theater

Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「仕込む」,　英語タイトル The Spiritual Dimension of Workの項からほんの一部を抜粋します。
The training involved not only the straightforward lecturing of journeymen or masters instructing their apprentices. It also included such things as a carpenter sending his apprentice to the theater to learn ethics and proper social behavior.
"theater" が戦場や手術室の意味で使われるのは知っていますが、ここでの "theater" は戦場や手術室と同様に、現場、仕事場を意味していると思われますが、辞書で確認します。
ぴったりの説明、例文は見つかりませんでしたが、下記の例の援用だと思います。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a place or sphere of enactment of usually significant events or action: the theater of public life
・Wiktionary: A region where a particular action takes place; a specific field of action, usually with reference to war.: His grandfather was in the Pacific theater during the war.
・Infoplease: a place of action; field of operations.
・Dictionary.com: a setting for dramatic or important events

Babes in the Woods

Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「世間知らず」、英語タイトル "Babes in the Woods" の項の一部を引用します。
The Japanese have presented both a mystery and a challenge to the outside world ever since they first involved in internatinal affairs. A significant percentage of the American occupation forces in Japan in the late 1940s and early 1950s habitually described the Japanese as stupid and incompetent.
From the mid-1950s this refrain was picked up by Amarican importers who began visiting Japan by the thousands to get consumer products copied at low prices. Unable to see beyond their own cultral blinders, many of these frequent visitors carped continuously, accusing the Japanese of not being able to do anything right without detailed instructions and of making mistakes that were so irrational they were unbelievable.
英語の "Babes in the Woods" を見ただけでは、 「世間知らず」は思いつきませんでした。 "Babes in the Woods" が一般的な表現なのか、辞書で確認します。
・Wiktionary: babe in the woods (plural babes in the woods): (idiomatic) A person who is innocent, naive, inexperienced, or helpless.
・Dictionary.com: an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. a naive or innocent person; an inexperienced person. (Like a child lost in the woods.) Bill is a babe in the woods when it comes to dealing with plumbers. As a painter, Mary is fine, but she's a babe in the woods as a musician.

引用文中にある "carp" は既出（http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/archive/2009/6/3）です。

stock explanation

"stock" には株や在庫の他にも色々な意味があり、このブログでも幾つかの表現を取り上げていますが、Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「災害」,　英語タイトル Land of Disastersの項に出てきた次ぎの "stock" はこれまでに取り上げた表現とは別の意味のようです。
The Japanese credit the regular occurrence of natural disasters for much of the character and flavor of their traditional culture, from their architecture to their cult-like emphasis on the kind of beauty that epitomizes the fragility of life. Any discussion of Japanese philosophy, including contemporary attitudes and behavior that have to do with business or other subjects, invariably brings up saigai as being a fundamental influence. The constant threat of disaster under which the people have lived throughout their history is one of the stock explanations given for both the resilience of the Japanese and for their compulsive work ethic.
早速辞書で "stock" の意味を確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: prenominal being a cliché; hackneyed ⇒ a stock phrase
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: commonly used or brought forward : standard: the stock answer
・Cambridge English Dictionary: (of an idea, expression, or action) usual or typical, and used or done so many times that it is no longer original: a stock phrase/response: "Don't worry - worse things happen at sea" is her stock expression for whenever anything goes wrong.
なるほど、陳腐な「決まり文句」なら「在庫の表現」と考えても意味は通じますね。

これまでに取り上げた "stock" の表現をおさらいします。
"stock character": Any fictional character drawn from some stereotype who is instantly recognizable.
"put stock in": to put confidence in or attach importance to; believe; trust
"lock, stock and barrel": entirely; including every part, item, or facet, no matter how small or insignificant
"take stock": to make an appraisal of resources or prospects
"stock-still": as still as a tree trunk

BIG CITY MIRACLE

Visiting a city for the first time, a small-town boy and his dad are stunned by virtually everything they see - particularly two shiny, silver doors that move apart then slide back together again.
"What is it, Dad?" asks the boy in wonder.
"Son," he replies, "I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Just then an extremely old woman approaches the doors and presses a button. They open, the woman totters inside, the doors close and the boy and his father watch as a tiny set of numbers above the doors light up sequentially.
They continue to watch as the numbers peak, before slowly lighting up again in reverse order. Then the doors slide open once more, and out steps a gorgeous young woman.
Thunderstruck, the father turns to his son and says in a hoarse voice, "Go get your mother."
何だかマギー司郎のマッジクを思い出しました。

Time is Limited

Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「辛抱」,　英語タイトル You must have patience!の項にこんな事が書かれていました。
Westerners have been taught to view life as consisting of a precise number of years, months, days, and hours for each individual--a limited amount of time that is not going to be repeated and should therefore not be wasted. In recent times, especially after the Industrial Revolution, Westerners came to believe that not using time in some profitable or productive enterprise was sinful. We eventually became so time conscious that we began measuring time and our activities in minutes and seconds.
The Japanese, on the other hand, were traditionally conditioned to believe that life was more-or-less a circle, with one reincarnation after another, until one reached a state of grace in which rebirth was no longer necessary and one entered into nirvana. Time was therefore a relative thing. If a task was not completed in this lifetime, there would be another chance.
著者のDe Mente氏のこの認識は偏見と感じます。交通機関の時間の遵守は日本が誇れるものの一つだと思いますが、長年海外のメーカーと付き合った経験では、製品の納期の遅延はほとんど日常茶飯事で、日本の客に年がら年中叱られました。私の経験は電子機器メーカーとの取引だけですが、恐らく他の業界でも納期の遅延は日本のメーカーより多くあると想像します。何故なら、遅延の理由として、担当者が休暇を取ったとか、日本では客には言えない事でも平気に言い訳の材料にします。

dig one's heel in

Japan's Cultural Code Words, 「小田原評定」,　英語のタイトル A Delaying Tacticの項に出てきた表現を取り上げます。
At the end of this period absolutely no progress had been made. The bucho had dug their heels in and would not move. The company had become victim of the traditional Japanese syndrome known as Odawara hyojo, or in colloquial terms, "the Odawara impasse," an expression that is derived from an event that took place in 16th century Japan.
"dig one's heel" は慣用句の様なので辞書で調べます。 "dig one's heel" では見つかりませんでしたが、 "dig in one's heel" として次ぎの辞書に説明がありました。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: to take or persist in an uncompromising position or attitude despite opposition

