fly on the wall

1/31/2012に採り上げた表現 "fly on the wall" がReader's Digest 7月号のソーシャルネットワークの記事に次の様に出てきました。
Social media companies seldom promote the idea of mere readership, since they'd rather see people pumping their networks full of pictures and posts, but there's no rule against being a "fly on the wall".
私もFacebookに登録はしていますが、滅多に投稿はせず、たまに知人の投稿を読むだけです。これはまさに "fly on the wall" 状態ですね。

Jaws of Life

Reader's DigestのLife's Like That欄９月号に "File these newspaper headlines under: We Don't Even Want to Know"（こんなタイトルの記事は要らない）があり、下はその内の一つです。
Firefighters Use Jaws of Life to Free High School Girl from Locker
この "Jaws of Life" とは何でしょうか？
・Wiktionary: (plural only) Emergency rescue equipment used to open a completely destroyed passenger vehicle, to quickly and somewhat safely extricate the trapped occupants.: For the most terrible of car accidents, jaws of life have to be used to extricate the injured.
・Wikipedia: Hydraulic rescue tools are used by emergency rescue personnel to assist vehicle extrication of crash victims, as well as other rescues from small spaces. These tools include cutters, spreaders, door busters and rams. They are popularly referred to in the English speaking Commonwealth nations and the US as the Jaws of Life, a trademark of Hurst Performance, Inc. The Jaws of Life were first used in 1963 as a tool to free race car drivers from their vehicles after accidents.
なるほど、元々は商標ですか。

wheelhouse

今日はReader's Digest ９月号の記事 "How to Win Almost Anything" に出てきた単語です。
Know your strengths. If you think your mind is the equivalent of the Smithsonian Institution, a pop culture quiz show probably isn't for you. But if you can list all of Brad and Angelina's adopted children in chronological order, maybe this type of game show is more in your wheelhouse. We all have specific strengths and weaknesses, so he honest about yours.
"wheelhouse" は文脈からすると「得意分野」の意味があると思いますが、辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A place or situation in which one is advantageously at ease: as the campaign swings to the south, that should be right in his wheelhouse ・Vocabulary.com: A wheelhouse is literally a small enclosure on a boat or ship that houses the steering wheel. The captain navigates the ship from the wheelhouse. On land, though, something in your wheelhouse is in your area of expertise.
The term wheelhouse was first used in the mid-1800s to describe the area of a steamboat that enclosed its steering wheel. You can use the word to describe the part of any boat where the captain steers, though it's more common these days to call an actual wheelhouse a bridge or pilothouse. Now, a wheelhouse often refers to something more general. For example, if you’re an animal lover, finding homes for pets is right in your wheelhouse.
納得です。

writer's block

Reader's Digestに毎月掲載されているNury Vittachi氏の記事Unbelievableは副題にTrue Tales from Asiaとありますが、誇張が過ぎていて余り信用できません。
それはさておき、９月号の記事に出てきた表現が気になりました。
I once managed to get a couple of months' grace from a particularly terrifying landlord by sending him an unsigned cheque. When he got round to asking why it was unsigned, I told him I had writer's block.
以前 "writer's cramp" (10/6/2008) を採り上げましたが、上の "writer's block" はどんな意味があるのでしょうか？　辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: The condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.: Some call it writer's block, others, cruelly, call it a lack of creativity.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: the problem of not being able to think of something to write about or not being able to finish writing a story, poem, etc. 作家がスランプに陥り書けなくなることですね。

rub elbows

Japan Times Online Oct.6の記事タイトルに出てきた下の慣用句と単語を覚えたい。
Technology, business rub elbows at STS confab
The annual Science and Technology in Society Forum, a three-day international gathering of scientists, engineers, university and government officials and corporate heads, kicked off Sunday with discussions on issues ranging from climate change to energy efficiency.
"rub elbows" は明らかに慣用句でしょう。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Associate or come into contact (with another person): he rubbed elbows with TV stars at the party
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: rub elbows (with someone) and rub shoulders with someone: Fig. to associate with someone; to work closely with someone. (No physical contact is involved.) I don't care to rub elbows with someone who acts like that! I rub shoulders with John at work. We are good friends.
なるほど。そうであれば "confab" は "conference" と同じような意味のようですが確認します。
Verb: Engage in informal private conversation: Peter was confabbing with a curly-haired guy.
Noun: a) An informal private conversation or discussion: They wandered off to the woods for a private confab. b) A meeting or conference of members of a particular group: this year’s annual American Booksellers Association confab
"conference" より非公式と言うか、余り確固とした成果、目的を期待しない集まりのようですね。都会では毎日通勤電車内で "rub elbows or shoulders" が行われています。

Living in Switzerland

ハリーポッターの日本語版翻訳者である松岡 佑子さんがスイスに住んでいることは税金の申告漏れのニュースでよく知られることになりましたが、何故スイスに移ったのでしょうか？
What's the advantage of living in Switzerland?
Well, the flag is a big plus.
やはり節税上のプラスがあるのでしょうね。

keep up one's sleeve

The Quiet Americanに5/15/2013に取り上げた慣用句（"have something up one's sleeve"）が出てきました。
'You'll never take me seriusly, will you, Thomas?' he complained, with that schoolboy gaiety which he seemed to have kept up his sleeve for this night of all nights, 'I tell you what--Phuong's at the cinema--what about you and me spending the whole evening together? I've nothing to do now.' It was as though someone from outside were directing him how to choose his words in order to rob me of any possible exuse. He went on. 'Why don't we go to the Chalet? I haven't been there since that night. The food is just as good as the Vieux Moulin, and there's music.'