Only one woman

嫉妬深い女性をテーマにした新旧二つのジョークです。
・How to find your lost wife
I was in Wal-Mart the other day. I walked up to a young and lovely woman and said, "I've lost my wife in here somewhere. Can you talk to me for a couple of minutes?"
The woman looks puzzled. "Why talk to me?" she asks.
I replied, "Because every time I talk to a woman with a body like yours, my wife appears out of nowhere."

・Only one woman
After Adam stayed out late a few nights, Eve became suspicious.
"You're running around with another woman - admit it!" she demanded.
"What other woman?" Adam shot back. "You're the only one!"
That night, Adam was fast asleep when he was awaken by Eve poking him in the chest.
"What are you doing?"
"Counting your ribs."

marbles

Reader's Digest 10月号に出ていた Simple steps to good healthの一つです。
Keep your marbles. Just 1.6km a day might halve your chance of developing dementia. Amazingly, US study found that walking increased grey matter in the elderly.
"marble" の意味として大理石とビー玉しか知らなかったのですが、"dementia" とか "grey matter" があるので脳あるいはその働きに関係する意味だと分かります。　辞書を見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: plural : elements of common sense; especially : sanity: persons who are born without all their marbles - Arthur Miller
・American Heritage Dictionary: marbles (used with a sing. verb) Slang Common sense; sanity: completely lost his marbles after the stock market crash.
・Macmillan Dictionary: "lose your marbles" informal to become crazy: Have you lost your marbles? We can’t do it that way!
この様な意味は必ず複数形の"marbles" が使われるので、"marble" で辞書を引くと上記の意味を載せていない辞書も多い。　しかし、この意味の "marbles" を使ったイデオム、フレーズが下記の様に辞書に載っています。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:.
1. have all one's marbles: Fig. to have all one's mental faculties; to be mentally sound. (Very often with a negative or said to convey doubt.) I don't think he has all his marbles. Do you think Bob has all his marbles?
2. lose (all) one's marbles and lose one's mind: Fig. to go crazy; to go out of one's mind. What a silly thing to say! Have you lost your marbles? Look at Sally jumping up and down and screaming. Is she losing all her marbles? I can't seem to remember anything. I think I'm losing my mind.
not have all one's marbles
3. not have all one's marbles: Fig. not to have all one's mental capacities. John acts as if he doesn't have all his marbles. I'm afraid that I don't have all my marbles all the time.
否定的な意味で使われることが多いとありますが、RDでの例の様に肯定的で動詞も　"have" や "lose" ではなく　"keep" が使われる事もあるのですね。

tagline

Reader's Digest 10月号のTECH GUYの記事は電子書籍リーダーの話でした。その中に覚えたい単語がありました。
Barnes & Noble has recently released an update of its baseline Nook, while still keeping its flagship Color model, which is more of a low-end Android tablet. Launched with the tagline 'The Simple Touch Reader,' the new Nook has been redesigned to tackle the Kindle in its key areas of strenght: usability and sole dedication to providing a pure reading experience.
文中の "tagline" が覚えたい単語です。意味は文脈からして 'The Simple Touch Reader' を示しているので、キャッチフレーズの様な意味と推測できますが、辞書で確認します。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary:
1: a final line (as in a play or joke); especially : one that serves to clarify a point or create a dramatic effect
2: a reiterated phrase identified with an individual, group, or product : slogan: Examples of TAGLINE: the tagline from the drug campany's ad campaign backfired and quickly became fodder for late-night comedians
Merriam-WebsterはEnglish Learners版というのもあり、そこでは同じ "tagline" を次ぎの様に説明しています。
1: a memorable phrase or sentence that is closely associated with a particular person, product, movie, etc: the movie's famous tagline
2: the words at the end of a joke, story, etc. : punch line
この例では余り顕著ではありませんが、English Learners版は易しい英語で説明してあるのが特色です。
・Oxford English Dictionary: North American informal: a catchphrase or slogan, especially as used in advertising, or the punchline of a joke: ‘struggling to save their marriage’ is a tabloid tag line that has become permanently affixed to the couple
"tagline" は "tag line" の二語で掲載している辞書の方が多いようです。

