Jennifer WeinerのFly Away Homeを読んでいます。
She walked back through the big room that ran the length of the first floor. In the living room section there was a pair of overstuffed couches, their upholstery clawed by long-dead cats, and another table for playing cards or board games. The bookshelves were full of law journals and stained, water-bloated paperbacks--the romances and Agatha Christie books her grandmother had favored, the westerns and mysteries her grandfather had loved--and a mounted deer’s head hung over the fireplace in the middle. Past the great room was a porch that stood under a deep awning and was lined with lounge chairs, a glider for two, and little wicker tables. Out past the porch was the sea, with white-curdled waves rolling gently over the sand.
エンジンの無い飛行機の "glider" は子供の頃長野県の霧ケ峰で見たことがあるだけですが、家のポーチにある "glider" はどう考えても飛ぶような代物ではないですね。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A long swinging seat suspended from a frame in a porch.: She flopped back down into the glider, setting it swinging wildly for a moment.
・Cambridge English Dictionary:
a) US a seat for one or two people that swings backwards and forwards, usually used on a porch (= a raised, covered area outside at the front or side of a house)
b) a children's swing (= a hanging seat on which you can move backwards and forwards) for two people
なるほど、これなら日本でも広い庭のある家にはあっても良さそうだ。
When she couldn’t stall any longer she walked down the hallway and knocked on the door of Richard’s office. He was sitting behind his desk, in his good suit, one knee bouncing up and down. A pinprick of shaving cream clung to his jaw, and she found herself automatically reaching for a tissue before making herself stop. Maybe his girlfriend can wipe it off, she thought.
"pinprick" が気になるので辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A cause of minor irritation: These explorations are, however, mere pinpricks in the impervious hide of western culture.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: something that is slightly annoying for a short time: You have to ignore the pinpricks and just get on with the job.
ピンが刺されば痛いし、蚊のような細いピンでも確かにイライラしますね。
Jennifer WeinerのFly Away Homeを読んでいます。
With neighbors calling hellos and a pleasant afternoon awaiting her--Milo would nap, or read, or play with his Legos, and Gary would zone out in front of the television set with his laptop, leaving Diana with a few hours for a long run and a soak in the tub--she would think, happily, even a little smugly, that she’d gotten exactly the life she’d wanted: the husband, the child, the nest that she was in the process of feathering. On the best days, it would be enough to quiet the teasing, drawling voice in her head, the voice that sounded a lot like her sister saying that Gary was the tiniest bit stupid and boring to boot, that Gary, with his love for video games and YouTube videos, wasn’t the right man for her; that he was maybe not much of a man at all.
"the nest that she was in the process of feathering" の個所ですが、"nest" を "feathering" ですから、鳥が羽毛で巣を整えるように、家あるいは家庭を育てる解釈ができますが、辞書で "feather" の項を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Make money illicitly and at someone else's expense.: They are in this line of work to feather their own nest.
・Collins Dictionary: If you say that someone is feathering their nest, you mean that they are getting a lot of money out of something, so that they can lead a comfortable life.: Mary's much more interested in doing things for other people than feathering her own nest.
・Wiktionary: To achieve benefits, especially financial ones, by taking advantage of the opportunities with which one is presented; to amass a comfortable amount of personal wealth.: Dempster must have feathered his nest pretty well; he can afford to lose a little business.
引用文の文脈ではお金を稼ぐ意味ではなさそうですが、"feather one's (own) nest" は覚えることにしよう。
Jennifer WeinerのFly Away Homeを読んでいます。
She looked at him and wondered what he saw when he looked at her--a girl with droopy blond hair and an ice-cream-soaked skirt; a damsel in distress, when the truth was that Lizzie was more like a Trojan horse. She might look okay, like the kind of fancy, pretty thing you’d welcome into your city or your home, but inside, she was trouble. Jeff seemed like a nice guy. He didn’t deserve Lizzie.
“Or have you got a boyfriend?” Jeff asked, but not in a jerky way. She thought about telling him that she’d never had a boyfriend in her life, but instead she just said, “I work most nights, is the thing.”
"jerky way" の "jerky" ですが、動詞の "jerk" に急に引っ張る意味があり、 "jerky" はガタガタと進んだりする様な意味になることは知っていますが、会話が "jerky way" とは何でしょうか？ 辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Contemptibly foolish.: It's so unfortunate that the other mothers are being so jerky and setting a poor example for their kids!
・Cambridge English Dictionary: not smooth and pleasant: I enjoyed the concert, although the playing was kind of jerky at times.
そう言えば "beef jerky" もありましたね。
The Japan Times 9月24日付のNews Headlineからの引用です。
Abe trots out tax hike issue again before snap election to boost LDP chances
"trot" に馬の速足や小走りで走る意味があるので "trots out" だと阿部首相は税の問題から逃げたように思えますが、消費税を10%に上げる話を持ち出したのですよね。辞書で "trot out" を確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Produce the same information, story, or explanation that has been produced many times before.: everyone trots out the old excuse
・Collins Dictionary: If you say that a person trots out old ideas or information, you are criticizing him or her for repeating them in a way that is not new or interesting.: [informal , disapproval] Was it really necessary to trot out the same old stereotypes about Ireland?
