ornery

Oct. 24, 2010のThe Japan Times Onlineの記事タイトルです。
Ornery bears may just be on prowl for acorns
今年は山のドングリが不作なので熊が人里に多く出没する事件のことですね。
A poor acorn crop in 14 prefectures could be behind the drastic increase in bear sightings, according to data from the central and local governments.
"Ornery bears" は腹をすかした熊の意味かしらと思いますが、辞書で確認します。
・Compact Oxford English Dictionary: bad-tempered or difficult to deal with: an ornery old military man
・Macmillan Dictionary: quick to argue or become annoyed with people; He’s all right, just a bit ornery in the morning.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: having an irritable disposition: cantankerous; I'm getting more and more ornery in my old age.
腹をすかしているのは原因で、熊はいらいらして機嫌が悪いのですね。そこで教訓です。
Bear in mind that you shouldn't run away fast if you meet bears.
Why?
Bears like fast foods too.

P. S. The last lesson is not from The Japan Times. Just kidding. Please bear my joke.

veg out

Reader's Digest 9月号のDeath by TVと題された記事からです。
If vegging out in front of a TV is your favorite daily hobby, you may be courting an early death - even if you're not overweight.
"veg" は植物を思い起こしますが、文脈からすると "vegging out" は「ごろごろ/だらだらしている」、「寝そべっている」と言うような意味の様ですがどうでしょう？　辞書で確認します。
・Wordnik: Informal To engage in relaxing or passive activities. Often used with out.; "After all, children have lots of education inside school and what they should have is time to come home and put their feet up in front of the TV and veg out and be entertained and also inspired," he says.
・Wiktionary: (colloquial) to vegetate; to engage in complete inactivity; to rest; After working hard all week, I decided to stay home and veg on Saturday.
"veg" は "vegetate" から出来たようです。 "vegetate" をCOEDで見ると：
1 live or spend a period of time in a dull, inactive, unchallenging way: if she left him alone, he'd sit in front of the television and vegetate
2 dated (of a plant or seed) grow; sprout[with object] cause plants to grow in or cover (a place)
"vegetate"/"veg" はvegetableから生まれたのは上の2.の意味からも分かりますね。

Idiot husband still went running

明日、私の住んでいる江戸川区隣の江東区夢の島公園を出発点とするシーサイドマラソンに参加しに行きます。朝が早いので日曜日恒例のジョーク紹介を今日の内に投稿しておきます。　
One man's hobby was running, he spent all his weekends on the park trails, paying no attention to weather. One Sunday, early in the morning, he went to the park as usual. It was still dark, cold and raining, so he decided to return back to his house. He came in, went to his bedroom, undressed and laid near his wife. "What terrible weather today honey," he said to her. "Yes" she replied "but my idiot husband still went running!"
私はマイペースで走るのをモットーにしていますが、何とか２時間（ハーフマラソンです）を切りたいとは思っています。

tip our hand

少年向けの小説 "Mad Scientists' Club" で少年達が操っているFlying Saucerが町の騒動になっています。
There were many reports of a loud humming noise coming from the saucer, and some people commented on a strange smell in the air.
"Hey! That smell's not a bad idea," said Mortimer. "Let's drop a load of stink bombs next time."
"Maybe we could make the thing cackle and lay a few rotten eggs," mused Freddy.
Even Henry laughed at the possibilities this suggested. "That's something to think about,"he admitted, "but it's too early for stuns like that. We don't want to tip our hand yet."
"tip" も色々な意味を持つ単語ですが、"tip one's hand" は慣用句的な気がします。
"tip one's hand" の検索で
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: tip one's hand also tip one's mitt: to declare one's intentions or reveal one's opinions or resources (the Justice Department wouldn't tip its hand by saying what its next move … would be ? Newsweek)
・Wikitionary: 1. In card playing, to accidentally reveal one's cards or hand; 2. (idiomatic) To inadvertently reveal any secret, particularly a secret that puts one at an advantage or disadvantage.
・Dictionary.com: to reveal one's plans or intentions before the propitious time.
トランプ由来の慣用句でした。日本語の手の内を明かすと似ていますね。