scot-free

Reader's Digest 10月号を読み始めたので The Remains of the Dayは一時中断です。
さて、昨日taxingを取り上げましたが、taxに関係する単語にまた出会いました。 その表現はReader's Digest 10月号に掲載のパナソニックの広告文ありました。
You are under arrest!
YOU HAVE BEEN FOUND GUILTY
of letting your eco-terrorist friends off scot-free!
Acuse suspect. Call out your friends!
The environment is too important.
It's time to let the world know!
Have a friend that could be doing more for the environment?
この "scot-free" は初めて見ますが、ここでの意味は文脈から推測できますが、語源にも興味が湧く表現です。　RD上広告はパナソニックの次ぎのサイトの案内だけで
www.panasonic.asia/channele/rd
そこにはRD上の広告と同じ画面がありパナソニックのFacebookへの入り口になっています。　さて、 "scot-free" を辞書で見ます。
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: without receiving the deserved or expected punishment or without being harmed: The court let her off scot-free.
・Macmillan Dictionary: get away/get off scot-free: to avoid punishment for doing something that deserves punishment: Criminals such as these cannot be allowed to get away scot-free.
・American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Without having to pay: got away from the restaurant scot-free.
2. Without incurring any penalty or punishment: came away from the incident scot-free.
やはりね、そして語源を見ると、
From Old English scotfreo (“exempt from royal tax”), scot: (UK, historical) A local tax, paid originally to the lord or ruler and later to a sheriff.
"scot" は税金だったのですね。

taxing

The Remains of the Dayを読んでいて "taxing" が出てくるのはこれで2度目なので覚えたいとおもいます。　Stevensの旅行の目的、Miss Kentonに会うのも明日になりました。
But then again, what is the purpose in endlessly speculating as to Miss Kenton's present wishes when I will be able to ascertain these from her own person tomorrow? And in any case, I have drifted considerrably from the account I was giving of this evening's events. These last few hours, let me say it, have proved unreasonably taxing ones.
"taxing" の意味を調べます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: onerous, wearing (a taxing operatic role): The journey proved to be very taxing.
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: difficult or needing a lot of thought or effort: I like a bit of light reading when I'm on holiday - nothing too taxing.
・Oxford English Dictionary: physically or mentally demanding: they find the work too taxing
"taxing" にこの様な意味があるのは動詞の "tax" に
・Macmillan Dictionary: formal to cause problems, or to make things difficult for someone: The crowds have severely taxed the security services.: Having to repeat things constantly can really tax your patience.
日本を取巻く諸々の状況からするとやはりTAXはなんだかんだで上がって行くのでしょうね。

piste bike

Oct.30のThe Japan Times Onlineのキャプションです。
Cyclists piste at Tokyo police crackdown
"piste" の意味が分からないので、記事を読んで見ます。
Last month, comedian Mitsunori Fukuda was stopped and cited for riding a fixed-gear racing bike on a public street in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. These bicycles, also known as "piste bikes," have become popular in the past few years, not so much as a conveyance but more as a fashion statement. They usually don't come with hand brakes, and even when they do, purchasers often remove them because they think they look more kakko-ii (cool) that way. However, the only way to brake a proper piste bike is to peddle backward, which makes it difficult to stop quickly. For that reason, piste bikes without both front and rear brakes are illegal in Tokyo, and Fukuda's bike only had front brakes.
この話は最近ニュースで聞いた事があります。　この種の自転車を正確には日本語でなんと言うのか怪しいのですが、新聞では単に競技用自転車となっていた気がします。　"piste bikes" あるいは　"piste" が辞書でどの様に説明されているか見ます。 辞書では "piste bike" の項目は見あたりませんので　"piste" を調べましたが、次ぎの様な説明しか見あたりません。、
・Vocabulary.com: a ski run densely packed with snow
・Wiktionary:
　1.a downhill trail.
　2.the field of play of a fencing match
しかたなく Googleで. "piste bike" を検索しましたが、日本語のサイトしか出てきません。 次に. "piste bicycle" で検索したら、海外のサイトも少しありましたが "piste bicycle" を説明するサイトは見あたりませんでしたが、下記のサイトに "piste cyclable" の道路標識を写したページがありました。
（Ref. www.flickr.com/photos/pixietart/3791504537/）
結論としては "piste bike"/ "piste bicycle" は日本でも海外でも一部のオタクが愛好する特殊な自転車、あるいは競技用の自転車で、普通の英英辞書にもまだ載っていない単語だと思います。

