field day

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎの主人公、Charlieは脳の手術をした医者のStraussとNemurと共にシカゴで開かれた学会の発表会に行き、Charlieと同様に手術を施され頭の良くなったネズミのＡｌｇｅｒｎｏｎと一緒に紹介されますが、医者達の発表内容に不満を感じたCharlieはＡｌｇｅｒｎｏｎを籠から逃がしたので会場は混乱に陥ります。CharlieはＡｌｇｅｒｎｏｎを連れてＮＹに逃げました。
June 15 - Our escape hit the papers yesterday, and the tabloids had a field day. On the second page of the Daily Press there was an old picture of me and a sketch of a white mouse. The headline read: Moron-Genius and Mouse Go Berserk.
"field day" の使い方が面白いですね。マスコミは事件が起きると、それが不幸な事でも、まるで喜んでいるように張り切るので、この様な場合に "field day" が使えるのですね。辞書に同じ様な例が出ているか見てみます。
Macmillan Dictionaryは "have a field day" で次の説明をしています。
to have the chance to do something that you really enjoy, especially when it causes trouble for someone else
この説明でつい最近起きた英国女王を装った偽電話事件を思い出しました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a time of extraordinary pleasure or opportunity: the newspaper had a field day with the scandal
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to enjoy yourself very much or take advantage of an opportunity: The newspapers had a field day when the wedding was announced

riding on the coattalis

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎの主人公、Charlieに脳の手術をした医者のStraussとNemurが手術の経過についての議論をしているのをCharlieは立ち聞きしました。その描写の中に出てきた表現を取り上げます。
The argument went on that way with Strauss saying that Nemur had his eye on the Chair of Psychology at Hallston, and Nemur saying that Strauss was riding on the coattalis of his psychological research.
"riding on the coattalis" は慣用句に違いありません。辞書で意味を調べます。
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:.ride on someone's coattails and hang on someone's coattails: Fig. to make one's good fortune or success on the strength of someone else's. (Also with else, as in the examples.) Bill isn't very creative, so he rides on John's coattails. Some people just have to hang on somebody else's coattails.
・Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms: ride somebody's coattails also ride the coattails of somebody: to use your connection with someone successful to achieve success yourself I don't think she would get promoted without riding her boss's coattails. My opponent is riding the coattails of the popular governor of Massachusetts.
先日選挙があったばかりなので政治家の世襲問題とか芸能人の二世が多いのが頭に浮かびましたが、虎の威を借る狐の表現とも共通するところがありますね。

jibe

Japan Times Nov.26の次ぎの見出しが気になりました。
Anti-nuclear madness doesn't jibe with concern about global warming
この "jibe" は大昔ヨットに乗っていた頃覚えた方向転換を意味する "jibe" と二年前に取り上げた、馬鹿にする意味の "jibe" の何れの意味ではない事は明らかです。　記事の内容を読みます。　下に記事の一部を抜粋します。
But going from 4 percent to 30 percent renewables in the energy mix will take decades, and nobody has yet found an economically sustainable way to sequester the greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.
...
The truth is that as the Arctic sea ice melts and grain harvests are devastated by heat waves and drought, the world's third-largest user of nuclear energy has decided to go back to emitting lots and lots of carbon dioxide.
原発を廃止すれば火力発電に頼らざるを得ず、地球温暖化を加速化すると言うのが主旨の記事ですね。と言うことは見出しの "jibe" は「一致する」、「調和する」の意味と考えますが辞書で確認します。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: If one statement or opinion jibes with another, it is similar to it and matches it.: Her account of the accident jibes with mine.
・Vocabulary.com: To gibe is to sneer or heckle, but to jibe is to agree. Funny thing is, though, jibe is an alternate spelling of gibe, so surprise! People get them mixed up. Continue reading... A jibe can also be an insulting remark as another way to spell gibe. If someone directs that kind of jibe at you, the best response is a really good comeback. And in nautical terminology, jibe refers to a particular manner of changing the course of a ship. How did this word come to have such different meanings? Your guess is as good as ours. Just try to remember that if you want to jibe with others, don’t insult them.
最後に引用したVocabulary.comは "jibe" の三つの意味を説明してくれていますね。

