昨日十万円を出して東京マラソンに参加する友人を応援するために銀座に行ったのですが、何せ３万人以上のランナーが走っていて、応援の人も多いので、結局友人の走っているところは見れませんでした。
さて、Music Theory for Dummiesの第一章を読んでいます。
Each exercise contains five groups (or measures) of four beats each. The measures are notated with verical lines, called bar lines, which are explained more in Chapter 4.
"measure"/"bar" は小節ですね。
Theodore Boone the Accusedに以前（1/16/2014）に取り上げた "go haywire" が次の様に出て来ました。
The truth was that Chase was the last person in the world Theo would partner with in a Chemistry lab. Chase was a brilliant, mad scientist with a long record of experiments gone haywire. He had started fires and set off explosions, and no lab was safe when Chase was at work.
Music Theory for Dummiesを読み始めました。基礎的な音楽の知識から始まりましたので、さすがに私でも知っている内容がほとんどですが、基本的な音楽用語でも英語で何と言うのかは知らなかった単語が次々と出て来ます。
Reading musical notes on both the treble and brass clef staves as well as finding notes on the piano and guitar -- the two most common instruments on which people teach themselves to play -- are crucial to making and studying music.
...
In printed music, right after the clef and the key signature (see Chapter 8 for more about key signature) at the beginning of the staff, you see a pair of numbers, one written over the other. "key signature" も知らない用語ですが、後の章で説明があるのでとりあえず飛ばして、"stave" or "staff" が５線譜/楽譜を示していることを覚えましょう。
私が読む本のほとんどは図書館から借りているのですが、図書館には日曜日にしか行かない関係で時々借りて読む本が途切れる事があります。そんな場合に読む本として年に２～３冊の洋書を買いますが、今回はMusic Theory for Dummiesを買って読むことにしました。馬鹿でも分かるシリーズと言うのは日本にはないと思いますが、サルでも分かる～は見かけたことがあります。入門書なので内容は分かり易く、英語も専門用語を除いて余り難しくありません。それでも私の知らない単語や慣用句などがでてくると思いますが、それも楽しみです。今日取り上げるのは序文に出てきた単語です。
Introduction
So, if you're new to the world of music theory, pace yourself while reading this book. Read it while you're sitting at your piano or with your guitar or whatever instrument you're working with next to you, and stop every couple of pages to practice the information you read. If you were taking a music class, this book would cover several years' worth of information, so if you don't learn everything in one or two months, you should refrain from self-flagellation.
この最後の単語 "" の意味は何でしょう？ 辞書を引きます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: The action of flogging oneself, especially as a form of religious discipline.: During Holy Week they engaged in self-flagellation and conducted mock crucifixions.
・American Heritage Dictionary:
1. The act of severely criticizing oneself.
2. The act of punishing oneself.
・Wordnik: A little self-flagellation isn't going to hurt you.
中学卒業以来音楽の勉強をしていませんし（高校で音楽の授業があったかどうか全く記憶がありません）、日本語でもほんの少ししかしらない音楽用語を英語でなんと言うのか、知っているのは "note", "beat", "tempo" 位でしょうか？ 先が読みたくなりました。
今日取り上げるのはReader's Digest １2月号の二つの別々の記事に出てきた同じ表現です。
最初はEditor's Noteに次の様に出て来ました。
WHAT'S THE MOST DARING THING YOU'VE EVER DONE? We posed that question to a group of readers recently and expected it to be entirely stories about adventure sports, thrill rides, foreign travel going awry, horror movie marathons... Not even near. Seems none of these pre-planned white-knuckle events measure up to the heart-pumping terrors that life throws at us, often with little notice.
この "white-knuckle" は、覚えている人もいると思いますが、2014年12月28日ギリシャからイタリアに向かっていた客船が火災を起こして多くの人が亡くなった事故についての記事、HOLIDAY DISASTERの中でも使われていました。その事故の経験者でギリシャの島に住んでいる家族はその後しばらく船に乗ることを避けてきまいしたが、再び船に乗らざるを得ない時がきました。
The next month, Natasa, Nassos and their sons walked onto a ferry - Dimitri had to write exams in Ioanniana, a city on the mainland. They sat white-knuckled as two hours ticked by. The voyage went smoothly.
では "white-knuckle" の意味を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: (Especially of a vehicle, boat, or airplane ride) causing excitement or tension.; Once he has entered into his position, the white-knuckle ride and nail biting begins.
