deviled egg

Reader's Digest 6月号の記事 'We Found a FIX HELP, HACKS. & HOW TO' からの引用です。

If you're serving chilled foods under the sun, put a zip-top bag of ice at the bottom of the dish, cover it with lettuce, and serve your culinary creation on top. You'll keep your shrimp or deviled eggs safe to eat through a sultry afternoon.

"deviled eggs" はどんな食べ物でしょうか？　辞書を見ます。
・WordNet 3.0: a hard-boiled egg, sliced into halves and with the yolk removed and replaced with a paste, usually made from the yolk　and mayonnaise, seasoned with salt and/or spices such as　paprika.

普通の辞書にはこの "deviled eggs" を項目にしているのは見かけません。やはりこの種は百科辞典を見るべきですね。
・Wikipedia: Deviled eggs (also known as stuffed eggs, Russian eggs, or dressed eggs) are hard-boiled eggs that have been shelled, cut in half, and filled with a paste made from the egg yolks mixed with other ingredients such as mayonnaise and mustard. They are generally served cold as a side dish, appetizer or a main course during gatherings or parties. The dish's origin can be seen in recipes for boiled, seasoned eggs as far back as ancient Rome, where they were traditionally served as a first course. The dish is popular in Europe and North America.
だれでも食べたことのあるあれですね。こんな名称が付いていたとは知りませんでした。

Mason jar

Reader's Digest 6月号の記事 'We Found a FIX HELP, HACKS. & HOW TO' からの引用です。
If you have a fire pit in the backyard or a camping trip coming up soon, start saving wine corks in a Mason jar. Fill the remainder of the jar with just enough rubbing alcohol to submerge the corks, but leave enough space at the top of the jar for them to swell. In a few days, each cork will make an excellent upcycled firestarter.

"Mason jar" は大文字で始まっているので米国メーカーのブランド名のようですが、どんなジャーなのか辞書にでているものか調べました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: A wide-mouthed glass jar with an airtight screw top, used for preserving fruit and vegetables.: He used to have some Mason jars that had money up on the shelf.
・Collins Dictionary: an airtight glass jar for preserving food: Word origin: named after its US inventor, John L. Mason (1832–1902)
・Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary: a widemouthed jar used especially for home canning: Place vinegar, honey, shallot, poppy seeds, mustard and olive oil in a mason jar, screw on the lid and shake vigorously to combine ingredients.

梅酒やピックルを作るのに使う広口のガラス瓶ですね。発明家の名前から付けられた名称ですが、最後に引用した辞書の例の様に小文字でも使われるようなので、既に一般語になっているのですね。

plow on

7月7日のThe Japan Times Onlineの記事から引用します。 
U.K. PM Boris Johnson vows to plow on despite slew of resignations

結局PM Boris Johnsonも辞任を表明しましたが、その前に閣僚が辞任した時の記事でした。
"plow on" を辞書で見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Continue steadily despite difficulties or warnings to stop.: ‘he plowed on, trying to outline his plans’
・Wiktionary: To continue with a menial, tedious or time-consuming task.: If you want to get good grades in the exam, you have to plow on with the book.
・Merriam-Webster: to continue doing something that is slow and difficult: I was discouraged, but I plowed on.

hitching rack

O. Henryの短編小説 "A CHAPARRAL CHRISTMAS GIFT" を読んでいます。
O. Henryの短編小説は百年以上前の出版のせいか難しい英単語やラテン語がやたらに出てきます。
知らない単語がやたらに出てくるので調べても右から左に忘れてしまいます。それでも興味を覚えた単語は何とか覚えたいのですが。
"A CHAPARRAL CHRISTMAS GIFT" から引用します。

It must not be supposed that these two were the sum of the agreeable Rosita's admirers. The bronchos of a dozen others champed their bits at the long hitching rack of the Sundown Ranch.

"hitching rack" の意味を調べる為に辞書で "hitch" の項を見ると、次の説明がありました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Fasten or tether with a rope.: he returned to where he had hitched his horse
・Collins Dictionary: If you hitch something to something else, you hook it or fasten it there.: Last night we hitched the horse to the cart and moved here.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to fasten something to another thing by tying it with a rope or using a metal hook: The horses were hitched to a shiny, black carriage.

"hitching rack" は辞書では見つかりませんでしたが、"hitchrack"、"hitchrail"、"hitching post"、"hitching bar" は辞書の項目にあり、その内の "hitchrack" の説明を引用します。

・Merriam-Webster: a fixed horizontal rail to which a horse or team can be fastened to prevent straying
・Vocabulary.comy: a fixed horizontal rail to which a horse can be hitched to prevent it from straying
・Wiktionary: A post or railing to which horses are tied

最近西部劇も見ることがないので "hitching rack" を見ることもないですね。

Banksy?