tip his cap back

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎ主人公、Charlieは脳の手術後少しずつ知恵がついて来ているようでスペルの誤りも減ってきました。ベーカリーの仲間はCharlieにパン作りができるか試そうとしています。
The two men sit down at the long table, the tall Frank and the heavy Gimp shaping the dough for the rolls that have to be baked for the evening orders.
They work in silence for a while, and then Frank stops and tip his cap back. "Hey, Gimp, think Charlie could learn to bake rolls?"
この小説は主人公が知恵遅れのお陰でいわゆる難しい単語はほとんど出てきません。しかし簡単な単語でも私が知らない意味は幾らでもあります。上の文の "tip" もその例です。辞書のこの "tip" の意味を調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: to put something into a position that is at an angle instead of upright: The dog tipped her head to one side.: He tipped his chair back and looked at me.
・Collins Dictionary: to take off, raise, or touch one's hat in salutation
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to raise and tilt forward in salute: tipped his hat
・Wiktionary: To briefly remove or tap one's hat as a gesture of greeting, deference, or respect.
簡単な単語でも色々な意味を持っているのですね。

ringo-levio

今日の引用文もＦｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎ主人公、Charlieが子供の頃を回想している個所からです。
When Harrier passes by, the boys stop playing and look at her. All the boys love Harriet. When she shakes her head her curls bounce up and down, and she has dimples. Charlie doesn't know why they make such a fuss about a girl and why they always want to talk to her (he'd rather play ball or kick-the-can, or ringo-levio than talk to a girl) but all the boys are in love with Harriet so he is in love with her too.
"ringo-levio" は子供の遊びの一種に違いありませんが、聞いた事がないので調べます。
辞書にはありませんでしたが、Wikipediaには "ringolevio" で解説が載っていました。
昔ストリートゲームの一つとしてＮＹの子供が遊んだようです。今の子供はもっぱら携帯のゲーム器で遊ぶので日本でも欧米でもストリートゲームは絶滅の危機にあるのでしょうね。

Headhunter

Reader's Digest 11月号に掲載のジョークです。 タイトルは "Oldie but a Goodie" でしたが、 "Headhunter" に変えています。
A man storms into his manager's office and demands a raise.
"And just so you know," he blusters, "three other companies are after me!"
"Is that so?" the manager says. "Which companies in particular?"
"The electricity company, the telephone company and the gas company."

IT

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎ主人公、Charlieは昔の子供の頃をよく思い出します。
Then I saw a picture that I remembered in my mind when I was a kid and the children in the block let me play with them, hide-and-go-seek and I was IT. After I counted up to ten over and over on my fingers I went to look for the others. I kept looking until it got cold and dark and I had to go home.
上に出てきた "IT" は隠れん坊の鬼を指している事は容易に想像できますが、子供の頃英米にいた訳ではないので、この意味で使われる "IT/it" に会うのは初めてです。辞書にこの意味があるか確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: (in children's games) the player whose turn it is to try to touch another
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: the player in a game who performs the principal action of the game (as trying to find others in hide-and-seek)

go jump in the lake

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎ主人公、Charlieは雑役からパンの生地を混ぜるミキサーの仕事に代わりました。
So now instead of delivering packiges(sic) and washing out the toilets and dumping the garbage. Im(sic) the new mixer. Thats advance. Tomorrow I will tell Miss Kinnian. I think she will be happy but I dont(sic) know why Frank and Joe are mad at me. I asked Fanny and she said never mind those fools. This is April Fools day and the joke backfired and made them the fools instead of you.
I asked Joe to tell me what was the joke that backfired and he said go jump in the lake. I guess their mad at me because I worked the maschine(sic) but they didnt get the day off like they thought. Does that mean Im getting smarter.
Joeが言った "go jump in the lake" は慣用句の様ですが、どんな意味があるのでしょう。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a rude way of telling someone to go away and stop annoying you: He just wouldn't leave me alone, so finally I told him to go jump in the lake.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Go chase yourself! and Go climb a tree!; Go fly a kite!; Go jump in the lake!: Inf. Go away and stop bothering me! Bob: Get out of here. Bill! You're driving mecrazy! Go chase yourself'. Bill: What did I do to you? Bob: You're just in the way. Bill: Dad, can I have ten bucks? Father: Go climb a tree! Fred: Stop pestering me, John. Go jump in the lake! John: What did I do? Bob: Well, Bill, don't you owe me some money? Bill: Go fly a kite!
"Get out of here" は映画やＴＶドラマで良く聞く表現ですね。 "Go fly a kite!" は知っていました。

