irredentist

昨日ジョッギングしていたら金木犀の香りが漂っているのに気がつきました。秋の気配が深まってきましたが、室内で卓球をするとまだまだ暑く感じます。
さて、Noam Chomsky著のHopes Prospectを半分ほど読みました。
One consequence of that bill is that Israeli Arabs would not be able to live in those towns if the reception committees decide so. The effect is to reverse the High Court decision, though one Likud MK felt that it did not go far enough in overturning the Court decision. "In this way," Avirama Golan writes, "Israel is shutting an entire population group out of the state's life and turning it into an oppressed, bitter, irredentist community."
"irredentist" という歯医者の親戚のような単語が出てきました。早速辞書を見ます。
・Wiktionary: Someone who calls for the seizure or recovery of territories or states currently subject to other countries; an adherent of irredentism.
・Collins Dictionary: a person who favours the acquisition of territory that once was part of his country or is considered to have been
・Wordnik: Israeli political leaders are depicted as 'irredentist', 'hawkish', and 'ultra-nationalist'.
なるほど、北方領土を返せ、尖閣島を返せと声を大にしたら "irredentist" になるのですね。　一度取られた領土が返しても貰えたら "iridescent colours" な解決ですが。

head swivel

自動運転の自動車開発が進んでいるニュースを最近聞きましたが、自動運転の手前の装置、Blind spot sensoringの記事がReader's Digest June, 2013にありました。
In some models, you then activate your indicator on that side and warning lights will come on. But even the best of them isn't perfect, so a head swivel is still advisable.
"swivel" は椅子を回転させるなどの例は知っていましたが、上のように首を回すのにも使えるのですね。
ところで昨日は卓球の試合に車を運転して行きました。そんな訳で忙しかったのでブログを休みました。運転中に右側の車線に移る際にはもちろん右を向いて確認しましたが、雨のせいで窓ガラスが曇っていて非常に視界が悪いと感じました。私の車にもBlind Spot Sensorが欲しいと思います。

tarry

今日採り上げる単語はHopes Prospectで何度も使われているので覚えなくてはと思いました。
We might tarry for a moment to ask whether there is any solution to the U.S.-Iran confrontation over nuclear weapons. Here is on idea: (1) Iran should have the right to develop nuclear energy, but not weapons, in accord with NPT. (2) A nuclear weapons-free zone should be established in the region, including Iran, Israel, and U.S. forces deployed there. (3) The United States should accept the NPT. (4) The United States should end threats against Iran and turn to serious diplomacy.
早速辞書で意味と例文を調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: to remain temporarily or briefly: Let us not tarry, folks, but get down to the fascinating case of Carlyle Harris, whose wife died under unusual circumstances.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: 1a: to delay or be tardy in acting or doing b: to linger in expectation: wait 2: to abide or stay in or at a place: upon seeing the sun beginning to sink in the sky, we realized we had tarried too long on the summit of the mountain
・Vocabulary.com: To tarry is to linger and take your time leaving. If you really like going to Sally’s Diner for dessert, you might tarry over coffee and end up leaving after they’ve closed the kitchen.
The verb tarry is perfect for describing what happens when those relatives that you see once a year come to your house for lunch and never seem to leave. When people tarry they stick around and take a long time to depart, sometimes lurking or loitering, or sometimes enjoying each other's company. Tarry can also mean to hang around a place without purpose. You might tarry in the park until the day is fading and you have to go home.
余り遅らすことなく直ぐにこの単語 "tarry" を覚えたいのですが。

brigand

Reader's Digest ８月号を読んだのでちょっと間が空きましたが又Noam ChomskyのHopes Prospectsを読むのを再開します。
One of the PR agencies hired to promote the cause, Bonner & Associates, conceded that letters they were sending "purported to be from groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Hispanic organizations" were in fact forgeries. The "error" was quickly for given. That is quite unlike the treatment of ACORN, which works for the poor and oppressed and was virtually destroyed when some of its poorly paid employees were caught in a scam set up by a right-wing organization. And of course the major corporate brigand, like those ripping off billions of dollars for "reconstructing Iraq," are exempt even from censure."
今日は "corporate brigand" の "brigand" を覚えたいと思います。余り良い意味ではないと思いますが。
・Collins Dictionary: a bandit or plunderer, esp a member of a gang operating in mountainous areas: He just wants more ammunition the way a brigand wants more pistols to stick in his belt.
・Vocabulary.com: an armed thief who is (usually) a member of a band: Leopold Robert specialized in pictures of highway robbers known as brigands.

dalliance

Sept.5のJapan Times Onlineの記事タイトルに知らない単語が入っていました。
Dicey dalliances with Islamists
サブタイトルを読むと次ぎのように書かれていました。
In the Middle East, the U.S. has myopically embraced Sunni rulers steeped in religious and political bigotry, even though they pose a threat to freedom ...
"dalliance" が分からない単語ですが、サブタイトルからすると米国とIslamistsとの関係を指しているようです。記事を読んでみます。
U.S. President Barack Obama’s insistence on employing air power to punish Syria even if such a war breaches international law and unleashes major unintended consequences is just the latest chapter in a more than two-year U.S. policy whose calculations have gone wrong in backing jihad against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s dictatorial rule. Military strikes could compound Obama’s policy missteps, including inadvertently strengthening the hands of gun-toting Islamists.
この後も米国のこれまでのイスラム諸国に対する政策の説明が続き、米国がシリアを爆撃することは解決にならないとしています。　しかしながら、相変わらず "dalliance" の意味がピンとこないので辞書を見ます。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: an interest or involvement in an activity or belief that only lasts for a very short period: The 1970s witnessed the first of the pop star's dalliances with communism.
・Oxford English Dictionary: a period of brief or casual involvement with something: Berkeley was my last dalliance with the education system
・Vocabulary.com: the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working: First appearing in Middle English, the noun dalliance stems from the verb dally, meaning "to waste time, to act playfully, especially in a flirtatious way." Dalliance often describes a casual flirtation ? generally something short-term and not very serious. Your aunt may blush when you mention her dalliance with the rugby player she met that time in Dublin. Dalliance can also refer to goofing off when you should be working. Your coworker's continued dalliance can result in missed deadlines.

ramrod straight

昨日採り上げた "down pat" の表現が出てきた記事の続きです。犯人の一人の法廷での様子が書かれています。
All through the trial Goody wore his ironic smile. While being sentenced to 30 years behind bars, he stood ramrod straight, not batting an eyelash, and when he turned to go off with the guard, he shot one last fleeting smile behind him, looking out past the audience in the direction of the door.
"ramrod straight" の "ramrod" は知らない単語です。辞書を見ます。
"ramrod" 自体の意味は次ぎの辞書の説明のように銃身の芯を清掃する棒の事でした。
・Collins Dictionary: a rod for cleaning the barrel of a rifle or other small firearms: She watched as he scurried off towards the rear of the apartment, his back ramrod straight.
しかし、上の辞書の例もそうですが、人を形容する "ramrod straight" などの形で使われることが多いいようです。
・Oxford English Dictionary: used in similes and metaphors to describe an erect or rigid posture: he held himself ramrod straight
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: marked by rigidity, severity, or stiffness: a ramrod camp director who's been known to send kids home for a minor infraction of the rules