Still Alice by LISA GENOVAを読んでいます。
主人公のAliceはハーバード大学の教授ですが、最近体調が悪く、医者に診てもらうことにしました。
"Do you drink alcohol?"
"Just socially."
"How much?"
"One or two glasses of wine with dinner, maybe a little more on a special occasion."
なるほど、付き合い程度に飲むと言うのをこんな簡単な表現で表せるのですね。
一度使って見たい。（嘘でも良い！）
Still Alice by LISA GENOVAを読んでいます。
"I'm sorry to tell you, Alice, you're positive for the PSI mutation." Well, there it was, absolute proof, served straight up, no sugar, no salt, no chaser. And it burned all the way down.
"no chaser" の "chaser" とは何でしょう？
・Oxford English Dictionary: A drink taken after another of a different kind, typically a weak alcoholic drink after a stronger one.: 'bourbon on the rocks with a beer chaser’
・Collins Dictionary: A chaser is an alcoholic drink that you have after you have drunk a stronger or weaker alcoholic drink.
週に1回会社の人達と飲む事が毎週の恒例になってきましたが、ビールで始まり、焼酎 and/or ウィスキー、そして最後にまたビールと、まさにこれが "chaser" を飲んでいるのですね。
Still Alice by LISA GENOVAを読んでいます。
Alice stared out the window as they drove down Storrow Drive. It was frigid outside, already dark at 5:30, and she didn't see anyone braving the elements along the edges of the Charles. No signs of life. John had the stereo turned off.
"braving the elements" の "elements" は5/7/2016 に取り上げましたが、 "brave the elements" でイデオムと考えた方が良さそうだ。
・To go out into and endure bad or stormy weather. Usually used hyperbolically. Thank you for braving the elements to come pick me up. I know there's a slight drizzle, but if you can brave the elements, then you may go play outside for a while.: To go out into and endure bad or stormy weather. Usually used hyperbolically. Thank you for braving the elements to come pick me up. I know there's a slight drizzle, but if you can brave the elements, then you may go play outside for a while.
・The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms: Go out in stormy weather, as in We've just about run out of food; I'll brave the elements and walk to the store. The use of elements for atmospheric agencies dates from the early 16th century but is rare today except in this expression, which is often used hyperbolically.
Aliceの夫JohnはAliceがアルツハイマーらしいと知り、アルツハイマーについて調べ始めます。
John had done his homework. He'd spent the last several weeks buried in literature on the molecular etiology of Alzheimer's.
"etiology" は "etymology" と似ていますがどんな意味でしょう？
・Oxford English Dictionary: The cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.: ‘a group of distinct diseases with different etiologies’
British aetiology
・Collins Dictionary: The etiology of a disease or a problem is the study of its causes.
John had done his homework. He'd spent the last several weeks buried in literature on the molecular etiology of Alzheimer's.
"etiology" は "etymology" と似ていますがどんな意味でしょう？
・Oxford English Dictionary: The cause, set of causes, or manner of causation of a disease or condition.: ‘a group of distinct diseases with different etiologies’
British aetiology
・Collins Dictionary: The etiology of a disease or a problem is the study of its causes.
Still Alice by LISA GENOVAを読むことにしました。'Still Alice' は映画化されたそうですが、話を読む前にLISA GENOVAの小説への称賛のコメントが多く書かれていたので、まずそこから引用します。
"Picking up anything written by LISA GENOVA is quickly becoming a no-brainer."--USA Today
LOVE ANTHONYについての評も書かれていました。
"Autism is like a Zen koan--a riddle without answer...with effects that are myriad, mysterious, and confounding. The same could be said about love...Everyone should read this book."--Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
禅の公案なんて、日本人の普通の会話でもまず出てこない言葉ですが、欧米の知識人には常識の単語なのでしょうか？ 辞書の説明をみます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment.: Zen masters often use nonsensical or unsolvable riddles, or koans, to bring about enlightenment.
・Collins Dictionary: (in Zen Buddhism) a problem or riddle that admits no logical solution: A Zen koan: A hermit's cabin burns down in the woods; does anyone hear but the trees?
・Wiktionary: (Zen Buddhism) A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.
ＳＦのThe Martian by Andy Weirから最後の引用です。
"You ready, Johanssen?" Lewis asked.
