今日はJ.D. Salinger の短編 De Daumier-Smith's Blue Periodに出てきた表現を取り上げます。
The Verdun section of Montreal was in no sense a dressy neighborhood, and I was convinced that every passer-by was giving me a second, basically censorious look. When, finally, I came to the lunch bar where I'd bolted the "Coney Island Red-Hots" on Monday, I decided to let my reservation at the Hotel Windsor go by the board, and kept my left hand over my black tie while I ordered soup, rolls and black coffee.
慣用句らしき "go by the board" は初めて見る表現で意味も知らなかったのですが、主人公はこのlunch barに入る前に予約をHotel Windsorに入れていたので、ここでは "go by the board" はその予約を無視する意味に違いありません。 辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: to be in disuse, neglected, or lost ⇒ in these days courtesy goes by the board
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to be forgotten or not used: Does this mean our holiday plans will have to go by the board?
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:.Fig. to get ruined or lost. (This is originally a nautical expression meaning "to fall or be washed overboard.") I hate to see good food go by the board. Please eat up so we won't have to throw it out. Your plan has gone by the board. The entire project has been canceled.
なるほど、甲板の物/人が波で流される事をイメージすれば良いのですね。
この本には文字通り9の短編小説が収められていて、最初の話は "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" と題されています。今日取り上げる表現はそこからです。
ニューヨークのホテルに泊まっているMurielが田舎の母親と電話で会話をしている場面から抜粋します。
"There's psychiatrist here at the hotel," said the girl.
"Who? What's his name?"
"I don't know. Rieser or something. He's supposed to be very good."
"Never heard of him."
"Well, he's supposed to be very good, anyway."
"Muriel, don't be fresh, please. We're very worried about you. Your father wanted to wire you last night to come home, as a matter of f...."
いかにも会話的な表現の "don't be fresh" が分からないので調べます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: behaving in a way that is rude or does not show respect to someone
・Dictionary.com: informal presumptuous or disrespectful; forward
会話表現なので辞書では例文も見掛けませんでしたが、話振りがぞんざいだったと言う事でしょう。
The best heckle I ever received was... when I did a show in a rural community. A couple came in 20 minutes late; I asked them why. The guy said, "I've been milking."
Instinctively, his wife - and I don't know why she felt the need to clarify this - said, "Not me, the cows!"
The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid
いつもぼやいているばかりの愚息にガールフレンドができました。一時的な "joy" なのか生涯の "happiness" となる女性との出会いとなるか...陰ながら応援しています。
We see, therefore, how the modern bourgeoisie is itself the product of a long course of development, of a seriese of revolutions in the modes of production and of exchange. The bourgeosie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his "natural superiors", and has left remaining no other nexus between man and than naked self-interest, than callous "cash payment".
"It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties" に出てきた "asunder" と "motley" の二つの単語ですが、まず "asunder" を辞書で見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: postpositive in or into parts or pieces; apart ⇒ to tear asunder: But before head coach Clive Woodward started making mass substitutions, England tore Ireland asunder.
・Vocabulary.com: Asunder is an adverb that means “into separate pieces.” So if you’ve torn asunder the breakup letter from your girlfriend; you’ve forcefully ripped it into separate pieces -- and rightly so.
Asunder comes from the Old English phrase on sundran, which means “into separate places.” It is a somewhat archaic and uncommon word and most of us know it only from marriage ceremonies: “What God has joined together let no man put asunder.” In most cases you can use its more common synonym “apart” and convey the same meaning, unless you want to express a particularly violent or forceful ripping.
次に "motley" を調べます。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: consisting of many different types and therefore appearing strange or of low quality: There's a motley assortment/collection of old furniture in the house we're renting at the moment.
・Vocabulary.com: If you've encountered the word motley, it's most likely in the phrase "motley crew," which means a diverse and poorly organized group. Think of a band of pirates, or the assorted characters who became The Fellowship of the Ring.
In contemporary usage, motley can be used in virtually any context as a synonym for mismatched, heterogeneous, or ragtag. But the word was first used to describe multicolored fabric, especially the type of material used in a jester's costume. This distinctive apparel was a sign of the fool's place outside the class system -- and, in the Elizabethan era, it signified that the jester was beyond the sumptuary laws that determined who could wear what. Thus, the fool had the exceptional ability to speak freely, even to royalty.
なるほど、Vocabulary.comの説明はニ""ュアンスが良く分かるので気に入っている辞書です。
Reader's Digest 12月号にあったThe Fishing Fleetと題された記事の説明文です。
In the time of the Raj, countless women made the passage to india to hook a husband
英国の植民地となったインドは嫁不足(もちろん英国人の)なので、英国では相手にされない若い女性が多くThe Fishing Fleetとして英国に渡ったそうです。
Unsurprisingly, many of the Fishing Fleet found husbands when they reached India - or even before arriving. There was a pretty good chance on the ship itself, filled as it was with nubile (if chaperoned) young women and a number of bachelor, some of whom had tried unsuccessfully to find a bride during their months of leave and were delighted to be offered another chance.
