"sales tax," it sounded like "tales sax."

川上弘美著の『センセイの鞄』、"The Briefcase" をAllison Markin Powell氏による英語の翻訳版を読みましたが、次ぎの個所の日本語が気になりました。
The sales clerk was wearing an apron. "Sales tax included, it's exactly \1,000." When she said, "sales tax," it sounded like "tales sax." I paid with a thousand-yen note and she wrapped it up for me.
"sales tax," it sounded like "tales sax."の個所ですが、 "tales sax" の元の日本語は「サックスの話」のはずはありません。　そこで日本語の原本も図書館から借りて調べると原文は次ぎのようになっていました。
"『しょうひぜい』が『ひょうしぜい』と聞こえた" となっていました。なるほど、翻訳者が工夫したのが良く分かりました。

partiality

『センセイの鞄』川上弘美著の英語版 "The Briefcase" に出てきた単語です。
In general--with clothes or food or gadgets--I have no paticular brand loyalty, but when it comes to soda water, the only kind I drink is Wilkinson soda water. The main reason is probably because the liquor store two minutes away happens to carry Wilkinson brand soda water. That may seem like happenstance, but if I were to move and there were no liquor store in my new neighborhood, or if there were one and it didn't carry Wilkinson's superior products, then I would propably no longer bother keeping soda water around at all. That's the extent of my partiality.
最後に出てきた "partiality" はその前の記述から「えこひいき」のような意味だと分かります。辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: 1.favourable prejudice or bias　2.usually foll by for liking or fondness　3.the state or condition of being partial: The fear is that because these people belong to the society a perception of partiality has been created.
・Vocabulary.com: an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives; a predisposition to like something: Partiality is the habit of favoring something -- taking its part. If your parents always seem to let your little sister off the hook while you get grounded, you could accuse them of partiality in their parenting. They favor your sister over you.
Partiality is like bias. It means that your favorite person, type of food, or way of operating tends to get priority when you’re making up your mind. A synonym for partiality is favoritism. For this reason, anyone who’s not directly benefiting from your partiality will not appreciate it. It’s unfair!

slaking my thirst with beer

"The Briefcase" の主人公はお酒好きなのでお酒を飲む場面がよく出てきますが、これはツキコが酒飲みになる前の話です。
In my twenties, I had traveled to France with a girlfriend of mine, and we had gone into a cafe to get something to drink I just wanted plain, regular water, but when I ordered "Water," they brought out mineral water. I was so parched and hoping to quench my thirst, but the moment I swallowed it down, I choked and nearly threw up. Yet I was so thirsty. And here was water, right in front of me. Yet this water--with bubbles springing up from the carbonation--was a bitter mouthful. Even had I wanted to drink it, my throat would reject it. But since I didn't know enough French to say, "I would prefer still water rather than water with gas," I forced my friend to share with me the lemonade that she had ordered. It was terribly sweet--awful, really. That was before I was in the habit of slaking my thirst with beer instead of water.
最後の文に出てきた "I was in the habit of slaking my thirst with beer instead of water." の "slaking" は知らない単語ですが、文脈からするとここでは「喉の渇きを潤す」意味だと推測できます。辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: (literary) to satisfy (thirst, desire, etc): I stopped months ago, and these days I slake my thirst with mineral water and ease anxiety with a mug of sweet and milky cocoa.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: satisfy, quench: slake your thirst: will slake your curiosity
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to satisfy a feeling of being thirsty or of wanting something: After our long game of tennis, we slaked our thirst with a beer.: I don't think Dick will ever manage to slake his lust for power.
"slake" が潤すのは喉の渇きだけとは限られていませんが、喉の渇きを潤す時によく使われるようです。ビールを飲む度にこの "slake" を思い浮かべましょう。

