electric stuff

専修大野球部出身の黒田投手が、ヤンキーズの地元開幕でまさにstellarなデビューを果たしました。ここのelectric stuffは文字通りには「しびれるようなもの」ですが、投手に関する何か適切な言い回しはあるのでしょうか。「しびれるような持ち味？」「うならせるような投球術？」GPくん、出番です。（UG）

Hats off to Kuroda's stellar stadium debut

Now that was an impressive Yankee Stadium debut.
Making his first start at the $1.5 billion palace in the Bronx, Hiroki Kuroda wasn’t fazed one bit.

The 37-year-old Japanese right-hander, who was shelled in his first outing in pinstripes on April 7 in Tampa Bay, allowed just seven base runners -- none past second base -- came within three outs of recording his third career complete-game shutout and recorded his first victory as a Yankee in his team’s 5-0 home opening defeat of the Los Angeles Angeles in front of a sellout crowd of 49,386.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said Kuroda (1-1, 2.63 ERA), who received a standing ovation after being lifted following an eight-plus inning performance in which he gave up five singles, walked two, struck out six and threw 71 of his 109 pitches for strikes.

The Yankees signed the former Los Angeles Dodgers hurler to a one-year, $10 million contract in order to solidify the front end of their rotation. But there were concerns that Kuroda, who doesn’t have electric stuff, would have difficulty transitioning from the National League West to the American League East, where the hitters are seen to be more patient and more potent.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/31405/hats-off-to-kurodas-stellar-stadium-debut

TOEIC 志願者数増加

TOEICの志願者数が227万人を記録し、英検に肉薄してきたとの記事。昨日の「読売新聞」夕刊からです。（UG）
　　　　　

the last word

ベガルタ仙台が接戦の末，柏レイソルを3対2で下しました。決勝ゴールを決めたのは赤嶺選手ですが，このことをJTではthe last word belonged to Akamineと表現していました。the last wordは「（議論での）最後の（締めくくりの）一言，決定権」という意味で，ここでは「試合の決定権＝試合の行方を決定づけた人（もの）」となります（『オーレックス英和辞典』旺文社）。belong to〜は「〜にある，属する，ふさわしい」という日本語訳です。以上からthe last word belonged to Akamineは「試合を決定づけたのは赤嶺だった」と訳せますでしょうか。（Sugiuchi）

But the last word belonged to Akamine as the striker found himself free in the Kashiwa box to turn home Ota's cross, and an 88th-minute red card for Leandro after an elbow on Taikai Uemoto brought the curtain down on Reysol's afternoon.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/sj20120415a1.html

travesty

４０歳以上のラガーマンで構成されるカナダのラグビーチームが、昨年、震災で来日できなかった「借り」を返しにやってきたという記事がDaily Yomiuriにありました。
The Twilighter Rugby Club, a member of the Pacific Northwest Over 40 Rugby Union, had just completed plans for a tour of Japan--its third since 1986--when the earthquake struck. "We had paid the final installment on March 10," said Andrew Harvey.
With 48 players and wives to consider, the club reluctantly canceled the tour. "The main cause of concern was the nuclear issue," said Nick Oliver. "We started getting calls and the numbers started to drop and it simply wasn't viable to carry on."
But rather than abandon their friends in Japan completly, four members of the club--Steve Baron, Jack Beardmore, Harvey and Oliver--decided to carry on with the tour as scheduled.
A year on, the Twilighters and friends are back in Japan, with 31 players and 17 wives sampling the delights of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.
It's all a far cry from last year.
"We arrived on March 30 and there were about 50 people on the flight," said Harvey, who along with Oliver and Baron, has made the return trip. "Jack basically told us we had to come. He had been on tour here 12 times and said it would be a real travesty if we didn't come and show our support to our friends here."
Spurred on by Baron, the quartet put together a vast array of memorabilia, some of which was auctioned off before flying out, and some of which they brought with them.
"I think we raised well over 250,000 yen," said Baron in between games at last weekend's Tokyo Sevens at Chichibunomiya Stadium.
Like Oliver and Harvey, Baron admitted his family were not too happy about him coming so soon after the disaster. But he felt it was a trip he had to make.
"We wanted to show people our thoughts and prayers were behind them and at the same time raise some money and awareness as to what was going on," he explained.
The players fulfilled the Twilighters fixture list with the help of local players--with the exception of games in Tokyo that were canceled as a result of the blackouts. And the welcome they received was unlike anything they had experienced.
"I have been all over the world and that was the best tour I have been on," Oliver said. Harvey said the local players had been unbelievable hosts, despite the problems their country was experiencing.
"They were so happy that they had a distraction from the hardships they were enduring," he said.
Not surprisingly, when other members of the club heard of the reception the four had received, plans were put in place to tour this year.
The tourists arrived on March 27 adorned in tour uniforms bearing the year 2011.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/sports/T120405003047.htm

travestyは会話ではよく聞く表現ですが、日本語にはなりにくい言葉です。辞書にある訳例を見ますと、「こっけい化、戯画化、拙劣な模倣、こじつけ、茶化したもじり 」などわかるようでわからない感じです。
travestyはフランス語の「変装する」を語源に持ち、その語義は、"an extremely bad example of something; especially one that is very unfair and morally wrong and has the opposite result to the one it should have"（LDOCE）です。つまり「本来もっているものを出し切ってなく、その結果、正反対の結果を招く」という意味となります。「ここでやらなきゃ, まぬけだよ/お笑いさ」や「本物ではない」あたりの訳になるのでしょうか。（UG）

季節のたより#5

田邉先生

ご無沙汰しております。田邉ゼミ卒業生のHageo（元St. Paul大院生）です。
長期間連絡せず申し訳ありませんでしたが、近況報告を致します。

1月から国際営業の仕事を始め、早いもので3ヶ月が過ぎました。現在は主に製品と貿易のことを学びつつ、日常の業務を覚えています。

欧州地域の担当となり英語でメールを打つことが多いのは良いのですが、時々海外から電話があると中々思うように会話ができないため、勉強不足を痛感しながら日々過ごしております。

今は下積みとして基礎を固め、数年後にはいつでも海外に出ていけるようにしていきます。

以上が簡単ですが仕事関係の報告です。また、昨日、I市に引っ越したのですが、大学との近さに驚きました。一年程はここで過ごす予定ですので、また研究室にお邪魔させて頂ければ幸いです。

まとまりませんが、今後ともよろしくお願い致します。
季節柄どうぞご自愛下さい。（Hageo）

訃報

日米関係の改善に尽力された山本正氏がお亡くなりになりました。日本人が到達すべき英語力を示した人でもありました。合掌。（UG）
山本正さん７６歳＝日本国際交流センター理事長
毎日新聞 4月15日(日)21時33分配信
山本正さん７６歳（やまもと・ただし＝日本国際交流センター理事長）１５日、胆のうがんのため死去。葬儀は１８日午後１時半、東京都千代田区麹町６の５の１の聖イグナチオ教会。喪主は長男太郎（たろう）さん。
６７〜９４年までに９回開かれた「日米関係民間会議（下田会議）」の事務局を主宰。マンスフィールド米上院院内総務（後の駐日大使）、中曽根康弘元首相や学識経験者による日米交流の基盤作りに尽力した。
７０年に日本国際交流センターを設立。１０年には鳩山由紀夫首相（当時）の諮問機関「新たな時代の安全保障と防衛力に関する懇談会」の委員を務めた。昨年２月には「新・下田会議」を開いた。