sock away

次ぎの文はReader's Digest 2月号 Life! にあった投書記事からです。
Our 25-year-old son moved back home with an eye towards socking away money to buy a condo.
この文の "socking away" は文脈から、あるいはクリスマスプレゼントを靴下に入れることの連想からお金を貯める意味である事は容易に推測できますが、念のために辞書で確認します。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: to place something, such as money, into reserve; to store something in a secure place. I try to sock a little money away each month for my vacation. I will sock away some money.
・The American HeritageR Dictionary of Idioms: Put money in a safe place for future use, as in I've got about $2,000 socked away for a new car . This usage presumably alludes to putting one's savings in a sock. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
元々収入が少ないのでお金は少しも貯まらないのですが、先日穴が開いている靴下が幾つもある事に気が付きました。 At first, you should darn socks. ですね。(Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/08/4 )
穴のあいた靴下に貯金しても貯まりませんね。

oenology/enology/oenophile

ワインの味を感じるのは味覚と臭覚の他にも、色やみかけもあるとの実験についての "The Drunkard's Walk" にある記述です。
Another group of researchers gave a group of oenology students two wine samples. Both samples contained the same white wine, but to one was added a tastless grape anthocyanin dye that made it appear to be red wine. The students also perceived differences between the red and the white corresponding to their expectations.
"oenology" は何かの学問で、 "The Drunkard's Walk" は確率論の啓蒙書なので確率とか統計に関係する学問かと思いましたが、予想は外れました。"oenology"を辞書で見ると、"enology" とも綴られ：
・American Heritage Dictionary: The study of wine and the making of wine; viticulture.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a science that deals with wine and wine making
・Wiktionary: (uncountable) (usually spelled enology) The scientific study of wines and winemaking.; Even though I can't drink wine, I can still study oenology and enjoy knowing about the great wines of the world.
なるほど、"oenology students" はそれほど多くはないでしょうが、上の文のちょっと後に出てきた "oenophile" は非常に多いと思います。
But before you judge the oenophiles, consider this: when a researcher asked 30 cola drinkers whether they preferred Coke or Pepsi...
この後にボトルの表示と中身を入れ替えて被験者に飲ませた実験結果が書かれていますが長くなるので省略します。（３０人中２１人は自分の好みのブランド（ボトルの表示で実際に飲んだのは別のブランドのコーラ）の方がやはり美味しいと答えた。）
・Wiktionary: A person who has a fondness for wine. A person who has learned to appreciate wine.: The oenophile had a large wine cellar stocked with bottles from around the world.

olfactory

"The Drunkard's Walk" は確率論の啓蒙書ですがタイトルが示しているように、ワインの話が出てきても不思議ではありません。１９７０年代の後半からワインが急成長した理由の一つはワインを数的に格付けするようになったからとの話から、その格付けの信憑性、確かさの話題に移って行きます。
From the theoretical viewpoint there are many reasons to quesion the significance of wine ratings. For one thing, taste perception depends on a complex interaction between taste and olfactory stimulation.
この "olfactory" は知らない単語ですが、ワインのtasteを決めるのは味覚と臭覚であろう事は簡単に想像が付くのでこの "olfactory" は臭覚を意味しているに違いありません。でも一応辞書で "olfactory" の説明を読みます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: relating to the sense of smell: the olfactory organs
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: technical : of, relating to, or connected with the sense of smell -- an olfactory stimulus
明日もこの話題の続きを投稿します。

the world

日本のTVや新聞のニュースは東日本大震災の記事ばかりで、西日本の人はどうか分かりませんが、東京では今やリビアやエジプトがどうなっているのか誰も知りません。
"It's clear" said the teacher,
"That you haven't studied your geography.
What's your excuse?"
"Well, my dad says the world is changing every day.
So I decided to wait until it settles down!"

