pack a punch
またまた昔、暮らしていたNew Jerseyネタです。今、NJのほうは台風がひどくHurricane Sandyによって弱った木々も多く、いつ倒れるかわからない状況だそうです。知り合いのみんなが無事でいてほしいです。さて、ここで取り上げるのはpacks a punchです。
High winds knock down tree limbs, cut power to tens of thousands in N.J.
Meteorologists originally predicted the storm to come on significantly weaker winds last night, and pack less of a punch. One model did predict the storm’s eventual strength – but that same model was wrong about another rain system earlier this week, Drag said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/12/wind_taking_down_trees_causing.html
LDOCEには"a strong effective way of expressing things that makes people interested"と書いてありました。つまり「人が興味を持つようにする強力で効果的な方法」という事でしょうか。しかしここではlessがかかっている為、「人が興味を持たなくする効果的でない方法」となるでしょうか。
先週までは台風と予測していたのに、昨夜は弱風。当日は台風。やはり常にニュースは見るべきものですね。（Sugar）
soup kitchen
AustraliaのABC newsから。Christmasの装飾は、お店で売られている豪華なものでなくていいのです。クリスマスを祝おうとする気持ちが大事。とても素敵なお話です。
We give meaning to Christmas
I never could have imagined how festive, fun and colorful rubbish could be.
By the time I arrived on the day of filming, the family had been hard at work all morning, stringing beer and bourbon cans together, taping tinsel to burger boxes, wrapping bottles of bleach and painting up their favourite breakfast cereal boxes.
It looked amazing. In the words of little Baka, 'It looks rainbow."
Whether you are religious or not, there is a real power in Christmas.
It is the one day that almost everyone in the western world stops and goes to large lengths to be with their friends and family.
It is the one day that was able to stop fighting during a world war.
It is the one day that most people have at some point thought "hmm, maybe I should go help the homeless at that soup kitchen some time".
But does Christmas still make you groan?
Don't worry, I haven't always been such a Christmas elf... I'm not religious and at one stage I was the scrooge... questioning the commerce, the wastage of paper and unwanted gifts, the over catering, over eating and over boozing.
But then one day I realised that I had to have respect for any tradition that could stop half the world, stop the greed and give itself over to love, family and giving.
So if Christmas does make you groan, then dig down beneath the commerce and the tinsel. Look beyond the traffic jams and maddened shoppers. Pause for long enough and you will see the potential of Christmas, the power of a tradition that makes people stop.
And just like Dorothy did, you could turn rubbish into rainbows.
https://open.abc.net.au/posts/christmas-in-camooweal-52az6or
ここで一番気になった表現はsoup kitchenでした。soupもkitchenも誰もがお馴染みの単語ですが、soup kitchenでなにか食べ物を作る場所なのではないかと思い、『ジーニアス英和大辞典』(第5版、大修館書店)で調べてみますと「（生活困窮者・罹災者のための）スープ接待所、無料食堂」とありました。これは、日本で災害支援の際に行われる「炊き出し」にあたるものですね。
以前にもこのブログで取り上げられています。(http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20110201/1296553780)
ごみ(rubbish)に色を塗って、Christmasのdecorationをしてしまおうと考えたDorothyさんはとても素敵な方だと思います。みなさんに、ぜひリンク先のこの記事に関する動画を見ていただきたいと思い、紹介させていただきました。子どもたちもDorothyさんも本当に楽しそうな様子で、Christmasがどれだけ大事な家族の行事なのかがわかるような気がします。日本のChristamasとは全く違いますね。(Nat)
befriend
ハワイのカウアイ島の人気トレイルスポットで、邦人女性が崖から突き落とされ、重傷を負いました。外務省によると、女性は入院中だが、命に別条はないとのこと。警察は、女性を崖から突き落とした疑いがあるとして３７歳の男の写真を公開し、行方を捜しています。
最近はFacebookでfriend/unfriendなどという動詞が用いられていますが、befriendは「友（味方）になる、世話をする、〈人を〉助ける、力を貸す」という意味の動詞です。ここでは「いろいろと彼らの世話をしてあげていた」あたりの意味合いになります。
be＋がprefix（接頭辞）として、動詞や名詞、さらには形容詞の頭についた動詞はこのほか、たくさんありますので（例：beset, behead, belittle, bespeakなど）、一度、辞書のbe-のところで確認をしておきましょう。（UG）
Search continues for man suspected of throwing tourist off hiking trail
Kauai police continue to search Tuesday for a man believed to have thrown a Japanese tourist off a popular trail on Kauai's North Shore Sunday.