"Yes," Johanssen said. "All I have to do is hit enter."
"Martinez, how's our angle?"
"Dead-on, Commander," Martinez reported.
"Strap in," Lewis said.
"dead-on" の意味を辞書で調べます。
・Merriam-Webster: exactly correct or accurate: a dead-on analysis: his impersonations were dead-on
・Dictionary.com: exactly right, accurate, or pertinent: The film director has a dead-on feel for characterization.
語源が気になるので調べました。
Online Etymology Dictionaryの "dead" の語源から抜粋します。
Used from 16c. in adjectival sense of "utter, absolute, quite" (as in dead drunk, first attested 1590s; dead heat, 1796). As an adverb, from late 14c. Dead on is 1889, from marksmanship.
なるほど、射撃で使われ始めた表現なのですね。
ラグビー日本選手権の決勝戦も良い試合でした。惜しくもパナソニックが負けましたがどとらも強かった。
さて、Reader's Digest 11月号の記事 'Life in these United States' からの引用です。
I was singing along with the radio as it played the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
" As I sang the lyric "the girl with kaleidoscope eyes," my husband interrupted.
"Is that what he's singing?" he asked. "All these years, I thought it was 'the girl with colitis goes by.'"
ＳＦのThe Martian by Andy Weirを読んでいます。
"If I can't reach Mark, I want you to release my tether."
"Dr. Beck," Vogel said, "the commander has said no to this."
"I know what the commander said, but if I need a few more meters, I want you to cut me loose. I have an MMU, I can get back without a tether."
"I will not do this, Dr. Beck."
"It's my own life at risk, and I say it's okay."
"You are not the commander."
Beck scowled at Vogel, but with their reflective visitors down, the effect was lost.
"Fine," Beck said. "But I bet you'll change your mind if push comes to shove."
Vogel did not respond.
"push comes to shove" は3/28/2009に取り上げていますが、その時は辞書で確認しなかったので、今日は辞書の説明を見ます。
辞書には "when push comes to shove" の項で説明があります。
・Oxford English Dictionary: When one must commit oneself to an action or decision.: ‘when push came to shove, I always stood up for him’
・Wiktionary: When the pressure is on; when the situation is critical or urgent; when the time has come for action, even if it is difficult. He is not a particularly talented builder, but when push comes to shove, he can usually get the job done.
ＳＦのThe Martian by Andy Weirを読んでいます。
"Have a good flight?" Venkat Bruce steeled himself and stood, picking up his briefcase. He pulled a booklet from it. "Bear in mind, this is the end result of thousands of hours of work, testing, and lateral thinking by all the best guyss at JPL."
"steel oneself" は10/28/2016に取り上げているので復習です。
"Have a good flight?" Venkat Bruce steeled himself and stood, picking up his briefcase. He pulled a booklet from it. "Bear in mind, this is the end result of thousands of hours of work, testing, and lateral thinking by all the best guyss at JPL."
"steel oneself" は10/28/2016に取り上げているので復習です。
ＳＦのThe Martian by Andy Weirを読んでいます。
But I didn't do anything to the soon-to-be-mutilated MAV today. Today was all about system checks. Now that I'm back in contact with NASA, I have to go back to being all "safety first." Strangely, NASA doesn't have total faith in my kludged-together rover or my method of piling everything into the trailer.
"kludge" の意味を調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Use ill-assorted parts to make (something):‘Hugh had to kludge something together’
・Collins Dictionary: an unsophisticated but fairly effective solution to a problem; esp a computing problem: People outside of AI sometimes detect a programming kludge.
やっつけ仕事の様な、あるいは急場しのぎで直したにしてはうまくいった様なニュアンスがある様な感じですね。Wiktionaryに用法の注意が次の様に書かれていました。
Usage Note: Today, kluge and kludge are often used as alternative spellings of the same word, although a distinction in usage can perhaps be detected: in the UK, the connotation of kludge is almost wholly negative (as befits its alleged derivation), while US usage of kluge, following its alleged German derivation, admits some fondness or admiration for the cleverness or functionality underlying a working klu(d)ge.
英国と米国でニュアンスが異なるのですね。ちなみに作者は米国人なので良い意味で使っているのでしょう。
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