constitute
こういうconstituteの用法も知っておきたいものです。Othelloくん、先日の質問に続いてどうぞ。（UG）
U.S. expert says North Korea rocket launches satellite
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- An American space expert said North Korea has succeeded in launching a satellite into space.
Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said late Tuesday from Cambridge, Massachusetts, that the three-stage Unha-3 rocket launched early Wednesday morning delivered the satellite into orbit and constituted "a perfect success for North Korea."
He said that based on his own calculations, an object identified by the U.S. space command as "39026, 2012-072A" was from the North Korean satellite.
The apparent North Korean success comes after a rocket launch failure in April that flamed out after only 90 seconds.
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121212p2g00m0in054000c.html
Grisly End
昨日のIHT（paper）の一面にも載っていた記事。台湾出身の女性がここまで登り詰めたものの、最後はgrisly endを迎えました。grislyとはどんなニュアンスがあるのでしょうか。GPクン、どうぞ。（UG）
Fallen Dean’s Life, Contradictory to Its Grisly End
She sat in her regular beauty salon, strikingly optimistic, eyeing in the mirror not a defendant but a woman whose fortunes would surely turn the next day.
The evidence and testimony in Federal District Court in Brooklyn had quickly mounted against her, but Cecilia Chang was convinced that once she took the stand at her corruption trial, things would change.
“She was extremely happy,” Eve Lin, her longtime hairdresser, recalled recently. “She said: ‘Tomorrow, I have a court case, and if they say I’ve done nothing wrong, then that’s it. It’s over.’ ”
As it turned out, Dr. Chang’s turn on the witness stand last month was disastrous. She was utterly unpersuasive. The jurors laughed. She won little sympathy.
Dr. Chang, a dean at St. John’s University in Queens, associated with a whirlwind of characters: Catholic priests, Chinese gangsters, American lawmakers, a Taiwanese general and a fantastically corrupt city politician, to name a few. She had been married three times. One husband, she had told several people, was involved in organized crime; another told the police before succumbing to gunshot wounds that she was behind the attack.
It was an unlikely lifestyle for anyone, let alone a dean at St. John’s, where she helped attract millions of dollars in contributions to the university from her native Taiwan. But that life, prosecutors charged in state and federal indictments, was enabled by fraud and embezzlement. Federal prosecutors accused her of forcing foreign students to perform household labor in exchange for tuition grants, stealing over $1 million from the university and taking $250,000 from a Saudi prince to organize academic conferences that never happened.
Less than 24 hours after testifying, Dr. Chang killed herself — an act of grisly determination. She started a fire in a bedroom fireplace and closed the flue. When death did not come quickly enough, she went downstairs to the kitchen and turned on the gas. For extra measure, she slit her wrists.
Stereo speaker wire was her final weapon of choice. She took a length of it back upstairs, lowered an attic ladder and hanged herself from it.
The descent from beauty-parlor optimism to suicide took less than two days. But even at her apex, Dr. Chang, 59, was a contradictory and complicated figure; a woman whose work got her name mentioned on the floor of the United States Senate in the early 1990s, and who was at the same time suspected by the police of having a role in the murder of her first husband — the father of her only child.
up in the arms
アメリカでは大ヒットを記録し、日本でもヒットした映画『Avengers』のブルーレイ版が日本では12月19日に発売予定ですが、発売する前からAmazon等のサイトで特に日本語吹き替えが酷いというレビューの嵐です。怒りの矛先は声優をキャスティングしたDisney Japanに向いています。見出しのup in the armsは「 戦闘準備をして;〔…に〕憤慨して」という意味(『新英和中辞典』第2版、研究社)ですね。武士が戦前に臨戦態勢を取っている様子がイメージできました。(EnDough)
Japanese 'Avengers' fans up in arms over shoddy voice acting on Blu-ray release
The dubbed Blu-ray version of recent Hollywood smash “The Avengers” hasn’t even made it into stores yet, but Japanese film fans are already writing it off as junk.
