English Collection

日頃目に付いた覚えたい英単語、慣用句などの表現についてのメモです。

send him to Coventry

2014年06月17日 | 英語学習
Roddyのやり方はMajだけではなく他の仲間からも反感を引き起こしています。
"What do we do?" Mairead said.
"Send him to Coventry," said Chin.
Coventry, heck, send him to jail! was Maj's first thought in response to this.
牢獄より生温い罰とすると "Coventry" は少年矯正所の様な施設で固有名詞から一般的な表現になったと推測しますが、辞書に説明があるでしょうか?
"send someone to Coventry" で次の説明がOxford English Dictionaryに出ています。
chiefly British Refuse to associate with or speak to someone: ‘some people ignore and send to Coventry individuals they disapprove of’
[ mid 18th century: sometimes said to stem from the extreme unpopularity of soldiers stationed in Coventry, who were cut off socially by the citizens, or because Royalist prisoners were sent there during the English Civil War, the city being staunchly Parliamentarian]
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a state of ostracism or exclusion: sent to Coventry
日本語の村八分の様なものですね。もっとも村八分の由来は聞いた事がありますが、すっかり忘れています。
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snide

2014年06月16日 | 英語学習

MajのsimプログラミングにRoddyが何か仕掛けをしてトラブルを発生させ、RoddyはMajに注意が足りないと批判をしました。
"I don't have the slightest clue what you're talking about," Maj said, turning away from him, "and since half the time you don't either, that makes us about even." She was in no mood for his snide comments at the moment. "Anyway, if you're not going to deliver usefull criticism, you--"
文脈から "snide comments" は非難の様な意味だと思いますが、 "snide" は知らない単語なので辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Derogatory or mocking in an indirect way: ‘snide remarks about my mother’
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: slyly disparaging :  insinuating: snide remarks: a snide trick to get the old woman to sell her antiques for practically nothing
より丁寧な説明のあるVocabulary.comも見ます。
Snide means insulting or contemptuous in an indirect way. If your friend is wearing too much purple eye shadow and your other friend whispers to you, “What? Was she in a car wreck?” that’s a snide comment.
Snide remarks are the kinds of things people say with a sneer on their face. When you leave a movie theater and your friend says, “I can’t believe someone was actually paid to write that screenplay,” he’s being snide. Instead of saying, “That movie was terrible,” he's expressing his disdain in a more underhanded and indirect way.
日本語の嫌味も "snide" の一種と言えそうです。

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yadda yadda yadda

2014年06月15日 | 英語学習

昨日は房総に食べ放題のビワ狩りに行きました。これまでに食べ放題の苺、サクランボ、ミカン狩りに行きましたが、好物でも意外と直ぐに食べ飽きるものだとビワでも再確認しました。
さて、Tom Clancy's Net ForceシリーズのOne is the loneliest numberを読んでいますが6年前に覚えた "yadda-yadda-yadda" が次のように出てきました。
They had proven deaf to his protests that there was more to life than a college degree. All his mother could go on about was the value of further education, yadda-yadda-yadda, until it nearly made him crazy.
6年振りに旧友に会えたようで嬉しいですね。

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under her breath

2014年06月13日 | インポート

Tom Clancy's Net Force、昨日の続きの個所です。
"You're early," she shouted at him. "Go away and come back in fifteen minutes."
"It's OK," Roddy said. "I'll just wander around."
"Fine," Maj said, and added under her breath as she sat back down again, "Go ahead, freeze your butt off, I don't care."
"under her breath" はイデオムでしょう。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: In a very quiet voice; almost inaudibly:: ‘he swore violently under his breath
・Dictionary.com: below / under one's breath, in a low voice or whisper; sotto voce: He protested under his breath because he was afraid to speak up.
"sotto voce" はイタリア語ですが、日本語の「そっと言う」の連想で覚えやすいですね。

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"brr" gestures

2014年06月12日 | 英語学習

Tom Clancy's Net Force: ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER を読み始めました。主人公の一人(多分?)、Maj、が頻繁に出てくるのですが、正しい発音が分からないので、その分読むのが遅くなっていると感じます。 さて、早速興味の湧く表現が出てきました。
"We've got people out on the tarmac," Maj's duplicate suddenly said.
"Huh?" Maj was surprised at that. She had programmed her playroom to let her know with an audible chime when someone entered. She hitched herself up a little and peered over the edge of the cockpit. Roddy L'Officier was wandering around out there, hugging himself and generally making "brr" gestures.
最後に出てきた "brr" gestures とはどんなジェスチャーでしょうか?
・Wiktionary: An expression used to express being cold, to show shivering.
・Dictionary.com: interjection (used to express sensations of cold).
・Urban Dictionary: When its so cold that it makes you say "brr": John left the thermostat on cold overnight. When he woke up, he said brr.
日本語ではオノマトペのブルブルと似ていますね。但し英語の "brr" はバーに近い発音です。

