hue and cry

Kobo Abeの小説 "The Woman in the Dunes" を読んでいます。

この小説は珍しく、登場人物の名前が出てきません。砂で囲まれた村に捕らわれた主人公は村からの脱出を考えています。

But that did not mean that the problem was solved. For example, there was the lookout in the fire tower. He was also worried that the woman, upon noticing his disappearance, might set up a hue and cry and that the village gates would be closed before he could get out.

"hue and cry" の "hue" は色合いとか色調なでの意味で見かける単語ですが、"hue and cry" ではどんな意味になるのでしょうか？　辞書を見ます。

・Oxford English Dictionary: strong public protest about something: Further cuts in welfare have raised a hue and cry among the American public.
・Collins Dictionary: If people raise a hue and cry about something, they protest angrily about it.: Just as the show ended, he heard a huge hue and cry outside.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a noisy expression of public anger or disapproval: There has been a great hue and cry about the council's plans to close the school.

何故この意味になるのに "hue" が使われているのか不思議に思ったので "hue" の項を見ると、 "hue" に(obsolete) A shout or cry.（from Wiktionary）の意味があったが、現在はこの意味では使われなくなった様です。

stock expression

Kobo Abeの小説 "The Woman in the Dunes" を読んでいます。

"Help!"
The stock expression! Well, let it be a stock expression. What was the use of individuality when one was on the point of death? He wanted to go on living under any circumstances, even if his life had no more individuality than a pea in a pod.

"stock expression" この表現は久しぶりに見ますが、覚えていました。7/8/2013 に取り上げています。

前回引用しなかった辞書と語源辞典の説明を今回は引用します。
・American Heritage Dictionary: Repeated regularly without any thought or originality; routine: a stock answer.
・Dictionary.com: banal; commonplace: a stock remark.

・Etymology.com: in reference to conversation, literature, "recurring, commonplace" (as in stock phrase), 1738, a figurative use from the sense of "kept in store for constant use" (1620s), from stock (n.2) "supply for future use."

quail

Kobo Abeの小説 "The Woman in the Dunes" を読んでいます。
前回読んだ宮部みゆきの "The Devil's Whisper" とは異なり、登場人物が少なくて（主人公の名前は a man とあるだけでなかなか出てこない）話の設定も単純なので読みやすい。
This realization suddenly eased his feelings of tension, as if the fluttering breeze had visibly sepatated the sweat from the sand on his skin. There was no use stirring up groundless fears. Men have escaped through any number of concrete walls and iron bars. He would not quail simply at the sight of a padlock without finding out whether it was locked or not. He went slowly back in the direction of the hut, dragging his feet in the sand.

名詞の "quail" はうずらだと思いましたが、動詞の "quail" は初めてです。辞書を見ます。

・Collins Dictionary: If someone or something makes you quail, they make you feel very afraid, often so that you hesitate.: The very words make many of us quail.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: to feel or show fear; to want to be able to move away from something because you fear it: Charlie quailed at the sound of his mother's angry voice.

earwig

Kobo Abeの小説 "The Woman in the Dunes" を読んでいます。

There seemed to be nothing that faintly resembled crops.
Orthoptera--small-winged crickets and white-whiskered earwigs.
Rhynchota-red striped soldier bugs. He was not certain of the name, but surely it was a type of soldier bug.

主人公は昆虫採集に来たので当然昆虫の名称が色々出てきますが、学名はともかく、通称と思われる "earwigs" と "soldier bug" について調べました。まず "earwigs" は：
 
・Oxford English Dictionary: a small brown insect with a long body and two curved pointed parts called pincers that stick out at the back end of its body
・Collins Dictionary: An earwig is a small, thin, brown insect that has a pair of claws at the back end of its body.
He goes on obsessive earwig hunts in his beloved garden.  
・Cambridge English Dictionary: a small insect with two pincers (= curved pointed parts) at the back end of its body

これはハサミムシですね。最後に引用した辞書には写真も出ているのでリンクを付けました。
さて、"soldier bug" ですが英英辞書には項目は見当たりません。Wikipediaには "stink bug" の一種として北米でよく見かけるとして、"spined soldier bug" の項目がありました。 "soldier bug" をグーグル検索すると写真はいっぱい出てきました。どれも日本でも見かけるカメムシの仲間のようですね。

loadstone/lodestone

Kobo Abeの小説 "The Woman in the Dunes" を読み始めました。
私は観ていませんが、この話は昔話題になった映画「砂の女」の元になった小説ですね。
主人公は昆虫学者で、ある夏に昆虫採集に出かけます。

Sand: an aggregate of rock fragments. Sometimes including loadstone, tinstone, and more rarely gold dust. Diameter: 2 to 1/16 mm.

"loadstone" がどんな鉱物なのか気になるので辞書を見ます。多くの辞書で普通は "lodestone" のスペルとあるので "lodestone" の項を見ます。

・Collins Dictionary: rock that consists of pure or nearly pure magnetite and thus is naturally magnetic: This is the lodestone, whose interesting properties have been known since antiquity.
・Cambridge English Dictionary: (a piece of) rock that contains a lot of iron and can therefore be used as a magnet (= an object that pulls metal objects towards it): The first magnetic compasses were made from lodestones, while more modern magnetic compasses played an important role in the history of navigation.