calibration and calibrated box

私が今勤めている会社は主に海外の測定器を輸入販売しているので "calibration"/"calibrate" の単語を見ない日はほとんどありません。 これらの単語の意味はそれぞれ「校正」/「校正する」というでしか使っておらず、余り一般的な日本語ではないと思います。　しかし、この専門語と思っていた "calibration"/"calibrate" が "The Briefcase" に次ぎのように出て気ました。
"Sensei, may I take a look around?" Without waiting for Sensei to answer, I delved into the universe of things strewn about the tatami room. There was scrap paper. An old Zippo lighter. A rusted-over pocket mirror. There were three large black leather bags, each with well-worn creases. They were all exactly the same. There were floral shears. A stationary desk. And a black plastic thing shaped like a box. It had calibrations on it and a needle.
"What is this?" I asked, picking up the black calibrated box.
"Let me see...Oh, that. It's a tester."
上に出てきた "calibration"/"calibrated" は校正の意味ではないですね。 "calibrated box." はテスターの事なのと、"It had calibrations on it and a needle." つまりテスターには針と目盛りがあるのは誰でも知っているので、"calibrations" は「目盛り」 で "calibrated box" は目盛りが付いている箱だと分かります。　一応辞書で "calibration" の説明を見ます。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to mark units of measurement on an instrument such so that it can measure accurately: a calibrated stick for measuring the amount of oil in an engine
　・American Heritage Dictionary: A set of gradations that show positions or values. Often used in the plural: the calibrations on a pressure gauge.
この一般用語の "calibration" は知りませんでした。灯台下暗しでした。

apropos of nothing

"The Briefcase" の主人公、ツキコとセンセイは相当な飲兵衛です。
Sensei lingered over his bottle of sake. Whenever the Giants' pitcher struck out a batter, or a Giants player got a hit, he nodded vigorously.
"What's the matter, Tsukiko?" Sensei asked me after a home run at the top of the seventh inning gave the Giants a three-point lead over the Tiger.
"I'm just tapping my foot."
I had been nervously shaking my foot since the Giants had gained their lead.
"The nights are getting cold," I said, apropos of nothing and not even in Sensei's direction, but more toward the ceiling. At that moment, the player for the Giants got another hit.
"apropos of nothing" はどんな意味でしょうか？　辞書を見ます。"apropos of nothing" の項があったのはWiktionary.comだけで、その説明は次ぎのようでした。
1.Without reference to anything. 2.Without any apparent reason or purpose.
"apropos of" の見出しを載せている辞書は幾つもありました。
・Collins Dictionary: with regard to; in respect of: He is currently contesting his mother's will, he blurts out, apropos of nothing.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: with regard to : concerning: apropos of our earlier conversation, here's that file I mentioned
"apropos of nothing" は「唐突に」、「突然」とか「何の関連もなく」という感じでしょうか。

harrumph

"The Briefcase" を読んでいます。話の中心は主人公とその高校時代の国語の教師との関係のようです。
We got on the bus at the Kawasuji-nishi stop. There were fewer people on the bus ride home than on the way there. The market surged again with people who were probably doing their evening shopping. "I've heard that it's difficult to tell the difference between a male and a female chick," I said, and Sensei made a sort of harrumphing sound.
最後の個所に出てきた "harrumphing sound" は別の場面でも出てきました。センセイの癖のような咳払いのようです。 "harrumphing" の原形は "harrumph" と思うので "harrumph" を辞書で引きます。
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: 1: to clear the throat in a pompous way 2: to comment disapprovingly: They stood around harrumphing about the current state of politics.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to express anger and disapproval, often not by speaking but making a noise: I didn't hear what he said - he sort of harrumphed and walked off.
・Oxford English Dictionary: clear the throat noisily: he harrumphed and said, ‘I am deeply obliged.’

Poetic Texting

A wife, being the romantic sort, sent her husband a text: "If you are sleeping, send me your dreams. If you are laughing, send me your smile. If you are eating, send me a bite. If you are drinking, send me a sip. If you are crying, send me your tears. I love you!"
The husband, being the unromantic sort, replied: "I am on the toilet. Please advise."