latrine and commode

Evolootionと題されたThe History of the Lowly Toiletの記事がReader's Digest 9月号にありました。 Evolution のスペルをわざと間違えているのに気がつきましたか。 トイレに関するトピックは何度もこのブログでも取り上げた事があります。（参照下記ＵＲＬ）
The Sulabh Toilet Museum in New Delhi is probably the most comprehensive homage to latrines in the Delve deeper into their history and marvel at their elegant collection of commode.
西洋の立派で綺麗な便器付きの椅子の写真が付いているので "latrine" も "commode" もトイレに関係する単語に違いありませんが辞書で確認します。
まずは "latrine" から、
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a toilet outside, for example in a military camp
・Macmillan Dictionary: a receptacle (as a pit in the earth) for use as a toilet; Where's the nearest latrine, soldier?
次は "commode" の意味です。
・COED:
1 a piece of furniture containing a concealed chamber pot
・North American a toilet
　 ・North American historical a movable washstand
2 a chest of drawers or chiffonier of a decorative type popular in the 18th century
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
a seat with a container below it, used as a toilet
a.American old-fashioned a toilet
b.old-fashioned a piece of furniture consisting of a set of drawers
"commode" は必ずしも便器とは限らないようですね。

参照：　過去のトイレに関するトピック一覧
"Phone Booth and Squat Toilet": Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/08/27
"Squat Toilet": Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/03/5
"hot watering toilet seat": Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/12/22
"high-tech toilet": Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/11/16
"toilet": Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/11/14
"Business before going to the office": Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/12/12
"Brush for what?": Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2010/1/10

geodesic

次ぎの文も "Mad Scientists' Club" からです。
With the bamboo poles we constructed two <B>geodesic</B> domes, twenty feet across, and then mated the two together to form a flattened sphere.
"<B>geodesic</B>" の "geo" は "geometry" と共通のprefixの様ですが意味は何でしょう？　早速辞書を見ます。
・OneLook Quick Definitions: adjective:  of or relating to or determined by geodesy; (mathematics) the shortest line between two points on a mathematically defined surface (as a straight line on a plane or an arc of a great circle on a sphere)
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1.geodetic
2.made of light straight structural elements mostly in tension <a <B>geodesic</B> dome>
Wordnikには "<B>geodesic</B>" の例文として：
A <B>Geodesic sphere</B> is most commonly referred to as a <B>Geodesic Dome</B>.
がありました。 Wikipediaにも "<B>geodesic</B>"と "<B>geodesic dorm</B>" の項がありましたが、詳しすぎるので抜粋して引用します。
A <B>geodesic dome</B> is a spherical or partial-spherical shell structure or lattice shell based on a network of great circles (<B>geodesics</B>) lying on the surface of a sphere. The <B>geodesics</B> intersect to form triangular elements that have local triangular rigidity and also distribute the stress across the entire structure. When completed to form a complete sphere, it is known as a <B>geodesic sphere</B>.
混乱してきた方は、百聞は一見にしかずと言うように "<B>geodesic dorm</B>" のを写真見ていただければ十分でしょう。　それにしても英語圏では "<B>geodesic</B>" は小中学生でも知っている単語なのでしょうね。

tuberculosis

Reader's Digest 9月号にあったジョークです。
My son has a large house on a very small suburban block, but was nevertheless keen to grow veggetables. He would cram in as many plants as he could on the small plot of land available.
When I visited, his potato plants were entangled and showed signs of severe overcrowding.
When I voiced my concerns, he said dryly, "Dad, they're suffering from tuberculosis."
私のブログを今年の初めから読んでいる方はこの駄洒落のオチが分かりますよね。　分からないかたは、今年の２月２７日のトッピク、tuber/tuberous cropを読んでください。（Ref.http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2010/2/27)