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sim

2014年06月11日 | 英語学習
私が読む英書の大半は図書館から借りています。家の近くの図書館には日本語の本しかないので外国の本も置いてある区の中央図書館の本をインターネットで予約していますが、本を選ぶ決め手は題名とページ数だけなので、期待している内容ではない場合も多くあります。今回はTom Clancy's Net Forceを借りました。インターネットに関する本だと思っていたのですが、本を受け取った時に表紙の絵を見て苦手なSFの様なのでちょっとがっかりです。
この小説はTom Clancy's Net Forceというシリーズ物の様で、今回読むのは "ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER" です。裏表紙に中身の紹介文があり、そこからの抜粋です。
Maj Green spent a year perfecting her latest virtual sim: the maiden flight of the XB-70 aircraft back in 1964. But it too fellow student Roddy L'Officier mere moments to sabotage enough lines of her program to make it literally crash and burn.
It wasn't the first time Roddy had done it to their programs. And the rest of the Net Force Explorers have had enough. They exile Roddy--no virtmails, no sims, nothing--until he realizes what he's done.
"virtual sim" に "virtmails"の様に "virtual" が付くと実態が何なのか良く分かりませんが、SFらしい言葉ではあります。 "sim" は "simulation" と関係ありそうですが何でしょうか? 辞書に説明があるか見ます。
・Collins Dictionary: a computer game which simulates an activity such as playing a sport or flying an aircraft
・CGS Network.com: Computer, Telephony & Electronics Industry Glossary: Short for simulation or simulator. Sims are role playing games that allow players to join in easily. The sim game is based in a virtual world where the players create a character and act as the character would in the given situations. Many Sims are based on well known TV shows or familiar stories. This sort of role playing initiated the term artificial intelligence on early computers.
上の説明の "sim" と Net Forceでの "sim" が同じ様なものかどうかは定かではありませんが、とりあえず "sim" には "role playing game" の意味があることを頭にいれておきます。
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upskirt

2014年06月10日 | 英語学習

Japan Times Online, May 25の記事の一部を抜粋します。
Kyoto law puts ‘upskirt’ photography in focus
...
Surreptitious filming or taking of pictures up the skirts of high school females has long made headlines throughout Japan. A whole subgenre of magazines exists for Peeping Toms who earn their living by taking photos on the sly, while the Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for getting photos and video out to the peeping public.
...
In an attempt to crack down on sleazy photographers, Kyoto Prefecture has revised an ordinance that expands the scope of protection. Ordinances forbidding covert filming do exist for public places such as shopping centers, railway stations, trains and buses, which fall under the definition of public buildings and transport systems.
...
In October 2012, a male teacher at a Kyoto city junior high school was caught taking pictures under girls’ skirts. Kyoto police could not make an arrest for illegally filming and had to arrest him on another charge. But the incident sparked local interest in expanding the definition of the ordinance, which had been limited to “public places and transport.”
記事を読めばタイトルに使われている‘upskirt’ の意味がスカートの中を覗く(この場合は盗撮する)ことだと分かりますが、引用符で囲まれていると言う事はこの単語が新語、あるいは普通は使わない意味を示していると思われますが、‘upskirt’ は辞書に出ているか調べます。
・Collins Dictionary: indicating a photograph taken, usually surreptitiously, of a woman sitting or standing with her legs open in such a way that her underwear is exposed
・Dictionary.com: pertaining to a view from under a woman's skirt
・Urban Dictionary: videos or photos or views of up a woman's skirt.: you can get a good upskirt view if you have a mirror attatched to your shoe.
やはり新語の様です。Collins Dictionaryを除いて一般的な辞書にはこの単語はまだ掲載されていない様です。
数年前に高名な大学教授もこの ‘upskirt’で逮捕されていますが、女性の下着を盗撮してどこが面白いのか理解に苦しみます。

追記 驚いたことについ先日現役の小学校の校長がこの‘upskirt’で逮捕されました。お蔭でこの単語は直ぐに覚えられそうですが、嘆かわしい事です。

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TLC

2014年06月09日 | 英語学習

Reader's Digest 4月号のCrazy advertisementsと言う記事からの引用です。
Dresser for sale - possessed by ex-girlfriend
"I am selling the dresser that my ex left behind when we split. As in our relationship, she felt it wasn't an obligation of hers to move anything along in our union or move anything out when she left. It has a huge trifold mirror that was perfect for each of her faces. This dresser is a real keeper and just needs a little TLC. It never wonders where you have been, and it can be friends with other pieces of furniture without being jealous or complaining."
文中に略語の "TLC" が出てきましたが、何の略、意味でしょうか?
・Collins English Dictionary: (informal) tender loving care: Love and TLC - Tender Loving Care - are important parts of support.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: for tender loving care: kindness, love, and attention: He'll need a lot of TLC when he gets out of hospital.
・Macmillan Dictionary: tender loving care: sympathy and support that you show to someone, especially when they feel sick, upset, etc.
配偶者に対しても日頃 "TLC" の気持ちで接していれば離婚する必要はないでしょうね。

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for second

2014年06月08日 | 英語学習
6月10日は時の記念日だそうです。
と言う訳で今日は時計の駄洒落ジョークです。
What does a clock do when it's hungry?
It goes back four seconds.
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anti-spy typewriter

2014年06月07日 | 英語学習

It sounds a bit like an anachronistic Austin Powers joke, but in fact Indian diplomats and Russian communications officers have returned to using typewriters rather than computers in an effort to safeguard their secrets.
...
"Top-secret cables are never conveyed through the internet or machines with cable connections. External hard drives with tremendous amount of data storage capacity are easy to access. Therefore, top-secret cables are written on the typewriter which can't be tracked," he said.

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