litter

Reader's Digest 2月号にウサギに関する記事があり、その中の単語　"litter" にこんな意味があるとは。
Their ability to breed quickly - they can produce four or more litters a year with four or five babies in each litter - can cause widespread vegetation destruction.
元々はウサギがいなかったオーストラリアにウサギが繁殖した話ですが、それはともかく、私にはこの文の "litter" が謎です。 "litter"はウサギの赤ちゃんだとすると "with four or five babies in each litter" は不要で、出産のことだとしても "produce" の動詞を使うことは疑問になる。辞書を見た方が早い。
:・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: the offspring at one birth of a multiparous animal: a litter of puppies
・Webster's New World College Dictionary: the young borne at one time by a dog, cat, or other animal which normally bears several young at a delivery
なるほど、ウサギだけでは無く動物は一度に何匹もの子供を生むのでこんな意味の単語があるのですね。　Wikipediaに "litter" の項目があったので冒頭の部分だけ次に引用します。
A litter is the offspring at one birth of animals from the same mother and usually from one set of parents. The word is most often used for the offspring of mammals, but can be used for any animal that gives birth to multiple young. In comparison, a group of eggs and the offspring that hatch from them are frequently called a clutch, whilst young birds are often called a brood. A litter is defined as anywhere between three and eight offspring.
三匹以上もの赤ん坊が生まれれば散らかっていると思えばこの "litter" の意味は憶えられそうです。

good riddance

"The Drunkard's Walk" に１６世紀の学者、Gerolamo Cardanoの話が出てきます。ちょっと長くなりますが、私が覚えたいと思った表現が出てくる前の記述個所はその表現が使われたことを理解するのに必須だと思うので、Gerolamo Cardanoがこの世に生まれてきた背景の個所を含めて引用します。
Chiara and Gerolamo's father, Fazio Cardano, were not married, but they often acted as if they were -- they were known for their many loud quarrels. A month before Gerolamo's birth, Chiara left their home in Milan to live with her sister in Pavia, twenty miles to the south. Gerolamo emerged after three days of painful labor. One look at the infant and Chiara must have thought she would be rid of him after all. He was frail, and worse, lay silent. Chiara's midwife predicted he'd be dead within the hour. But if Chiara was thinking, good riddance, she was let down again, for the baby's wet nurse soaked him in a bath of warm wine, and Gerolao revived.
"good riddance" が出てくる前に "rid of" があるので "riddance" は "rid" の名詞形と見当が付き、文脈からすると、母親は死産か流産を期待していた様なので、日本語では逆の表現になる厄介払いに相当するのではと思いますが、辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: said to express relief at being free of an unwanted person or thing.
・American Heritage Dictionary: A deliverance from or removal of something unwanted or undesirable: "Compeyson took it easy as a good riddance for both sides" (Charles Dickens).
・Macmillan Dictionary: used for saying that you are pleased to be free of someone or something that is annoying or unpleasant; When he left I thought, “Good riddance.”
英語では厄介払いできて「良かった」の意味が強いのですね。
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbsに
Cliche a phrase marking the departure of someone or something unwanted. Fred: Supposing I was to just walk out of here, just like that--Mary: I'd say good-bye and good riddance. As the garbage truck drove away, carrying the drab old chair that Mary hated so much, she said, "Good-bye and good riddance ".
もしかして、"Good-bye and good riddance" は離婚の時の台詞かしらとふと思った。

non-sequitur

Reader's Digest 2月号 - "Manchuria Journey" の記事にあった表現です。
Later, as I walk through the campus gate, I come across 40 or so students bundled in scarves and coats. They are shouting English phrases: "I'm fed up with him!" "I'm not myself today!" "Over my dead body!"
The non-sequiturs come from a series of language-learning books called Crazy English.
中国の "Crazy English" は以前海外ニュースでちょっと目にした事がありますが、それはともかく、"non-sequiturs" あるいは "sequitur" の意味が分からないので辞書を引きます。 "sequitur" はラテン語で、一般的には否定形の "non-sequitur" あるいは "non sequitur" が使われる様です。
:・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1. an inference that does not follow from the premises; specifically: a fallacy resulting from a simple conversion of a universal affirmative proposition or from the transposition of a condition and its consequent
2. a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said
Examples of NON SEQUITUR: We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.
・Cambridge Advanced Learner's English Dictionary: a statement which does not seem to be connected with what has just been said.; 'Have you arranged for us to visit Eileen?' I asked. 'But I thought you were coming by train', said Gwen, in what seemed a complete non sequitur.
:・Wiktionary: From the Latin phrase nōn sequitur (“it does not follow”), from nōn (“not”) + sequitur (third-person form of sequor (“I follow”)); in Latin, the phrase sees no use as a noun. Compare sequence, from same root.
なるほど、 "sequitur" が "sequence" の仲間だと知ると憶えられそうです。

