Pink Supermoon

スーパームーンを昨日のブログタイトルで Super-Moon と書きましたが、BBC Newsを見るとApril 8付の記事でスーパームーンはハイフンを使わずに "supermoon" と綴られていました。
記事の抜粋を引用します。
Stargazers across Scotland captured some stunning images of a pink supermoon overnight.
Despite its name, there is not any noticeable colour difference to the full moon.

...
In many cultures, including Native American tribes, people named the full moons throughout the year as a way to keep track of time.

So although April's full moon is known as the Pink Moon, don't expect it to look particularly pink!
It's named after pink flowers called wild ground phlox, which bloom in early spring and appear throughout the United States and Canada.
It is also called the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and the Fish Moon in other parts of the world.
四月の満月を "Pink Moon" というので、８日の満月は "Pink Supermoon" といえるのですね。。

A Ball Like a Super-Moon

昨夜スーパームーンを見ました。気のせいかいつもの月より大きく明るく見えました。
さて、今日は月のように丸い物の話です。Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Laughter the Best Medicine' からの引用です。
A nurse noticed a golfer pacing up and down the hallway outside an operating room where another golfer--who had a golf ball lodged in his throat--was being treated.
"Is he your relative?" the nurse asked.
"No," said the golfer. "It's my ball."

IV drip

今日から私が通っているジムもテニス教室も休会となりました。図書館も閉館ですが、オンラインでの予約と本の受け取り、返却はできるので、私には影響ありません。早くコロナ感染が収束することを願っています。
さて、宮部みゆきの小説 "The Sleeping Dragon" を読んでいます。
One evening when I had gone out for a drink with a colleague, I asked after a few beers, what he would do if a UFO came out of the sky and landed and its crew told him that they knew who had committed a major crime that the police were investigating. The answer I got was, "I'd go home and go to bed," followed by, "And if I woke up the next morning and was still pretty sure I'd really seen it, then I'd have myself committed. I'd probably see goldfish swimming in the IV drip, too."
"IV drip" の "IV" を最初はローマン数字の表記と勘違いし、何の事か不思議に思いましたが、"drip" を調べかけて、"intravenous" の略字表記だと気が付きました。

・Oxford English Dictionary: Intravenous or intravenously: they put an IV in me

・Collins Dictionary: An IV or an IV drip is a piece of medical equipment by which a liquid is slowly passed through a tube into a patient's blood: She was muzzled with an oxygen mask and tethered to an IV.

・Cambridge English Dictionary: intravenous: IV drug users

twenty-twenty

英訳された宮部みゆきの小説は江戸川区図書館に5冊あるのですが、これまでに "Devil's Wisper", "Shadow Family", "Crossfire", "All She Was Worth" を読んだので、これから読む "The Sleeping Dragon" が最後になります。
今日取り上げる表現はそのPROLOGUEからです。
This is the record of a battle.
Right off the bat, though, I need to make it clear that I was never on the front line. The heroes were two young men just past adlescence.
One I knew well, and the other I came to know well enough to be sure that he wouldn't mind me telling you what happened. If I had met him sooner, I might have been able to do something to actually stop the chain of events that occurred. But hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
"twenty-twenty" は視力が正常なことを示していて、米国の眼鏡屋で "20/20" を含んだ掲示を見た覚えがあります。

・Oxford English Dictionary: Denoting vision of normal sharpness.: I guess my twenty-twenty eyesight went out with the lights.

・Collins Dictionary: being of normal acuity: usually written 20/20: With twenty-twenty hindsight I realise that I too should have leapt off the chair at that point and no damage would have been done.
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: marked by facilely accurate discernment, judgment, or assessment: hindsight is twenty-twenty
当然の事ながら、判断力、評価力、洞察などは、"hindsight" と一緒に使われれば、優れているのは当たりまえですね。

burpee

Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Wake Up Your Brain' からの引用です。
Last spring, I started a new exercise class. As someone who dislikes doing jumping jacks, burpees, and push-ups, I found the workouts surprisingly enjoyable, at least for a while. But after several months, my hobby began to feel like watching the same episode of a sitcom on repeat.
"burpees" はどんな運動でしょうか？
・Oxford English Dictionary: A physical exercise consisting of a squat thrust made from and ending in a standing position.: he burpee is a calisthenic exercise performed to increase strength and explosiveness.

・Urban Dictionary: The most badass exercise on the market, targets every muscle and improves explosiveness. Common among inmates.

Consists of doing a push up, going into a squat, jumping as high as you can, dropping back into a squat then into a pushup. A pull up can be added after the jump if a bar is available.

語源は人名からだそうです。
Wiktionary: After US physiologist Royal Huddleston Burpee

A Long-Ago Spark Is Rekindled

近所の保育園児からコロナ感染が出た事を知りました。段々とコロナが近づいている気配がして来ました。しかたなく、外出時には嫌いなマスクをしています。
さて、Reader's Digest 2月号の記事 'Laughter The Best Medicine' からの引用です。
A widower and a widow attend their 70th class reunion, and a long-ago spark is rekindled.
At the end of the night, he asks, "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, I will!" she says enthusiastically.
The next morning, the widower wakes up troubles. Did she say yes or no? Confused, he calls her and asks, "Did you say yes, or no to marrying me?"
"I said yes! And I'm glad you called, because I couldn't remember who asked me."
笑いは免疫力を高めると信じている私です。

flummox

今日取り上げる単語はReader's Digest 2月号の二つの別々の記事に出てきました。
最初は 'All in a Day's Work' からの引用です。
The restaurant industry can flummox rookies and seasoned pros alike. Consider:
A table ordered a Dr Pepper and a Coke. The server brought their drinks over, then, in front of the customers, took a sip from each drink to see which was which.
次の記事は 'Accidents Moments That Changed History' からの引用です。
He started slipping soldiers across the East River under cover of the night and into the morning, when a heavy fog miraculously descended and continued to conceal his army's movements from the British.
By the time the fog lifted, the British were flummoxed. George Washington's entire army had retreated onto Manhattan, along with all their supplies.
では "flummox" を辞書で調べます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: usually be flummoxed: Perplex (someone) greatly; bewilder.: he was completely flummoxed by the question
・Collins Dictionary: someone is flummoxed by something, they are confused by it and do not know what to do or say.: The two leaders were flummoxed by the suggestion.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to confuse someone so much that they do not know what to do: I have to say that last question flummoxed me.