今日覚えたい単語は "nubile" です。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: describes a woman who is young and sexually attractive: Rich old men often like to be surrounded by nubile young women.
・Vocabulary.com: of girls or women who are eligible to marry
Nubile is a word for young women who are attractive and "suitable for marriage" (which honestly sounds sort of chauvinistic). Feminist idealism aside, nubile is a flattering term for a gal. It means youthful and sexy.
Nubile stems from an ancient Latin term which meant "marriageable." While nice young men are certainly marriageable, the term is solely used in relation to women, and now refers to their ripe sexy beauty, not necessarily qualities that could make them a dependable, loving wife. Nubile is used more now in describing a gal who is hot and sexy -- more ideal for the hip-hop video shoot, not co-hosting your family for Thanksgiving.
元々結婚適齢期の若い女性を指したのでしょうが、最後に引用した辞書によると対象となる女性が最近は "hot and sexy" な女性に変ってきているようです。
"Where do you want this huge roll of bubble wrap?" I asked my boss.
"Just pop it in the corner," he replied.
It took me three hours.
こう言う用途もあるのですか?そう言えば、日本語ではプチプチと呼ばれていませんか?
Reader's Digest 12月号にあったExtreme pogoingという記事の抜粋です。
From its beginnings aroud 2002 with thrill-seekers performing backflips in parking lots to being featured in a Nike commercial last year, extreme pogoing has already come a long way. The specially-made sticks bear little resemblance to the pogo-sticks of childhood featuring, as they do, "air springs", thrusters and aerospace aluminium.
"pogo" と言う言葉も "pogo-stick" も知りませんでしたが、後者は昔日本ではホッピングと呼ばれ流行ったことがありましたね。その後何十年も見た事がありませんが、記事はその "pogo-sticks" の現代版のスーパーホッピングとも言うべき商品についての記事でした。
"pogo" を辞書でひくと、語源は "pogo-sticks" からで次ぎの意味があるそうです。
Wiktionary:
1.To use a pogo stick
2.To dance the pogo (to do a dance in which you jump up and downmore)
3.(cycling) To lift the front wheel of the bicycle in the air and jump up and down on the rear wheel while in a stationary position
"muck up" は以前どこかで見た覚えがありますが、Reader's Digest 12月号の二つの記事で次ぎの様に使われていました。
・Studies show that too much sugar (both in the form of natural sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup) not only helps make us fat, it also wreaks havoc on our liver, mucks up our metabolism, impairs brain function, and may leave us susceptible to heart disease, diabetes, and maybe even cancer.(Your body on sugarの記事から)
・Your company's IT departmen can be your best friend. Don't muck it up with silly requests like these actual help-desk calls: "How do I remove a sesame seed from the keyboard?"(All in a day's workの記事から) その他にも例がありましたが、余りに馬鹿馬鹿しいので省略。
この "muck up" の説明は辞書には 次ぎのように出ています。
・Collins Dictionary:
1.tr (British & Australian) to ruin or spoil; make a mess of
2.intr (Australian) to misbehave
・Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary: to make a mess of: bungle, spoil: I swear, she mucks up everything she tries
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a mistake that completely spoils something: They made a muck-up of our order - it won't be ready till next week now.
今回の旅行で過去に見たり経験した事がなかった新しい発見は、マングローブの特定の木に群がるホタルを見たことと、尻を水で洗うマレー式のトイレの二つです。ホタルの乱舞は幻想的ですが、マレー式トイレはバケツに手桶の旧式タイプと水洗トイレのタンクにホースが付いている改良版がありました。しかし、いずれも床がビショビショになっている場合が多く、余り清潔な感じはしません。日本で普及しているウォッシュレット・トイレ(登録商標?)をマレーシアに売り込めると思いました。
上記の二つの経験はどちらも写真に取ってこなかったので、今日は旅行中に読んだJ.D. Salingerの短編 "For Esme--with Love and Squalor" の中にあったジョークを紹介します。
At that point, I felt an importunate tap, almost a punch, on my upper arm, from Charles' direction. I turned to him. He was sitting in a fairly normal position in his chair now, except that he had one knee tucked under him. "What did one wall say to the other wall?" he asked shrilly. "It's a riddle!"
I rolled my eyes reflectively ceilingward and repeated the question aloud. Then I looked at Charles with a stumped expression and said I gave up.
"Meet you at the corner!" came the punch line, at top volume.