private fellow

"The Drunkard's Walk" を読んでいます。　
Maris, on the other hand, was a gruff, private fellow, an underdog who had never hit more than 39 home runs in a year, much less anywhere near 60.
...
Maris broke Ruth's record with 61.
野球は興味がないのでベーブルースしか知りませんが、このMarisは "private fellow" とあり、人付き合いの悪い人間かと推測しますがどうでしょう？
・Macmillan Dictionary: a private person does not talk to other people about their personal life and their feelings
・American Heritage Dictionary: Placing a high value on personal privacy: a private person.
・Collins English Dictionary: (of a person) reserved; uncommunicative
だいたい当たっていたようです。

sleep related words

東北や茨城、千葉ほど揺れは激しくありませんが東京でも毎日何回も余震を感じています。昨夜も会社の帰りに余震があり、駅で地下鉄を待っていたらホームの中ほどで待っていたのに電車が目の前で止まり運転手が飛び出てきて、ホームの係員に地震で緊急停止したと伝えているのが聞こえ、その時は揺れていないので変だなと思うまもなく確かに震度３程度の揺れがきました。震度３や４程度ではまたかと思う程度で何の危機感も感じない鈍感な私ですが、今朝は朝のお勤め中（"morning business" Ref. http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/12/12 ) だったので、ちょっとまずいと思い急いで仕事を済ませ、TVを見ると東京２３区の震度は４でした。
さて、Reader's Digest 2月号の単語クイズは眠りに関係する単語の問題で、相変わらず私には難し過ぎる問題が多かったのですが、憶えられれば憶えたいと思う単語は幾つかありました。
今日は取り合えずその五つの単語の問題だけを紹介します。（三択問題です。）
1. somniloquist
a: sleep talker. b: loud snore c: story reader
2. bruxism
a: sudden waking. b: teeth grinding. c: bed-wetting
3. soporific
a: sleep-inducing. b. nightmarish. c: restless.
4. hypnopompic
a: brought about by hyponosis. b: prewaking. c: coma-like.
5. pandiculation
a: undressing. b: closing one's eyes. c: stretching.
深く考えるのはよしましょう。　眠れなくなりますから。

couch in

確率についての入門書、"The Drunkard's Walk" by Leonard Mlodinowを読んでいます。　確率はともかく、読み始めて直ぐに引っ掛かった英語が次ぎの文にあります。
The images show, too, that the amygdala, which is also linked to our emotional state, especially fear, is activated when we make decision couched in uncertainty.
私が気になったのは難しい単語 "amygdala" ではありません。とは言っても何だか分からないと文の意味が分からないで "amygdala" も調べます。
"amygdala": The region of the brain, located in the medial temporal lobe, believed to play a key role in the emotions, such as fear and pleasure, in both animals and humans.（扁桃体）
さて、"amygdala" より気になったのは "couched in" です。　"couch" で直ぐに連想するのは "couch potate" ですが、この文の "couch" とは全く関係がなさそうです。
・American Heritage Dictionary: To word in a certain manner; phrase: couched their protests in diplomatic language.
・Macmillan Dictionary: to be expressed a particular way; Couched in generalities, the report named no one responsible for the incident.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to phrase or express in a specified manner (the comments were couched in strong terms)
うーん、 "couch" が動詞としてこんな意味も持っているのですか。
動詞の意味の語源を見ると：
c.1300, "to overlay with gold, inlay," from O.Fr. couchier "to lay down, place; go to bed, put to bed," from L. collocare "to lay, place, station, arrange," from com- "together" (see com-) + locare "to place" (see locate). Meaning "to put into words" is from 1520s.
以前、どこかの古墳で出土した剣に金で文字が埋め込まれていたの見た事を思い出しました。