piquant burn of

川上弘美著の『センセイの鞄』、"The Briefcase" をAllison Markin Powell氏による英語の翻訳版で読むことにしました。日本の小説を読むのは６年以上前に清水義範氏の一連の作品を読んで以来と思いましたが、村上春樹氏の "Pinball, 1973" を昨年の秋に読んでいました（やはり英語の翻訳版です）。作品の舞台が現代の日本なので非常に読みやすく、日本に特有の諸々が出てきて、それを英語でこんな風に表現するのかと、英語版ならではの読書の楽しみがあります。（これは日本文学の鑑賞からすると邪道？）　主人公の "Tsukiko"（多分「月子」でしょう）はお酒好きのようです。
Sensei took one of the rice crackers and tilted his teacup as he refilled it with sake. "My wife was the kind of person who didn't think things through." "I see." "She just loved the things she loved, and hated the things she hated." "Oh." "These kaki no tane are from Niigata. They're good and spicy." The piquant burn of the crackers really did go quite well with sake.
私も「柿の種」は好物で、家ではコーヒーを飲む時に「柿の種」を食べることがあります。ビールを飲む時はつまみに「かっぱえびせん」を食べ、ＴＶでラグビー観戦するのが楽しみです。　話が脱線しましたが、上記引用文に出てきた "piquant burn of" の "piquant" を今日は覚えたいと思います。　この単語はこの後にも次ぎの個所に出て来ました。
The "recipe" was konnyaku, which had been stewed with a stronger flavor than the way Satoru made it.This konnyaku was piquant with red pepper.
"piquant" は外来語の響きがしますね。　ここでの意味は辞書を引くまでもなく、「ピリリ/ピリッと辛い」と推測できますが、辞書で確認します。
・Collins Dictionary: .having an agreeably pungent or tart taste: The beef was rare and soft as butter, the bread still warm from the oven, the cheese ripe and piquant.
・Vocabulary.com: having an agreeably pungent taste: Coming to us from the French word piquer, which means "to prick," something that's piquant certainly piques your interest. Someone who's piquant engages you with charm and wit. A story that's filled with piquant details has plenty of juicy, provocative points. And grandma's homemade gravy? It's certainly zesty and piquant, even with all the lumps.
フランス語から来たのですね。 "prick" と親戚だというのは分かり易い。

stormy petrel

How To Win Friends and Influence Peopleに出てきた表現です。電話会社の請求書にクレームをつける人をなだめた逸話の一部を引用します。
And he did curse. He raved. He threatened to tear the phone out by its roots. He refused to pay certain charges that he declared were false. He wrote letters to the newspapers. He filed innumerable complaints with the Public Service Commission, and he started suits against the telephone company. At last, one of the company's most skillful "troubleshooters" was sent to interview this stormy petrel.
"petrel" はクレームをつける人を指しているようですが、どの辞書を見ても次ぎのように鳥の説明しかありません。
・Collins Dictionary: any oceanic bird of the order Procellariiformes, having a hooked bill and tubular nostrils: includes albatrosses, storm petrels, and shearwaters
・Vocabulary.com: relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land
しかし、"stormy petrel" で調べると、上記の逸話にあった意味が載っていました。
・Collins Dictionary: a person who brings or portends trouble
・Dictionary.com: a person who causes or likes trouble or strife.

Hail Columbia

THE DOG ENCHANTED BY THE DIVINE VIEWはほんの１５ページの戯曲ですが、採り上げたい表現が一つだけありました。　 CLARA: Yeah. He come (sic) out between the two houses and stood just like a tree! Right there on the lawn between this house and their house, eyes bugging out of his head while my daughter undressed! --She shouldn't of had the shade up, but a girl of fourteen is still innocent in her mind. And ought to stay so. Oh, did I give him "Hail Columbia" when I seen him at it! I happened to be outside myself at that time. And since that time we have never exchanged one word, not even hello!--him or that woman either! "Hail Columbia" はスペースシャトル、コロンビアの無事帰還を祝っている台詞のようですが、ここではそんな意味のわけがありません。全く反対の意味をもつ台詞に違いありません。辞書で確認します。
・Dictionary.com: hell (used as a euphemism): He caught Hail Columbia for coming home late.
・YourDictionary.com: Slang a severe beating, punishment, scolding, etc. なるほどHellを意味する俗語ですね。　しかし面白いことに "Hail Columbia" はWikipediaによると：　 It was used in the United States as a de facto national anthem for most of the 19th century, but lost popularity after World War I when it was replaced by the Star-Spangled Banner in 1931. だそうです。