nous

Reader's Digest 11月号の記事Turn a Hobby Into a Real Jobからの引用です。
People mightn't have the money or mightn't yet have built up the general life-skills and nous to run a business.
"nous" にはどんな意味があるのでしょうか？　辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: British Common sense; practical intelligence: if he had any nous at all, he’d sell the movie rights
・Cambridge English Dictionary: good judgment and practical ability: Anyone with a bit of nous would have known what to do.
"practical intelligence" ですか、私は余り持ち合わせていない気がします。

gun the engine

Reader's Digest 11月号の記事 'Terror At The Beach' に目に付く表現がありました。
As he guns the engine, Krill sees the shark's huge shadow moving beneath the boat. There's no time to think about being tipped over. It takes seven minutes to get around the peninsula and back to the bay.
"gun" にこの様な使い方があるとは知りませんでした。辞書で "gun" を確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Accelerate (a vehicle): he gunned the car away from the curb: He guns the engines, only to realise that the plane is too big to get through the hangar doors.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to make an engine operate at a higher speed: You must have been really gunning the engine to get here on time.
アクセルをいっぱい踏んで飛ばす感じですね。

braising

先日 "blanch" を取り上げましたが、今日はReader's Digest 11月号の記事19 Ways to Cook Everythin Fasterに出てきた料理用語 "braising" を覚えたいと思います。
Use less liquid when braising: submerge your ingredients in about 2.5cm of liquid, cover the pot, and cook, turning occasionally, adding a little liquid as necessary.
"braise" を辞書で調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Fry (food) lightly and then stew it slowly in a closed container: (as adjective braised) braised veal: The veal with chilli and braised salad was, I must confess, excellent.
・Collins English Dictionary: to cook (meat, vegetables, etc) by lightly browning in fat and then cooking slowly in a closed pan with a small amount of liquid: An Italian red needs a "rich braise or a lovely pasta to really sing".

minors

C, E-flat, and G walk into a bar.
The bartender shows them the door and says, "Sorry we don't serve minors."
短いけれど＃なジョークですね。

because, since, as

マーク・ピーターセンの「日本人の英語」はかなり前に読みましたが、図書館に昨年の３月に発行された同じ著者が書いた「実践　日本人の英語」があったので借りて読みました。著者は長年日本で学生に英語を教えており、日本人の間違えやすい英語を熟知しているので、非常に勉強になります。
「接続詞、力くらべ」の章のbecause, since, as 等の因果関係の緊密さ、as, for の方が because, since よりフォーマル、because は原因や理由を、新たな情報として持ち出す時に、since は聞き手がもうすでに分かっているだろうと思われる前提として、原因や理由を持ち出す時に使うとの説明は眼から鱗でした。
辞書にこの様な説明があるか調べると同様な説明が確かにありました。以下の引用は抜粋です。
Oxford Dictionaries:　Because is more common than as and since, both in writing and speaking.　We often use as and since when we want to focus more on the result than the reason. As and since are more formal than because.
English Grammar Today (Cambridge Dictionaries Online):　Like because, we use as and since to give reason but with as and since, the reason should already be known by the listener.

cheese it

Charlotte's Webは児童向けの物語ですが、知らなかった表現がぞろぞろ出て来ます。
The old sheep nodded. "What a cargo!" she said. "That sign ought to say 'Zuckerman's Famous Pig and Two Stowwaways'."
"Look out, the people are coming-oming-oming!" shouted the gander. "Cheese it, cheese it, cheese it!"
"Two Stowwaways" とあるのは、cargoの中に豚の他に、蜘蛛のCharlotteとネズミのTempletonも潜り込んでいるからでしょう。"cheese it" は明らかに慣用句ですが、どんな意味でしょうか？
・Oxford Dictionary: dated Run away: "cheese it, here comes Mr. Madigan!"
・Merriam-Webster English Dictionary: used in the imperative as a warning of danger: cheese it, the cops
Word Detectiveのサイトにもっと詳しい説明がありました。
"Cheese it!" or just "Cheese!" has been a cry of warning among criminals (and juvenile delinquents) since at least the early 19th century. The earliest citation for "cheese it" in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang comes from an 1811 glossary that explains the phrase as meaning "Be quiet; be silent; don't do it," the sort of thing thieves might whisper if they noticed the cops were watching them. "Cheese it" has also come to mean "run away," especially upon sighting a police officer approaching.
The origin of "cheese" in this sense is uncertain. The most popular theory is that "cheese" is simply a mutation of "cease," which would fit nicely with the "be quiet and act innocent" meaning of "cheese it."
悪い事をする人はこの言葉を知らないといけませんね（？）。写真を撮る時の "Say cheese!" と間違えてはお笑いです。