what's the catch

Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎの主人公、Charlieは実験的な脳の手術を受けます。しかし結果は直ぐには出ず、時間はかかるが効果が現れるはずと期待されています。手術の３日後に再開した "progris riport(sic)" でスペルの間違いを看護婦に指摘されたのを今度はちゃんと覚えられるようになり "PROGRESS REPORT 7 MARCH 11" と正しく表記される様になっています。しかし、迷路パズルではまだネズミの Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎに勝てません。手術前に雑用で働いていたベーカリーに戻ったCharlieは、丁度４月１日でしたが、職場の友人から dough-mixer の仕事をやって見ないかと言われ上手にこなせる事を皆に見せます。
I was scared he was going to be angry and holler at me so after I was finished I said can I go back to my own job now. I got to sweep out the front of the bakery behind the counter. Mr. Donner looked at me funny for a long time. Then he said this must be some kind of April fools joke you guys are playing on me. Whats the catch.
"Whats the catch." は正しくは "What's the catch? でしょう。それはともかくこの表現を見るのは初めてですが、意味は直ぐに想像できます。たまたまエープリルフールの日だったので、Mr. Donnerは知恵遅れのCharlieが難しい機械の操作ができるなんてどこかに落とし穴のあるジョークだと考えたのでしょう。
"catch" のこの様な意味の例を辞書で探して見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: a hidden problem or difficulty in something that seems extremely good: It sounds like a fabulous opportunity, so what's the catch?: It is very cheap, but the catch is that you have to be at the airport at 3 in the morning.
・Vocabulary.com: a drawback or difficulty that is not readily evident: “it sounds good but what's the catch?”
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a concealed difficulty or complication: there must be a catch
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a hidden problem or disadvantage: Free food? It sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?
政治家の選挙公約も "catch" だらけなので "What's the catch?" と問わずには入られません。

card

村上春樹作品を幾つか読むつもりだったのですが、最初に読んだPinball, 1973が余り面白くなかったので当分別の作家の小説を読むことにしました。そこで選んだのがＦｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎ by Daniel Keyesです。中身は知りませんが、タイトルは見た事があり印象的なのでいつか読みたいと思っていました。本には宣伝文句があり、Praise for Ｆｌｏｗｅｒｓ ｆｏｒ Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎの最初に "A tale that is convincing, suspenseful and touching." The New York Timesとあるので期待できそうです。　さて読み始めようと思ったら最初の章に "progris riport1 march 3" とあり、あれれ、また厄介な外国語交じりの話かなとちょっと構えましたが、話の内容に進むと、主人公のCharle Gordonは知恵遅れの人間で、その主人公が書いた治療のProgress Reportの意味である事が分かりました。　また、タイトルの Ａｌｇｅｒｎｏｎは実験用のネズミの名前から来ていることも直ぐに分かりました。多くの単語のスペルが普通ではありませんが、発音通りなので慣れればそれ程気にならず、また、書いている主人公のＩＱ（小説の中ではeye-Qとなっている）が低いせいで難しい単語は、今のところ出てきません。次に抜粋する３０ページ目の個所で初めて引っ掛かりました。
Everybody laffed(sic) and Frank said that Miss Kinnian must be some cracked up pieces if she goes for Charlie and Joe said hey Charlie are you making out with her. I said I dint(sic) know what that meens(sic). They gave me lots of drinks and Joe said Charlie is a "card when hes(sic) potted". I think that means they like me.
"card when hes potted" の個所の "card" が分かりません。 "potted" はマリファナの意味のpotを想起しますが、その前に酒を飲まされたとあるので単に酔っ払っている事を示しているのでしょう。 主人公が言うように皆が彼を好きだと言うより何かからかわれているのに違いありません。 "card" を辞書で見ます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a usually clownishly amusing person : wag :he's such a card
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a funny or strange person: You're such a card, Patrick!
・Oxford English Dictionary: informal, dated a person regarded as odd or amusing: He laughed: ‘You’re a card, you know’
"card" はお笑い系の芸人にとっては褒め言葉でしょう。
注：　"(sic)" は（原文のまま）の意味で私が挿入。　"(sic)" はEnglish Collection 7/21/2007 で取り上げました。