Applying Soft Soap

"Applying Soft Soap" はJapan's Cultural Code Wordsの「おだてる」の項の英語タイトルです。
内容は、日本人は人をおだてる習性があるというものです。一部を抜粋します。
The Japanese habit of praising indiscriminately no doubt grew out of a social etiquette which demanded that people stay on good terms with superiors by strictly avoiding any words or behavior that might be construed as criticism or arrogance, and by the need to maintain a careful harmony by following an extraordinarily strict code of politeness.
米国人の筆者、Mente氏がこんな印象を持ったことは意外に感じます。私の米国での数年間の経験は、むしろ米国人の方が "Applying Soft Soap" に徹しているように思えます。例えば、何かギフトを貰った場合、米国人はギフトの中身を見て、例外なく喜びます。例え大したものや、自分の好みのもので無くてもかなり大げさに褒め、喜びます。日本人なら、お礼は言いますが、貰い物が梱包されている場合には、その場で開けないのが普通です。
それはさておき、"Applying Soft Soap" の表現が辞書に載っているか調べます。
.・Collins Dictionary: (informal) flattering, persuasive, or cajoling talk: And I'm sure you are very nice to her... "'Will you cut off the soft soap.
・Vocabulary.com: persuade someone through flattery; use flattering talk on somebody: This is the time to soft-soap your partner.

typecast

Reader's Digest 5月号の記事 Alzheimer's Is a bad diet to blame?の一部を抜粋します。
Until recently, insulin was typecast as a regulator of blood sugar, cueing muscle, liver and fat cells to extract sugar from the blood and use it for energy or store it as fat. We now know that the hormone is a master multitasker: in the brain, it helps neurons take up glucose for energy and regulates neurotransmitters crucial for memory and learning.
冒頭の文に出てきた単語、 "typecast"、を覚えたいので辞書を引きます。
・Dictionary.com:
1. to cast (a performer) in a role that requires characteristics of physique, manner, personality, etc., similar to those possessed by the performer.
2. to cast (a performer) repeatedly in a kind of role closely patterned after that of the actor's previous successes.
3. to stereotype: He realizes now he's been typecast as an executive errand boy.
なるほど、 "typecast" には役者にいつも同じ役割を当てることなのですか。確かにＴＶでも映画でも俳優によっては悪役とか、特定の性格の役割ばっかりの人がいますね。

man up

Japan Times Online, May 21の見出しです。
Avoid excuses, man up, Obama tells black graduates
オバマ大統領の、文章ではなく、演説を伝える記事なので、見出しに使われている "man up " は口語的な表現のようです。　記事の一部を抜粋します。
Delivering a commencement address at the all-male private liberal arts college in Atlanta, Obama spoke in deeply personal terms about the “special obligation” he feels as a black man to help those left behind.
...
If they get a law degree, he told the graduates, they shouldn’t defend only the powerful, but also the powerless. If they get an MBA and start a business, Obama said, they shouldn’t merely try to make money, but also consider the broader purpose their business might serve.
社会の強者になることだけを目指すのではなく、弱者を助けれる人間になれと説いているようです。　"man up" の意味を辞書で確認します。
・Wiktionary: (idiomatic) to "be a man about it"; to do the things a good man is traditionally expected to do, such as: taking responsibility for the consequences of one's actions; displaying bravery or toughness in the face of adversity; providing for one's family, etc.: I was wondering when he would man up and marry that girl he knocked up.: You need to man up and confront your boss about his behavior.: Hey son, man up, ok? There will be time for tears later.
・Collins Dictionary: intr, adverb (US, informal) to adopt a stereotypically masculine approach or course of action:
オバマ大統領が "man up" と言ったのではなく、Japan Timesの記者が "man up" の表現を選んだのですが、 "man up" にはやはり、引用した後者の辞書の意味がまとわりつきますね。

proverbial

Japan's Cultural Code Wordsの「目利き」(Made to Please the Eye)の項からです。
This reaction to imperfection was a symptom of the mekiki syndrome that is deeply embedded in the Japanese psyche. They were so used to having everything made so finely and detailed so meticulously that any variation stood out like the proverbial neon sign.
"proverbial" は知っている単語 "proverb" の形容詞のようですが、ネオンサインを形容する意味は何でしょうか？
辞書を見ると諺の形容詞の意味もありましたが、次ぎのような意味もあることが分かりました。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: well known: his proverbial good humour
・Macmillan Dictionary: well known, or typical: the proverbial veteran actor Kirk Douglas
・Vocabulary.com: widely known and spoken of:
If something is proverbial, it is from a story or saying that is well known. The proverbial Fountain of Youth will make you forever young. The proverbial Pie in the Sky is where your wildest dreams come true.
Proverb is the root of proverbial, and proverb comes from the Latin word proverbium, meaning “a common saying.” Proverbs are little stories or expressions that usually teach a lesson. You may have heard of the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Better to seek the proverbial penny saved, because that’s a penny earned. And the proverbial gift horse? Don’t look him in the mouth.