Origin: 1970s: with reference to the effect caused by gripping tightly to steady oneself.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: A white-knuckle experience or activity makes you feel very frightened and often excited: a white-knuckle ride in a theme park
かなり新しい表現ですね。ジェットコースターに乗っている時に取っ手を堅く握りしめている手を思い出せば良い様です。
英語では日本語の「いってきます」に相当する決まり文句はないと聞いていますが、「学校にいってきます」に相当する台詞がTheodore Boone the Abductionの小説に出て来ました。
At 8:00 a.m., Theo rinsed their bowls in the sink, placed the milk and juice back in the fridge, walked to the den, and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Off to school," he said.
"Do you have lunch money?" she asked, the same question five mornings a week.
実に簡単な英語ですね。
Theodore Boone the Abductionは巨匠グリシャムによる、ジュニア向け法廷ミステリーシリーズで、面白かったので、地元の図書館にある他のTheodore Booneシリーズも全部読んで見たいと思います。
それでは私はこれから "Off to office" です。
今日の単語は、記録によると既に過去三回もこのブログで取り上げています（4/11/2011、6/3/2013、12/15/2015）。Theodore Boone the Abductionを読んでいるとまた出てきたのですが、残念ながらこの意味は直ぐに思い出せなかったので、今度は４度目ですが、最後にしたいのでしつこく取り上げます。
Everyone read the letter. Though couched in medical terms, the bottom line was that May had emotional problems, and to deal with them she had gotten herself mixed up with various and unnamed prescription drugs.
"couched in" の意味を辞書で確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: (usually be couched in) Express (something) in language of a specified style: many false claims are couched in scientific jargon
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to express something in a particular way: [often passive] I don't understand this form - it's all couched in legal terminology.
・Vocabulary.com: The word couch comes from the French word coucher, meaning to lie down. Some types of couches are indeed meant for lying down. A psychiatrist's couch, for example, was designed to make patients feel comfortable when discussing their problems. In language, to couch is to phrase your words in a certain manner. If you don't want to hurt your friend's feelings, you should couch your words carefully when you tell her that her everyone is leaving her party early.
本屋の閉店が増えていると聞いています。理由は幾つかあると思いますが、Reader's Digest、昨年の１２月号にこんな投書がありました。
This sign was found posted at a bookstore that was going out of business: "Sorry, no public restroom. Try amozon.com."
私も最近、洋書はもちろん他にも様々な商品をamozon.comで注文し、近所のコンビニでピックアップする機会が多くなりました。
Theoは行方不明だった友達のAprilを見つけました。
“My father thought it was so cool playing at Miller’s.”
“How’d you get in the bar when you’re thirteen years old?” Theo asked. “I don’t know. I was with the band. It’s not like I was drinking and smoking. The next day we drove to another town, maybe it was Roanoke, where the band played to an empty house in an old music hall. What day was that?” “Thursday,” Ike said. “Then we drove to Raleigh.” “Were you in the van with the band?” Ike asked. “No. My father had his car, as did two other guys. We always followed the van. Zack was the driver and the roadie. My father kept me away from the other band members. These guys fight and bicker worse than a bunch of little kids.”
"the driver and the roadie" の "roadie" とはどんな職業でしょうか？ 辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A person employed by a touring band of musicians to set up and maintain equipment.: I have this theory about roadies and headlining bands: If a roadie walks across the stage, it's at least two minutes before the band go on.
・Collins Dictionary: a person who transports and sets up equipment for a band or group: A mean-looking roadie was trundling a massive pair of speakers toward us on some kind of trolley. なるほど知ってみると分かり易い単語ですね。
Theoは行方不明の友達April Finnemoreが父親に連れ去られたと睨んで、父親の売れないバンドPlunderを手掛かりに調べています。
So far, there was no sign of Plunder. Working in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, Theo had found dozens of music halls, clubs, private party rooms, concert venues, bars and lounges, even wedding receptions. About half had websites or Facebook pages, and not one had mentioned a band called Plunder. He also found three underground weeklies that listed hundreds of possible venues for live music. Using the office landline, Theo began cold calling, in alphabetical order. The first was a joint called Abbey’s Irish Rose in Durham.
Theoは片っ端から "cold calling" をして手掛かりを掴んだ様です。 "cold calling" はここでは電話ですが、 セールスマンのアポなし訪問の意味で使われていたのを以前何かで読んだことがありますが、ブログに取り上げた記録がないので、辞書で再確認します。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: the activity of calling or visiting a possible customer to try to sell them something without being asked by the customer to do so: We were cold-called by a company offering savings on our phone bill.
・Wikipedia: Cold calling is defined as the solicitation of business from potential customers[1] who have had no prior contact with the salesperson conducting the call.[2] Cold calling is used to attempt to convince potential customers to purchase either the salesperson’s product or service. Cold calling is generally referred to as an over-the-phone process, making it a source of telemarketing, but can also be done in-person by door-to-door salespeople. Though cold calling can be used as a legitimate business tool, scammers can use cold calling as well.
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