私の住んでいる（正確には住んでいた）西葛西のマンションのゴミ集積倉庫の裏側の壁に落書きがありました。
Banksyを連想させる落書きです。葛西地区には専門学校が幾つもあるので多分その学生の一人が書いたものでしょう。ガラス、ビン、セトモノの表記があることから、描いた人はその建物がゴミ集積場であることを知っているようです。

pull a face

予約順位１位にも関わらず予約している桐野 夏生の "Grotesque" が図書館の最大借用期間の４週間を２週間近く過ぎているのに、まだ借りれないので、仕方なく又、Page Turners シリーズの本を読むことにしました。今回はIrene Barrallの "Reunited" （レベル10）を読みます。

Later that morning, they drove through the green countryside into town. Laura turned on the radio. For the first time Meg noticed her bitten fingernails. Everything else about Launa was so perfect that it was a surprise to see the red skin around her fingers. An old song came on, and Laura began singing quietly.
"Do you remember this song at college?"
"Oh yes," Meg pulled a face. "They always played it at the discos, didn't they?"

"pull a long face" は知っていますが、"pull a face" は意味が違うのでしょうか？　"pull a face" の説明を辞書で見ます。

・Vocabulary.com: contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state
・Wiktionary: To make an abnormal facial expression, either intentionally or because of an emotion.

"pull a long face" と同じような意味ですね。"pull a long face" も辞書で再確認します。
・Oxford English Dictionary: An unhappy or disappointed expression.: ‘if you go to the party, don't spoil your Uncle's evening with a long face’
・Collins Dictionary: an unhappy or gloomy expression: He's been walking around with a long face ever since he failed the examination

似ていますが、"long" があると "unhappy or gloomy" の感情が出ているのですね。、"pull a face" は "make a face" とも言うとありました。
・Oxford English Dictionary: (also British pull a face) Produce an expression on one's face that shows dislike, disgust, or some other negative emotion, or that is intended to be amusing.: she made a face and tossed her purse at him
・Merriam-Webster: to distort one's features: GRIMACE: He made a face when I mentioned her name.

give more teeth

7月3日のThe Japan Times Onlineの記事 'Price cap on Russian oil to be about half of current price, Kishida says' から引用します。
The communique said an oil price cap plan could include options such as enabling transportation of Russian seaborne crude oil and petroleum products globally only if the oil is purchased at or below a specified price.
Limiting the oil price is expected to give more teeth to the existing sanctions imposed on Russia, as the country is believed to be profiting from high energy prices stemming from supply concerns due to the war.

"give more teeth"　は「より強化する」の様な意味の様ですが、辞書で確認します。辞書には "give teeth" で次の説明がありました。

・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To make something stronger or more effective, especially a rule or piece of legislation.: Senators are hoping to give teeth to the healthcare bill by attaching the threat of huge fines to insurance companies that don't comply.
・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs: Fig. to make something powerful; to give something a real effect.: The severe penalty really gives teeth to the law. Strong enforcement puts teeth in the regulation.

soup du jour

Reader's Digest 6月号の記事 'Life in these United States' からの引用です。
An angry woman sitting next to me in a diner called over our waitress and said, "I don't know what kind of ruse you're trying to perpetrate. I've had soup du jour before, and (points to bowl), this isn't it."

昔フランスに行った時に、フランス人は英語が嫌いで知っていても知らない振りをする、そんな経験がありますが、最近はＴＶのニュース等で見る限りではそんなことは無く、英語を話すフランス人も多くなっているようです。　上のジョークに出てくるような "soup du jour" を知らない米国人は少ないと思いますが、多民族国家の割りには日本人と同様に外国語が苦手な人が多いようです。

dangle

6月28日のThe Japan Times Onlineの記事 'Japan to host G7 summit in Hiroshima next May' に覚えたい単語が使われていました。記事の一部を引用します。
Next year's summit is intended to send a message of peace from Hiroshima, one of the two nuclear-bombed cities in Japan during World War II, as Russia has dangled the threat of nuclear weapons since it invaded Ukraine in late February.

"dangle" の意味として、「ぶら下げる」は知っていますが、ここではその意味ではないですね。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: with object Offer (an enticing incentive) to someone.: ‘two rich commissions that had been dangling so sweetly in front of me’
・Collins Dictionary: If you say that someone is dangling something attractive before you, you mean they are offering it to you in order to try to influence you in some way.: They've dangled rich rewards before me.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to offer someone something that they want in order to persuade that person to do something: I've tried dangling all kinds of offers in front of him to get him to work harder at school, but nothing works.

辞書では魅力的なものを目の前にぶら下げて誘惑する例ばかりでしたが、ロシアはニンジンではなく、核兵器使用をちらつかせているので、本当に恐ろしい、酷い話です。

beta-blocker

Andrew Watsonの "Mercy Killer" を読んでいます。
Rick's heart was still racing. His head hurt badly. As the woman answered each question, she stared angrily in his direction. Rick turned away, uncomfortable. He quietly removed the bottle of beta-blockers from his pocket and swallowed a couple of pills.

"beta-blockers" は薬の一種の様ですが何でしょう？　辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: Any of a class of drugs that prevent the stimulation of the adrenergic receptors responsible for increased cardiac action. Beta blockers are used to control heart rhythm, treat angina, and reduce high blood pressure.
・Collins Dictionary: A beta blocker is a drug which is used to treat people who have high blood pressure or heart problems.: By blocking adrenalin, beta-blockers slow the heart rate and reduce blood pressure.