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to provide an excuse, idea, opinion, or fact, especially one that has been used often before or one that is silly: You trot out that argument whenever I try to discuss this with you.
何故この様な意味になるのか不思議に思い色々調べると、馬が上手に "trot out" 出来るのを何度も自慢することから次のように他のことでも何度も自慢することの意味になった様です。
・bring out and show for inspection and admiration; "His novel trots out a rich heiress"; "always able to trot out some new excuse"
・to bring forward, as for approbation or admiration, esp repeatedly: he trots out the same excuses every time.
今はその自慢や前からの話を持ち出すことを批判、皮肉をこめて表現する様になったのですね。
The Japan Times 9月24日付のオピニオン記事 "Juncker’s road map for European disaster" から引用します。
In short, Juncker’s plan to accelerate eurozone accession threatens to re-create in spades the chaos of the past decade, which started with a bubble in Southern Europe and culminated in the Greek sovereign-debt crisis.
"in spades" は "2/5/2014" に取り上げ、"2/8/2014" に由来を補足しました。
The Japan Times Sept.13の記事の抜粋です。
Bodyguard shot dead in apparent Kobe yakuza feud
A man believed to be a bodyguard of the head of a yakuza splinter group linked to the largest crime syndicate in the country was shot dead during a violent ambush Tuesday in Kobe, police said.
"l" と "r" の区別が苦手な私は "splinter" で "sprinter" の意味が頭に浮かび、逃げ足の早いヤクザを想像しましたが、それはどうも可笑しいので辞書を見ます。
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a group of people who have left a political party or other organization and formed a new separate organization: The Socialist Workers' Party seemed to split into several splinter group.
・Macmillan Dictionary: used for describing a group that has separated from a larger group, usually because of a disagreement: a splinter group/movement/party/faction
"splinter group" はヤクザだけではなく、政党、宗派等々でよくありますね。やはり逃げ足も速い連中が "splinter group" を作るような気がするのは気のせいでしょうか？
The doors slid open on the tenth floor. Sylvie stepped into their apartment, her heels clicking on the floors, seeing it as if for the first time and realizing that she’d created, over the years, a version of those fancy hotel rooms in which she and Richard stayed. Everything was correct, everything was attractive, everything was in its place and as it should have been, from the green-and-ivory botanical prints over the fireplace to the carved teak elephant (“Quirky!” her decorator had said. “Whimsical!”) in the center of the dining room table. She might have liked that elephant, with its sturdy legs and upraised trunk, if she and Richard had stumbled across it in some faraway flea market, or if one of her daughters had given it to them as a misbegotten anniversary gift, but now it was all she could do not to send it smashing to the floor.
"misbegotten" の意味は分かりそうで分からないので辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Badly conceived, designed, or planned.: a misbegotten journey to Indianapolis
・Cambridge English Dictionary: badly or stupidly planned or designed: a misbegotten belief/idea; misbegotten social and economic policies
覚えておくと良さそうな単語ですね。
Jennifer WeinerのFly Away Homeを読んでいます。
“Ow,” he said, startled. “Ow, shit!” His legs were splayed out in front of him, his socks drooping, his pants legs riding up, exposing his hairy calves. She grabbed his hand to pull him upright but couldn’t get enough purchase with her silly high-heeled shoes, so she wound up on top of him, her chest pressed against his, both of them on the wintry, wet ground, laughing until tears ran from her eyes. She knew it was ridiculous, and that poor Richard’s pants were soaked and probably ruined, but the day had been so terrible, and it felt good to laugh.
"purchase" は誰でも知っている単語ですが、購入するとか買う（そしてその名詞）の意味しか知らないので上の "purchase" の個所の意味が分かりません。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A hold or position on something for applying power advantageously, or the advantage gained by such application.: the horse's hooves fought for purchase on the slippery pavement
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a firm hold that allows someone or something to be pulled or lifted without sliding or falling: Dancers use a special powder on their shoes to help them get a better purchase on the floor.
"purchase" にこんな意味もあるのを知りませんでした。
Jennifer WeinerのFly Away Homeを読んでいます。
"I'm fine." She crossed the room and opened her locker. There were her running shoes, a pair of shorts, a sports bra, and a ripe T-shirt that she'd shucked off after a lunchtime five-miler two days before.
想像力の乏しい私には何故Ｔシャツが "ripe" で形容されるのか分かりません。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: (of a smell or flavor) rich, intense, or pungent.: rich, ripe flavors emanate from this wine
・Cambridge English Dictionary: A ripe smell is strong and unpleasant: There was a ripe smell from his socks.
なるほど、果物でも熟し過ぎると味だけではなく、匂いも悪くなるかも。
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