Despite the Japanese releases of previous superhero movies – “The Incredible Hulk,” “Iron Man” and “Thor” included – being voiced by professional, suitably cast voice actors, the dubbed version of “The Avengers” in cinemas featured none of the same voices, despite the movie being based around the premise of bringing these much-loved heroes together in one spot.
Movie buffs had hoped that Disney Japan, the company behind the Japanese Blu-ray release, would reinstate the original super heroes’ Japanese counterparts for the home release, but it has become clear that those wishing to enjoy the action movie without subtitles will have to put up with the same subpar voice acting that was shoehorned into the cinema release.
feisty
すごいことですね。自分の葬式費用をかけての立候補です。
Feisty 94-year-old runs for office using money saved for funeral
By Jessica Ocheltree
Usually when you hear about a fresh-faced new voice in politics, it’s usually, well, a fresh face. Not so much with Ryukichi Kawashima, who is running for office for the first time at the ripe old age of 94.
Kawashima is running to represent Saitama Prefecture’s 12th District and is the oldest candidate out of the 1,504 people running in the current election. He had been putting aside money from his pension to use for his own funeral expenses, but decided the 3 million yen would be better spent as an election fund. Deep concern over the future of the country motivated him to run, he says. “I thought it was time I did something.”
feistyには「怒りっぽい、攻撃的な」という意味もありますが、ここは「元気のいい、気力が充実している」でしょうね。すごい...（Minnesota）
gold medal-worthy
そうなのかな、というのが率直なところです。まあ、選挙でも実弾が飛び交っていることでしょうし、金（きん）ならず、金（かね）で締めくくられる年と思えばよいのでしょうね。
"Of sufficient worth for; deserving of"の意の-worthyは覚えやすいし、幅広く応用が効くフレーズですね（例：creditworthy, respectworthy)。（EnDough）
Kanji meaning gold chosen as best characterizing 2012
KYOTO (Kyodo) -- The kanji "kin" meaning gold was chosen as the single best Chinese character symbolizing this year's national ethos in Japan, a Kyoto-based kanji promotion organization said Wednesday.
The word was selected based on votes cast by the general public as it signifies the gold medals won by Japanese athletes at the London Olympic Games as well as other events considered to be gold medal-worthy, such as the opening of Tokyo Skytree tower and the award of a Nobel Prize to Shinya Yamanaka, according to the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation.
Tokyo Skytree is the world's tallest broadcasting tower constructed in Sumida Ward, Tokyo. Kyoto University Professor Shinya Yamanaka won his Nobel in medicine.
At Kyoto's Kiyomizu temple where this year's kanji was announced, chief priest Seihan Mori handwrote the winning character using a giant Japanese calligraphy brush on "washi," or Japanese paper, 1.5 meters high and 1.3 meters wide.
The kanji that placed second was "wa," or band, commemorating the annular solar eclipse observed this year, in which a dark moon was seen fringed by a band of the sun's fire. The word also represented people banding together to achieve their goals, such as the Japanese teams at the Olympiad and citizens struggling in the midst of reconstruction after the March 11 quake-tsunami disasters.
Third place went to the kanji, "shima," or islands, following territorial rows between Japan, South Korea and China over islands in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.
The annual public poll has been conducted since 1995.
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121212p2g00m0dm090000c.html
easily
The Economistが日本の総選挙を取り上げています。
ここのeasilyはどのように訳したらいいでしょうか。Minnesotaくん、どうぞ。（UG）
Mutton dressed as lamb
LOOKING more like members of a J-Pop band than of parliament, two 30-something candidates of the Liberal Democratic Party hit the campaign trail in Tokyo on December 4th offering voters “a new LDP”.
It seemed a promising start on the first day of campaigning for the general election on December 16th: girls screamed and mothers swooned. Yet that was mostly because one of the candidates was the good-looking son of Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and easily the most charismatic Japanese leader in memory. There was certainly no policy discussion. When one was asked what would be different about this new LDP, he replied with one word: “Everything.”
earns cachet
Kim Jong-un Earns Cachet With Rocket’s Success
SEOUL, South Korea — For North Korea’s inexperienced young leader, Kim Jong-un, the largely successful launching on Wednesday of a long-range rocket could not have come too soon.
cachetはフランス語からきた「公印」のことですが、比喩的に「名声、高い地位」などの意味で用いられることがあります。ここでは「（ミサイルの成功により）箔を付けた」あたりの訳ではどうでしょうか。（UG）
Well begun is half done.
