddling while Rome burns
民主党の党首選びの騒ぎは連日ニュースになっているので意味はだいたい分かりますが、本文を読んでみます。
As Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa battle toward their showdown Tuesday, observers are criticizing them for creating a political void in the ruling party at a time when Japan is struggling to rekindle the economy and address other pressing issues.
円高やら長引く不況など問題累積なのに同じ党内での権力争いをしている暇かと非難がでていることをキャプションで表していることが分かります。"flak" は昨日 "flak jacket" で取り上げた表現にあった単語ですが、ここでの意味は何でしょう？
・Macmillan Dictionary: criticism and argument; The policy is getting a lot of flak.
・Wiktionary:
Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.
Anti-aircraft shell fire.
(figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism.
(informal) A public-relations spokesperson.
Merriam-Websterにあった例文も追加します。
He caught heavy flak for his decision to oppose the new school.
He took a lot of flak from the other kids for his unusual appearance.
"flak" の語源はWiktionaryによると： German acronym of Fliegerabwehrkanone (“aeroplane defence cannon”) or Flugabwehrkanone (“flight defence cannon”). First attested 1938 as “antiaircraft gun”, 1940 as “antiaircraft fire”. Sense of “adverse criticism” attested since 1963 in American English.
対空砲火が非難の嵐の意味となるのは容易に想像できます。
キャプションの後部にある表現 "fiddling while Rome burns" は明日取り上げます。
Kan, Ozawa draw flak for fiddling while Rome burns
民主党の党首選びの騒ぎは連日ニュースになっているので意味はだいたい分かりますが、本文を読んでみます。
As Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Democratic Party of Japan kingpin Ichiro Ozawa battle toward their showdown Tuesday, observers are criticizing them for creating a political void in the ruling party at a time when Japan is struggling to rekindle the economy and address other pressing issues.
円高やら長引く不況など問題累積なのに同じ党内での権力争いをしている暇かと非難がでていることをキャプションで表していることが分かります。"flak" は昨日 "flak jacket" で取り上げた表現にあった単語ですが、ここでの意味は何でしょう？
・Macmillan Dictionary: criticism and argument; The policy is getting a lot of flak.
・Wiktionary:
Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.
Anti-aircraft shell fire.
(figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism.
(informal) A public-relations spokesperson.
Merriam-Websterにあった例文も追加します。
He caught heavy flak for his decision to oppose the new school.
He took a lot of flak from the other kids for his unusual appearance.
"flak" の語源はWiktionaryによると： German acronym of Fliegerabwehrkanone (“aeroplane defence cannon”) or Flugabwehrkanone (“flight defence cannon”). First attested 1938 as “antiaircraft gun”, 1940 as “antiaircraft fire”. Sense of “adverse criticism” attested since 1963 in American English.
対空砲火が非難の嵐の意味となるのは容易に想像できます。
キャプションの後部にある表現 "fiddling while Rome burns" は明日取り上げます。
Reader's Digest 8月号はYiddishの特集でした。
見たことのある単語は２～３ありましたが、１７問中で意味が分かったのは今回は一つもありませんでした。難しいので覚えようと思うYiddishはありませんでしたが、"meshuga"と言うYiddish（意味は "daffy"の解説がありましたが、易しい言葉では "silly, foolish, crazy"の事です）を使った次ぎの例文に覚えたい表現がありました。
My meshuga neighbour has dressed his garden gnomes in flak jakets.
"flak jakets" はどんなジャケットでしょうか？ 辞書で調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: a heavy jacket with a metal layer inside that soldiers and police officers wear for protection against bullets
"bulletproof" jacket/vest と同じ様なものですね。
見たことのある単語は２～３ありましたが、１７問中で意味が分かったのは今回は一つもありませんでした。難しいので覚えようと思うYiddishはありませんでしたが、"meshuga"と言うYiddish（意味は "daffy"の解説がありましたが、易しい言葉では "silly, foolish, crazy"の事です）を使った次ぎの例文に覚えたい表現がありました。
My meshuga neighbour has dressed his garden gnomes in flak jakets.