"lodestone" の "lode" は以前に（9/15/2017）取り上げた "mother lode" の "lode" と同じ言葉ですね。

now that you mention it

宮部みゆきのの小説 "The Devil's Whisper" を読んでいます。

"I have this feeling that your father is upset about all this, too."
Mamoru struggled to hide his surprise. "I feel like he's somewhere close by and that he's been keeping an eye on you and your mother. He knows you're here with the Asanos and he wants to come see you, but he just can't bring himself to."
"Now that you mention it, whenever I've gone to put flowers on my mother's grave on special days, someone has always been there before me--"

"Now that you mention it" この言い回しは英会話の教本によく出てくる台詞で、日本語の「そう言われてみると/そう言えば」に相当するようですが、英英辞書にも用例があるか調べます。

・Wiktionary: Used to precede another comment about something just mentioned.: Everybody gets their own ration of luck, they say. Now you mention it his face was familiar to me.
・TheFreeDictionary: An expression used when one remembers or realizes something because of what the other person has just said.: A: "The weather's been a bit unpredictable lately, huh?" B: "Now you mention it, I hear there could be a blizzard next week."

rake over the coals

宮部みゆきのの小説 "The Devil's Whisper" を読み始めました。

"Even if they were out spending money, it doesn't mean they stole it."
"That's right. All you kids have jobs these days. I think there are still rules aginst that." Iwamoto glared at Mamoru again, and Mamoru hung his head. "But they broke the rules of the school and of the basketball club. I got all the club members together and raked them over the coals. When you have freshmen breaking the rules like that it leads to things like lost money.

"raked them over the coals" は文脈からすると叱ったの意味のイデオムでしょうが、この石炭は燃えているのでしょうね。

・Merriam-Webster: to criticize (someone) very severely: The government was then raked over the coals for refusing to send out information about the candidates.
・Farlex Dictionary of Idioms: To scold, reprimand, or reprove one severely for an error or mistake.: I was raked over the coals by my boss last week for messing up the accounting software.
・Oxford English Dictionary: to criticize somebody severely because they have done something wrong: I was hauled over the coals by my boss for being late.

最後に引用した辞書の用例の様に "rake" の代わりに "haul" を使った "haul one over the coals" とも言うようです。

gamified

The Japan Times, June 16の記事から引用します。

Japan’s gamified environment apps target a greener mindset
Gamification, which sees game-like elements and principles applied to other contexts with the aim of boosting user engagement, has manifested itself in productivity apps, exercise trackers and language-learning tools. When you earn a digital badge, “streak” or other little emblems of progress, that is gamification in action — a proven motivator for shifting behavior.

記事タイトルにある "gamified" を最初に見た時は何だろうと思いましたが、記事を読み続けると直ぐにゲーム化されたの意味であることが分かりました。　スマホ、パソコンの無い時代に育ったのでゲームやスマホのアプリにはいまだになじめません。但し、パソコンやＷｅｂ、HTMLなどには直ぐに馴染みましたが。記事（いつまで存在するか分かりませんが、記事へのリンクを付けました）を読むと、昔から馬鹿とハサミは使いようと言いますが、確かに使い方によっては大いに役に立つことは認めざるを得ません。特に学校教育で使えば勉強嫌いが減るのではと思います。　いずれにせよ、ゲームはともかく、スマホのアプリは嫌いだからと言って今や避けられません。

nothingburger

The Japan Times, June 6の記事から引用します。

Why Toyota's so-called safety scandal is a 'nothingburger'
Unlike the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal, there have been no recalls, and Japanese vehicles have passed retests without issues.

"nothingburger" は引用符で囲まれているので、造語、もしくは通常は余り使われない表現なのでしょう。辞書に出ているかな？

・Wiktionary: Something of less importance than its treatment suggests; also, something which is bland or unremarkable in appearance or impact.: This 2005 Donald Trump tax return is a total nothingburger.
・Urban Dictionary: something lame, dead-end, a dud, insignificant; especially something with high expectations that turns out to be average, pathetic, or overhyped.: "much to the team's dismay, the number one pick in this year's draft turned out to be a nothingburger."

世の中には、特にマスコミが騒いでいる話で、実際には大したことの無い事が往々にしてありますが、そんな時に使える便利な単語ですね。

in her wake

John Grishamの小説 "Camino Island" を読んでいます。

"Why are we still standing in the foyer" Leigh asked.
"Dammned good question," Myra said, flinging an arm toward the stairway. "Come with me." From behind she looked like an offensive tackle as she cleared the hallway. They followed in her wake and stopped in a family room with a marble counter.

"in her wake" の "wake" も色々な意味で使われ、名詞で思いつくのは「通夜」、「寝ずの番」、「航跡」ですが、上の引用文の "in her wake" は文脈からすると単に「彼女の後について行った」と思いますが、辞書で確認します。

・Collins Dictionary: If you are following in someone's wake, you are following them or their example.: In his wake came a waiter wheeling a trolley.

他の辞書にはこの用例は見当たりませんでした。