第一回目のPre-seminarが終わりました。2時間強の授業でしたが、久しぶりだったためにすべてカバーできずに、残りは1月のセッションに持ち越しとなりました。ともあれ、初の授業形式の顔合わせでした。がんばってくれそうな連中が集まって良かった！手伝いをしてくれたMinnesotaくん、EnDoughくん、ありがとう。
ということで今夜からnewbiesたちの記事もアップされます。どうぞお手柔らかにお願いします。（UG）
I wasn’t born yesterday
本日は専大UGゼミのpre-session?ゼミがありました。私は途中からお邪魔させて頂いたのですが、部屋に入ると、良い意味で緊張感のある雰囲気の中、ゼミが進められているのが即座に感じ取る事ができました。またUG先生が講義を学生にされている姿はとても活き活きとされていて、自分が学部生2、3年の時に受けていた授業を思い出し、色々考えさせられました。ともあれ来年度UGゼミ生のみなさん、今日からブログの更新一緒に頑張りましょう！
その後のA30の研究室でのUG先生との何気ない会話から英語表現を紹介します。Minnesota君の野球の話からUG先生が大学時代のあるご先輩の事を話して下さいました。その方はアメリカの南部に留学していた人だそうですが、ある時その先輩にUG先生がおっしゃった一言が彼を怒らせたそうです。その一言がこれです。
I wasn’t born yesterday！
UG先生いわく、アメリカ南部特有の表現で「そんなのわかっていますよ」という意味との事でした。意味を辞書で確認してみると、『新英和大辞典』(第3版、研究社)には「昨日うまれた赤ん坊じゃあるまいし」と記載されていました。確かにpragmatics的には「(きのう生まれた赤ん坊じゃあるまいし)そんなのわかってますよ」となりますね。UG先生はこれを年上の先輩に使ったら怒られたそうです。(むしろそんな事を言える事が凄いですが…..)
このような英語表現の発見ができるのもA30の研究室に出入りさせて頂いているからこそだなと思います。研究室にお邪魔させて頂いている事の貴重さを改めて実感した一日でした。(EnDough)
easily 回答
ご指名をいただきましたので、回答させて頂きます。easily - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
easilyといったらまず、「容易に」を思い浮かべるかと思います。ここでは、後ろに来る最上級のthe most charismaticを修飾しています。『ジーニアス英和辞典 第４版』（大修館）には、「[最上級などを強めて]疑いもなく、明らかに、断然」(definitely)とあります。小泉元首相は確かにわたちたちの記憶のなかでは、「明らかに」カリスマ的な指導者であったと思います。(Minnesota)
Mutton dressed as lamb
LOOKING more like members of a J-Pop band than of parliament, two 30-something candidates of the Liberal Democratic Party hit the campaign trail in Tokyo on December 4th offering voters “a new LDP”. It seemed a promising start on the first day of campaigning for the general election on December 16th: girls screamed and mothers swooned. Yet that was mostly because one of the candidates was the good-looking son of Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and easily the most charismatic Japanese leader in memory. There was certainly no policy discussion. When one was asked what would be different about this new LDP, he replied with one word: “Everything.”
ramping-up
8 fighter jets scrambled after Chinese plane flies over disputed islands
Japan scrambled eight fighter jets on Thursday after a Chinese state-owned plane breached its airspace for the first time, over islands at the center of a dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.
It was the first incursion by a Chinese state aircraft into Japanese airspace anywhere since the country’s military began monitoring in 1958, the defense ministry said.
The move marks a ramping-up of what observers suggest is a Chinese campaign to create a “new normal”—where its forces come and go as they please around islands which Beijing calls the Diaoyus, but Tokyo controls as the Senkakus.