dirigible and baloon silk

"Mad Scientists' Club" は次にflying saucerを作る事にしました。
Henry explained that we would have to build it on the principle of a dirigible, with a rigid, but very lightweight frame, covered with an envelope of balloon silk.
"dirigible" は知らない単語で "balloon silk" の意味もピンと来ません。　まず "dirigible" を調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: an aircraft like a large balloon (=a bag filled with gas) with an engine
・Wikitionary: A self-propelled airship that can be steered
Etymology: The term arose from attempts in the late 1800s to make a balloon steerable. In French, dirigeable means steerable. Over time the phrase “dirigible balloon” was shortened to just dirigible. In modern parlance, the term has been replaced by airship.
飛行船（airship）の事ですね。飛行船と言うと "blimp" （a small, nonrigid airship or dirigible, esp. one used chiefly for observation）（注：　nonrigid: designating a type of airship having a flexible gas container without a supporting structure and held in shape only by the pressure of the gas within.) も頭に浮かびます。
さて、次に "balloon silk" を調べます。しかし、どの辞書にも "balloon silk"の説明は見あたりません。
"balloon" と "silk" を別々に良く調べると "silk" に蚕からで絹以外に次ぎの意味もあることがやっと分かりました。 　
・American Heritage Dictionary: A silky filamentous material, such as the webbing spun by certain spiders or the styles forming a tuft on an ear of corn.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a filament resembling silk; especially : one produced by a spider
"balloon silk" が蚕の繭を示している訳ではないのが分かってきましたが、"balloon" の意味がまだ分かりません。　しつこく調べるとWikipediaに次ぎの説明がありました。
Ballooning is a term used for the mechanical kiting that many, especially smaller species of spiders, as well as certain mites and some caterpillars use to disperse through the air. Many small spiders use silk to lift themselves off a surface or use the silk as an anchor in mid air. The very fine silk used for ballooning has been called "gossamer" since 1325 and was not originally known to be produced by spiders; by extension, the same word is used metaphorically for any exceedingly fine thread or fabric. Biologists also apply the term "balloon silk" to the threads that mechanically lift and drag systems.（注："gossamer": the very thin light fibers produced by spiders and found hanging on trees and bushes）
なるほど、そこでついでに "baloon silk" と "biology" で google し次ぎの例文を見つけました。
The Journal of Arachnology, 1999にあったRobert B. Suter:氏の論文からの引用です。
A spider attempting to become airborne first climbs to the top of some blade of grass, twig, flower head, or fence post, and then either adopts a ‘‘tiptoe’’stance and emits silk into rising airstreams or drops on a dragline and emits ballooning silk once suspended (Tolbert 1977; Gertsch 1979): either behavior serves to insert both the spider and its silk into moving air.
結論、"Mad Scientists' Club"の作ったflying saucerのenvelope（"the structure within a balloon or non-rigid airship containing the gas" Oxford Dictionary）は蜘蛛（あるいは何かの昆虫）の糸で出来ているようです。

till

Reader's Digest 9月号の記事、Lavour of Loveにあった表現です。
After chatting with the men she met at the <B>till</B> or helping them use ATMs, Saher began to find out more about them and decided she wanted to help improve the standard of living of Dubai's foreign labourers.
名詞としての "<B>till</B>" の用法は初めてなので辞書を見ます。
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: the drawer in a cash register (= a machine which records sales in a shop, and in which money is kept) or the cash register itself; Next time you have the <B>till</B> open, could you give me some change?
・Wiktionary:
1. A cash register.
2. A removable box within a cash register containing the money; Pull all the <B>tills</B> and lock them in the safe.
3. The contents of a cash register, for example at the beginning or end of the day or of a cashier's shift; My count of my <B>till</B> was 30 dollars short.
簡単そうな単語でも色々な意味・用法のある多義語が英語には多いですね。

English Collection Summary

利用していたサイトがサービスを停止したので消失したEnglish Collection Summaryを再構築しました。　過去のトピックの一覧、概要を見たい方は次ぎのＵＲＬが新しいEnglish Collection Summaryの場所です。
http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~akamaru/EC_Summary_List.htm