kick oneself for

The Remains of the Dayの主人公、Stevensは自動車旅行の途中で車の調子がおかしくなり、それを助けてくれたのが前回取り上げた "the Colonel's batman " ですが、その男が是非寄って行くと良い地元の池があると言います。
I told the man that I would have to be on my way and thanked him emphatically for his assistance. He was, after all, an amiable fellow, taking the trouble to guide me in reversing out through the gateway, and before I parted, he bent down and recommended again that I visit the local pond, repeating his instructions on how I would find it.
'It's a beautiful little spot,' he added. 'You'll kick yourself for missing it.
"kick yourself for missing" は慣用句の様ですが、前に取り上げた "I would be remiss if ..." と同じような意味ではないかと推測します。　辞書で確認します。(Ref. blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2007/3/23 )
"kick oneself for missing" と言う慣用句は見あたりませんでしたが、"kick oneself (for　doing something)" で慣用句としての意味が載っていました。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: to regret doing something. I could just kick myself for going off and not locking the car door. Now the car has been stolen. Don't kick yourself. It's insured.
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic) To reproach oneself for making a mistake or missing an opportunity.: He's still kicking himself for not investing three years ago.
今日の教訓です。
I would be kicking myself for not reading "The Remains of the Day".

Dumb People

Reader's Digest 9月号の特集、8th Annual Humour Issueに出ていた話です。
Dumb Victims
An iPod was stolen from a convertible outside a Walmart. The owner, said plice, locked the doors, rolled up the windows, and turned on the alarm...but left the top down.

Dumb Criminals
A Carolina man robbed a clerk at a convenience store, then jumped into his getaway vehicle and took off. Police had little trouble catching up with him a short distance away. He was driving a lawn mower.

Dumb Warning Labels
On a thermometer: "Once used rectally, the thermometer should not be used orally".
On a baby stroller: "Remove child before folding".
On a carpenter's electric drill: "This product not intended for use as a dental drill"

batman

"batman " と言う単語は映画やコミックのバットマンを連想させますが、The Remains of the Dayに出てきた "batman " の意味は何でしょう。
I could not help inquiring then how many staff were employed there, and I supposed I was hardly surprised to be told there was only himself and a cook who came in each evening. He was, it seemed, butler, valet, chauffeur and general cleaner. He had been the Colonel's batman in the war, he explained: they had been in Belgium together when the Germans had invaded and they had been together again for the Allied landing
"Colonel's batman" となっているので、Colonelの部下だとは思いますが、何か部下にも特別な区別があるのでしょうか辞書で確認します。.
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: the personal servant of an officer especially in the British armed forces
・Oxford English Dictionary: (in the British armed forces) an officer’s personal servant
Origin: mid 18th century (originally denoting an orderly in charge of the bat horse ‘packhorse’ which carried the officer's baggage): from Old French bat (from medieval Latin bastum 'packsaddle' + MAN
コミックで活躍するバットマンのイメージとは大分異なりますね。
Macmillan Dictionaryには次ぎの様な面白い "batman " の用例が載っていました。
humorous: "good thinking, Batman!": used for telling someone that their idea is good
From Batman and Robin, a U.S. cartoon strip in which the characters fight against crime. Robin often says this when Batman suggests a good plan.

pandemonium

Kazuo Ishiguro氏の小説には大げさな感じのするいかにも文学的な言葉は余りでてこないのですが、次ぎの文にあった "pandemonium" はギリシャ神話に出てくるような感じのする単語です。
On descending, I found tha kitchen on the brink of pandemonium, and in general, an exteremely tense atmosphere amongst all levels of staff. However, I am pleased to recall that by the time dinner was served an hour or so later, nothing but efficiency and professional calm was exhibited on the part of my team.
"pandemonium" を辞書で見ると：
・Cambridge Dictionaries Online: a situation in which there is a lot of noise and confusion because people are excited, angry or frightened: Pandemonium reigned in the hall as the unbelievable election results were read out.
・V2 Vocabulary Building Dictionary: a state of chaos, confusion, and disorder: The term pandemonium was coined by John Milton in his book "Paradise Lost." It was a palace built in the middle of hell. Pandemonium has come to denote a state that resembles "hell breaking lose.": The rock concert ended in pandemonium and police were called in to calm the rowdy crowd. (chaos, turmoil) (Ref."rowdy" は既出 see blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2010/3/9 ）
失楽園で最初に使われたというのは何かの本で読んだ気がするので "pandemonium" は恐らく初めて見る単語ではない様ですが、いずれにしても忘れていました。
主人公のStevensが回想しているDarlington Hallは貴族の館ですが、今の東京で言うと例えばオークラホテルの様に、内外の重要人物が集まって会議を開く会場となる様な場所なので "pandemonium" の言葉が適しているのでしょう。