It also comes as ceremonies mark the 75th anniversary of the start of the Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese Imperial Army troops embarked on an orgy of violence and killing in the then-Chinese capital.
やれやれですね。ramp(ing)-upは、「強化する、強める」という意味ですが、「新たな段階へ向けて急激に」というニュアンスがあります（cf. beef-up, boost）。（UG）
Geminid meteor shower
今日は夜空を見上げたいです。深夜に帰宅される方は見つけられるかもしれません。
meteor showerは「流星群」です。以前にも先輩が取り上げられていました。(meteor - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から)
今度のはふたご座流星群なのでGeminid meteor showerですね。Geminiは「ふたご座」（『ジーニアス英和辞典 第４版』大修館）で、The Twinsという表現もあるみたいです（ローマ神話でカストルとポルックスの双子の兄弟から）。
そこから来た言葉なのでしょうか。手持ちの辞書の一つ前の見出しにgeminateがあり、「二重になる」(ibid)や音声学で「〈子音字など〉を重複させる」(ibid)という意味もあります。「無事に卒論が終わりますように」と祈ります。(Minnesota)
Geminid meteor shower set to peak Thursday evening
The annual Geminids meteor shower will reach its peak late on Thursday night and into early Friday morning.
The meteors will appear to radiate from a point near the star Castor, in the constellation Gemini.
In the Northern hemisphere, that will be westward and nearly overhead in the early hours of Friday.
Sky watchers can expect an average of dozens of "shooting stars" per hour, made easier to see by darkness provided by the "new moon" phase.
The shower comes about each year as the Earth passes through the path of an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.
新ゼミ生 Visual type
本日からこの「常時英心」に記事を投稿させていただくことになりました。新ゼミ生のShou-VR*です。UG先生をはじめ、先輩方、読者の皆様、そして新ゼミ生の仲間達。今日から末永く宜しくお願いいたします。
本日は第１回pre-seminarが行われました。数あるメニューの中から、自己紹介を日本語で言い、隣席の人が英語でそれを同時通訳する、という演習を行いました。その時に自分が発した言葉について、焦点を当ててみたいと思います。
私はヴィジュアル系(Visual-kei)という音楽のジャンルが好きなのですが、この「〜系」をどのように英語で表現するのか、咄嗟に言うことができませんでした。そこで、Urban Dictionaryをチェックすると、下記の様に定義されていました。
Literally means "visual type"; from a style/movement in J-Rock that started back in the 1980s, and became popular in Japan by the 90s. This style/movement has been largely credited to have been started by X Japan; which led to an uprising in the trend of the visual scene. It's characterized by bands (namely Japanese) that use dramatic costumes/hair/makeup to basically inhance their visual appearance. Although there are branches of Jrock, that have different classifications/characteristics that visual-kei. The style alone does not neseccarily have to do with the music; but more alone with its outlandish and unique clothing/hair/makeup-thats what its really known for.
Many visual-kei bands include: X Japan, Malice Mizer, Dir en Grey, Gazette, Phantasmagoria, Alice Nine, 12012, and many more to name.
ここで扱われているtypeという表現に着目してみたいと思います。確認程度ではありますが、（『ジーニアス英和辞典 第３版』大修館）によると、「（共通の特徴を有する）型、類型、タイプ；（俗に）種類」と書かれています。また、何かを大まかに分類するときに使用する「〜系」という語を（『広辞苑 第5版』岩波書店）で引いてみると、「組織だった分類。また、その部門」というように定義されていました。以上のことを考慮すると、typeという表現がしっくりとくることに納得がいきます。
ヴィジュアル系は1980年代頃に、日本で確立したジャンルであり、約30年以上経った歴史の中でも、未だに具体的な定義付けなく、神秘的な雰囲気を醸し出しているのが特徴です。今日の授業の中で、自分の好きな分野の表現を知る契機を得られたのを嬉しく思いました。今日からこのように、毎日コツコツと一つずつ、英語の表現を拾いたいと思います。(Shou-VR*)