"flak jakets" はどんなジャケットでしょうか？ 辞書で調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: a heavy jacket with a metal layer inside that soldiers and police officers wear for protection against bullets
"bulletproof" jacket/vest と同じ様なものですね。
A teacher asks her students if they're Tigers fans.
All of the hands go up except for one student.
"Okay, Bobby. What team are you a fan of?"
"The Giants."
"Why's that?"
"Well, my parents are both Giants fans, so I'm a Giants fan too."
"That's not a good answer, Bobby. If your parents were both morons, would you be a moron too?"
"No, that would make me a Tigers fan!"
P.S. I'm not a fan of the Giants or the Tigers
写真は葛西臨海公園に咲いていた彼岸花です。彼岸花は英語で "Red Spider Lily" と言う様です。 
"A History of Western Society"の19世紀のロシアの近代化が始まる前の状況についての記述です。
Serf were obliged to furnish labor services or money payments as the lord saw fit. Moreover, the lord could choose freely among the serfs for army recruits, who had to serve for twenty-five years, and he could punish a serf with deportation to Siberia whenever he wished. Sexual exploitationn of female serfs by their lords was common.
"saw fit"/"see fit" は「適当と思う」の意味だと推測できますが辞書で確認します。
・American Heritage Dictionary: Deem appropriate, as in He's entitled to divide up his property as he sees fit, or If we see fit to attend, we'll be there. This expression uses see in the sense of "view as," a usage dating from about 1325.
・Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary: to consider that some action is right, suitable etc You must do as you see fit (to do).
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: If you see fit to do something, you think it is good or necessary to do it. ; She saw fit to take her son away from the school.
英語で話したり、書いたりする際に、"suitable" とか "appropriate" は直ぐに頭に浮かんできますが、この様な簡単な表現は中々頭に浮かんできません。不思議です。
TODAY MATTERSのToday's THINKING Gives Me an Advantageの章にあった文です。
I don't need anything specific to trigger my thinking. Some people need music. Some think best while at a computer. Some must write in longhand. Do whatever works for you.
"shorthand" が速記を意味する事は知っていますが "longhand" は初めてです。 遅筆はありますが遅記は聞いた事がありませんので、 "longhand" は普通に書くことだと思いますが辞書で確認します。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: rapid handwriting in which letters are set down in full and cursively connected within words without lifting the writing implement from the paper
・Dictionary.com: writing of the ordinary kind, in which words are written out in full (distinguished from shorthand).
日本語の速記につられて "shorthand" の解釈を間違えましたね。
"shorthand"（速記）では略語や特殊な記号を使っている事を忘れていました。 "long" と "short" は日本語で長い、短いと覚えると色々と奇妙な事になります。 鼻が高い、低いは "long nose"と"short nose" ですし、私のように背が低いのは "low person" ではなく "short person" ですね。
敬老の日に久しぶりに葛西臨海公園までジョッギングしましたが、公園に彼岸花が咲いているのを見つけました。
さて、Reader's Digest 6月号のビールについての特集で "Bridal" の語源について触れていました。
Bridal: For centuries, weddings and beer have been inseparable and in fact the word bridal has its roots in a pint. Way back when, British brides used to brew their own beer to celebrate the event and to raise money for their dowry. The brew in question was known as 'bride ale', a term that later got shortened to 'bridal'
結婚式にお酒は欠かせないので納得です。.
ところでついでに触れますが "dowry" は英語圏で現在でも実際にあるのかどうかは知りませんが、結構頻繁に目にする単語です。一昨日、ESUJの例会後のビールを飲みながらの雑談にも "dowry" の言葉がでてきました。 英検一級とか通訳ガイドの試験には出てきても良さそうな単語です。 辞書の説明を引用します。
・Dictionary.com: Also, dower. the money, goods, or estate that a wife brings to her husband at marriage.