pay out line

インターネットのWebではなく蜘蛛のWebの物語を読んでいます。蜘蛛のCharlotteは巣に文字を織り込むことが出来る特別な蜘蛛で、次の独り言を言いながら文字を織り込んでいます。
"Now for the R! Up we go! Attach! Descend! Pay out line! Whoa! Climb! Attach! Good! Up you go! Repeat! Attach! Descend! Pay out line!
"Pay out line" このラインは蜘蛛の糸で作られるラインしかありませんが、蜘蛛が糸を張るのに 動詞に "Pay out" が使われるのは意外です。辞書を見ます。
・Macmillan Dictionary: if you pay out a rope, you gradually let it become straight and long so that it is no longer wound in a series of circles
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: to unravel or unwind wire or rope as it is needed.: One worker paid the cable out, and another worker guided it into the conduit. The worker paid out the cable.
知らなかった。けれど子供も知っている表現なのですね。

gosling and dud

児童小説Charlotte's Webを読んでいます。前回は虫の名前の単語を取り上げましたが、今日は動物に関する単語です。
"Look," he began in his sharp voice, "you say you save seven goslings. There were eight eggs. What happened to the other egg? Why didn't it hatch?"
"It's a dud, I guess," said the goose.
"gosling" は上の文章の前に "goose" が "I'm sitting-sitting on my eggs....I'm expecting goslings." とあるのでガチョウの子だと分かります。
さて "dud" は何だろうと考えたら、以前不発弾の意味で取り上げた "dud"（5/28/2008）だと思い出しました。それなら今回の意味は文脈からだいたい分かりますが、一応辞書で確認します。
・Oxford Dictionary: A thing that fails to work properly or is otherwise unsatisfactory or worthless: a high-grade collection, not a dud in the lot
・Merriam-Webster English Dictionary: something that does not do what it is supposed to do: something that is a complete failure: The seeds must have been duds because the plants never grew.
なるほど、 "dud" は不発弾だけではないのですね。

midge and daddy longleg

子供の小説Charlotte's Webを読んでいます。豚のWilburと蜘蛛のCharlotteとの会話に虫の名前が沢山出て来ました。<BR>
"You mean you eat flies?" gasped Wilbur.<BR>
"Certainly. Flies, bugs, grasshoppers, choice beetles, moths, butterflies, tasty cockroaches, gnats, <B>midges</B>, <B>daddy longlegs</B>, centipedes, mosquitoes, crickets--anything that is careless enough to get caught in my web. I have to live, don't I?"<BR>
"<B>midges</B>" と "<B>daddy longlegs</B>" は知らない虫なので辞書を見ます。<BR>
"<B>midges</B>"：<BR>
・Oxford Dictionary: Any of a number of small flies whose larvae can be pests of plants, typically producing galls or damaging leaves.<BR>
・Collins Dictionary: any fragile mosquito-like dipterous insect of the family Chironomidae, occurring in dancing swarms, esp near water: But current methods of <B>midge</B> control can involve large-scale disturbance of the countryside.<BR>
小蠅と思えば良いでしょうか。"<B>daddy longlegs</B>" は少し厄介で、少なくとも三種類の虫（蜘蛛を含め）を指している様です。Wikipediaで調べると "Opiliones" の項に飛び次の説明があります。<BR>
Opiliones is an order of arachnids commonly known as harvestmen. <BR>
Particularly in the UK and North America, Opiliones are colloquially known by the name "<B>daddy longlegs</B>" or "<B>granddaddy longlegs</B>", but this name is also used for two other unrelated arthropods: the crane fly (Tipulidae) and the cellar spider (Pholcidae), most likely because of their similar appearance. <BR>
いずれにしても足の長い虫ですね。<BR>

run along

久振りに子供向けの話を読みます。何故この本を申し込んだのか覚えていませんが、図書館でCharlotte's Web by E.B. Whiteを受け取った時に子供向けの本だと気が付きました。子供向けといっても、英語が母国語ではない大人の私には知らない単語や表現が結構出てくるのは経験済みです。今度もその様な単語や表現が多分十個所位はあるでしょう。
生まれてきた豚の子供の一匹が小さく生まれ、処分されそうになっているのを、その農家の少女が気づき抗議しています。
"one of the pig is a runt. It's very small and weak, and it will never amount to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it."
...
"Please don't kill it!" she sobbed. "It's unfair."
Mr. Arable stopped walking.
"Fern," he said gently, "you will have to learn to control yourself."
"Control myself?" yelled Fern. "This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself."
Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father's hand.
"Fern," said Mr. Arable, "I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!"
"runt" も知らなかった単語ですが、文中で説明されているので分かります。こうしてネイティブの子供は語彙が増えるのですね。それはともかく、私が今日覚えたいのは "run along" の表現です。意味はだいたい分かりますが、映画でよく耳にする、大人に対して使う "get out" とはニュアンスが違う気がします。辞書で確認します。
・Oxford Dictionary: Go away (used typically to address a child): run along now, there’s a good girl
・Collins Dictionary: (often said patronizingly) to go away; leave: Now run along, go and hold Sonia's hand and make the best of it.
やはり大人が子供に対して使うのに適している表現なのですね。