Giles Murray

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読み終わりましたが、話の内容が面白いだけではなく、英語版の表現が自然で慣用句やしゃれた表現が多いと感じたので気になって、翻訳者のGiles Murray氏について調べてみました。

1966年ロンドン生まれ。
Among his translations are Kumiko Kakehashi's So Sad to Fall in Battle, a biography of the Japanese commander in World War II; The Dignity of the nation, by Masahiko Fujiwara. He also translated Gush by Yo Hemmi

Breaking into Japanese Literature lets readers enjoy seven classic stories in the original Japanese. thanks to a unique 2-page layout featuring the Japanese text in large type, an easy-to-follow English translation, and a custom dictionary, newly revised for this edition. Also includes downloadable audio, notes about the stories and authors, and original illustrations.

地元の図書館に "Breaking into Japanese Literature" があるのが分かったので次に読もうと思います。

have design on

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'If you saw them together, you'd know what I'm talking about,' declared a grizzled male employee of the club in a black suit. 'Yuri was Mr Kiyose's favourrite girl - no doubt about that - but I don't think he had designs on her. He enjoyed talking to her. How can I put it? He behaved more like a dad with his daughter.'

YuriはKiyoseの好みの若い女性とありますが、"he had designs on her" となると単に好みがあるあるだけではなく、何らかの意図があるようですが、辞書を見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: (formal or humorous) to want to start a sexual relationship with somebody: He was quite aware of her marital designs on him.
・Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary: If one person has designs on another, the first person wants to have a sexual relationship with the second.: The colonel had designs on Greg's wife.
・Merriam-Webster: to want to date or have a sexual relationship with (someone): You can deny it all you want, but I think it's pretty obvious that you have designs on her.

loose cannon

今朝も北朝鮮が弾道ミサイルを発射したニュースがありましたね。このニュースを聞くと私が直ぐに連想する単語が東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" に出てきました。

Uesugi laid into Kaga the minute they were back out on the street,
'That wasn't the time and place to start pressuring the man about his alibi. Stop playing the loose cannon, I don't like it.'

"loose cannon" は 2/17/2017に取り上げました。

gum up

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

Kishida stared at Kaga with a look of incredulity. Uesugi, too, was taken aback. While it was standard practice to check the alibis of evryone closely associated with the victim, there was no reason to treat Kishida as a suspect. If Kaga pressed Kishida too hard for an alibi now, it might backfire and gum up the investigation later.

"gum up" を調べます。

・Collins Dictionary: To gum something up means to stop it working properly or efficiently.: Regulators may gum up an efficient system.
・Wiktionary: To cause to be gooey or gummy, especially with the effect of obstructing the operation of some mechanism or process.: The timer was digital, so there was no way to physically gum up the mechanism.
・The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms: Ruin or bungle something, as in The front office has gummed up the sales campaign thoroughly.

"gum" はガムテープのガムですね。

put out

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'When I got the news, I wasn't that put out. According to my dad, my mum was being selfish and demanding. On the other hand, my dad never cared much about either of us, so for my mum to fall out of love with him seemed natural.'

"put out" この様に簡単な単語からなる句動詞は意味が色々あって、かえって難しい。

・Oxford English Dictionary: to be upset or offended: He looked really put out.
・Collins Dictionary:ADJECTIVE [verb-link ADJECTIVE] If you feel put out, you feel rather annoyed or upset.: I did not blame him for feeling put out.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to annoy, upset, or inconvenience someone: Would you be put out if we came tomorrow instead of today?

上記の2番目の辞書はADJECTIVE [verb-link ADJECTIVE]とありましたが、ここでは句動詞と言うより形容詞として理解した方が分かり易いですね。

potshot

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'They can gripe all they damn want. I couldn't care less. Everyone enjoys taking potshot at the boss.'
'I'm worried that we're running out of time.'

"potshot" を調べます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: a shot that somebody fires without aiming carefully: (figurative) The newspapers took constant potshots at (= criticized) the president.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a criticism: The recent criticism of his leadership has included potshots from several leading political journalists.
・Vocabulary.com: Shooting a gun at a very easy target without warning is taking a potshot. And if you meanly and randomly criticize someone, that's another kind of potshot.
An overly easy criticism that's not well thought out is a common type of verbal potshot: "Your review was just a bunch of potshots at terrible movies!" This type of potshot comes from the gun-related version, first recorded around 1836. A potshot (or pot-shot) was a shot at an animal meant to "get it in the pot," or kill it strictly for food, rather than for the sport of hunting — the implication being that sport shooting required more skill.

nursing coffee

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'Did you notice how this place writes its name, Kissako, on the sign out front?' asked Kaga, nursing his coffee. 'With the ideograms for enjoy, tea, and go?'

"nursing his coffee" の状態が分かりません。辞書を見ます。
・Oxford English Dictionary: nurse something to hold a drink for a long time, drinking it slowly: He sat nursing his cup of coffee.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to hold a drink for a long time without drinking it: Mark was sitting in the corner nursing an almost empty bottle of beer.

"nursing his coffee" の意味・用法はどの辞書でも最後の方に記載していますね。
・Vocabulary.com: A nurse is a trained healthcare worker who takes care of sick people. To nurse is to take care of, like if you nurse a baby bird back to health.
To become a nurse, you have to go to college and study subjects like anatomy and nutrition. Some nurses assist doctors and perform tasks like bathing patients, taking blood samples, or giving medication. When you use the word nurse as a verb, it means "care for," and also "breastfeed a baby." The Latin root, nutrire, means "to nourish." To nurse a drink is to drink it slowly, and to nurse an idea is to mull it over.

hash things out

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

She was tormented by remorse. I shouldn't have let things end like that. I should have run after her and hashed things out. We could have reached an understanding.

この "hash out" も以前、7/26/2018に取り上げていました。

dick around

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'That's exactly what I mean by dicking around. The cops will get to the bottom of your mother's murder. Until then, sit tight and wait. You're an amateur, so butt out.'

"dicking around" を調べます。

・Merriam-Webster: to spend time idly or aimlessly : to waste time: You're not spending money to dick around for 12 weeks and put your nose to the desk for the last two …
・Wiktionary: To waste time on an unproductive activity.: Will you guys quit dicking around and get to work?
・Urban Dictionary: to waste time; to lose focus; to lack seriousness of purpose: We finished the treasure hunt while the other team was still dicking around (with the map).

"butt out" は4/4/2016に取り上げました。

stir-crazy

東野圭吾の小説 "New Comer" を読んでいます。

'Did he tell you why they were getting divorced?'
Koki cocked his head.
'No one told me a thing. My father was never very into his own family, and my mum was going stir-crazy, stuck at home with nothing to do Seemed like good news for both of them.'

"stir-crazy" の "stir" は撹拌とか動揺しか思いつかないのですが、"stir-crazy" でどんな意味になるのでしょうか？ 後に "stuck at home" とあるので引きこもりを連想しますが。

・Oxford English Dictionary: feeling unhappy or upset because of having spent a long time in the same place or situation and being prevented from leaving: Some passengers go a little stir-crazy on long-haul flights.
・Collins Dictionary: restless or frantic because of confinement, routine, etc.: I was stir-crazy after just two months of keeping house
・Cambridge English Dictionary: upset or angry because you have been prevented from going somewhere or doing something for a long time: I've been laid up for two weeks with this broken leg and I'm beginning to go stir-crazy

stir (n.) in a slang sense of "prison, lock-up" (by 1851)