・Macmillan Dictionary: money and property that, in some cultures, a woman’s family gives to her husband when they get married
雨が降り始めましたがこれから墓参りに行ってきます。
さて、Reader's Digest 6月号のビールについての特集で "Bridal" の語源について触れていました。
Bridal: For centuries, weddings and beer have been inseparable and in fact the word bridal has its roots in a pint. Way back when, British brides used to brew their own beer to celebrate the event and to raise money for their dowry. The brew in question was known as 'bride ale', a term that later got shortened to 'bridal'
結婚式にお酒は欠かせないので納得です。.
ところでついでに触れますが "dowry" は英語圏で現在でも実際にあるのかどうかは知りませんが、結構頻繁に目にする単語です。一昨日、ESUJの例会後のビールを飲みながらの雑談にも "dowry" の言葉がでてきました。 英検一級とか通訳ガイドの試験には出てきても良さそうな単語です。 辞書の説明を引用します。
・Dictionary.com: Also, dower. the money, goods, or estate that a wife brings to her husband at marriage.
・Macmillan Dictionary: money and property that, in some cultures, a woman’s family gives to her husband when they get married
雨が降り始めましたがこれから墓参りに行ってきます。
TODAY MATTERSのToday's FAMILY Gives Me Stabilityの章からの抜粋です。
When Mother Teresa received the Nobel peace prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" Her answer: "Go home and love your family."
TODAY MATTERSは平易な英語で書かれているので単語レベルで取り上げたいものは余りありませんが、考えさせられる示唆に富んだ文章が散らばっています。上のマザー・テレサの言葉もアフガニスタンや世界中に軍隊を派遣している米国人の質問に答えたのかと想像しましたが、良く考えると自分にも当てはまるところがあると思います。でもそれが難しい。
３年前に "Rule of thumb" （http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/06/10）の由来について書きましたが、Reader's Digest6月号にThe Perfect Brewと題したビールについての特集があり、その中に以前紹介した説とは異なる由来が書かれていました。
Rule of thumb: Many believe that the phrase evolved in the world of beer when brew masters, in the absence of a thermometer, used their digits to test the temperature of the ale.
確かに以前に紹介した説は "An old English law banned husbands from beating their wives with anything thicker than a thumb." で意外だったのですが、今回の説に軍配を揚げる前に少し調べてみました。
World Wide Wordsは両説に触れていてRD説は "This seems unlikely, as the thumb is not that sensitive and the range of temperatures for fermentation between too cool and too warm is quite small." とし、またEnglish law説は却下しています。 WWWの解説は長いので結論の個所だけを以下に抜粋します。
There was an old tailors’ axiom that “twice around the thumb is once around the wrist”, which turns up in Gulliver’s Travels. It’s most likely that the saying comes from the length of the first joint of the thumb, which is about an inch (I remember once seeing a carpenter actually make a rough measurement this way). So the phrase rule of thumb uses the word rule in the sense of ruler, not regulation, and directly refers to this method of measurement.
ＷＷＷ説に私は納得です。
Rule of thumb: Many believe that the phrase evolved in the world of beer when brew masters, in the absence of a thermometer, used their digits to test the temperature of the ale.
確かに以前に紹介した説は "An old English law banned husbands from beating their wives with anything thicker than a thumb." で意外だったのですが、今回の説に軍配を揚げる前に少し調べてみました。
World Wide Wordsは両説に触れていてRD説は "This seems unlikely, as the thumb is not that sensitive and the range of temperatures for fermentation between too cool and too warm is quite small." とし、またEnglish law説は却下しています。 WWWの解説は長いので結論の個所だけを以下に抜粋します。
There was an old tailors’ axiom that “twice around the thumb is once around the wrist”, which turns up in Gulliver’s Travels. It’s most likely that the saying comes from the length of the first joint of the thumb, which is about an inch (I remember once seeing a carpenter actually make a rough measurement this way). So the phrase rule of thumb uses the word rule in the sense of ruler, not regulation, and directly refers to this method of measurement.
ＷＷＷ説に私は納得です。
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