The tourist was airlifted to Wilcox Memorial Hospital Sunday afternoon where she remains in critical condition .
Kauai police shutdown access to the popular trail at Ke'e Beach Monday and Tuesday while they search for the man believed to have thrown the tourist from the trail.
Police are searching for 37-year-old Justin Wynn Klein on suspicion of attempted murder. Witnesses reported to police that they saw him throw the woman from off the trail that hugs the picturesque Na Pali Coast.
Kauai police escorted hikers out of the area near the start of the popular Kalalau trail, as they search For Klein.
In the windows of businesses nearby, hang posters of Klein, a former Kauai resident, now suspected of attempted murder.
"It's pretty shocking for the island of Kauai," said Lihue resident Joanie Lemi. "It shouldn't be happening on Kauai. This is a place to just come out and relax."
The Japanese woman and a friend had been camping nearby. Debbie, who asked us only to use her first name, met the women over the weekend.
"They were just arm in arm, singing and humming and they were just like happy," Debbie commented. "She just had the happiest smile on her face."
Debbie added that Klein met them on the trial as well and became acquainted with the pair.
"He befriended them when they were here," Debbie added. "They were camping in the beach park and they seemed friendly, and you know, met a lot of people."
http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii/Search-continues-for-man-suspected-of-throwing-tourist-off-hiking-trail/-/8905354/17804890/-/148pqr4/-/index.html
buy #4
Astroriverのsleepy記事と同じ出典からです。動詞buyのこうした使い方に関しては過去にも幾度かふれられています。新ゼミ生に簡単な動詞にもいろいろな意味があることへの注意喚起を促すためにも、今一度、取り上げます。Minneostaくん、英英辞典を参照しながら、この用法のbuyについての解説をしてください。（UG）
cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20101009/1286603823
Some believe Friday is doomsday on the Mayan calendar; the Mayans don't
Merida, Mexico (CNN) -- There may be no one left on Earth to say TGIF this week.
Some believe the world is coming to an end Friday -- on 12/21/12 -- which is when an important phase on the ancient calendar of the Mayan people terminates.
Mayans don't buy it.
At least the ones living in the city of Merida, Mexico, don't. Neither does anyone in the Mayan village of Yaxuna. They know the calendar their ancestors left them is about to absolve a key phase -- the end of an era and the heralding of a new one -- but they don't think we're all gonna die.
"It's an era. We are lucky to see how it ends," said wood carver Santos Esteban in Yaxuna, a sleepy village of fewer than 700 Mayans, located in a territory that once belonged to the ancient kingdom founded around 2000 B.C.
He feels it is a momentous occasion and is looking forward to the start of the new age. He is not afraid.
"Lots of people say it's the end of the world, but we don't believe that," he said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/20/world/doomsday-coming/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
cabinet
オバマ大統領がジョン・ケリー氏を国務長官に任命したそうです。
Obama nominates John Kerry as secretary of state
US President Barack Obama has nominated Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
Obama made the announcement on Friday in a brief news conference he held with Kerry at the White House.
The president stated "In a sense, John's entire life has prepared him for this role. John played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for nearly 30 years".
Kerry was first elected to the Senate from Massachusetts in 1984. He has been chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 2009 and is well known for his extensive foreign policy experience.
In 2004, he sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination to challenge President George W. Bush.
Kerry was considered a strong candidate for the job since Hillary Clinton announced her resignation.
UN Ambassador Susan Rice was also thought of as a likely candidate but she had to decline the nomination in the face of strong opposition from Republican lawmakers.
The new pick for the position of secretary of state is the first major personnel announcement President Obama has made regarding his second term cabinet.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20121222_05.html
ここにあるcabinetはもちろん「飾り棚、戸棚」という意味ではなく、「内閣、閣僚、≪米≫（大統領の）顧問団、≪英≫閣議」という意味になります。（『ジーニアス英和辞典 第３版』大修館） 同じ辞書に載っていたのですが、「小さな部屋(cabin)が原義、英国王が大臣を私室へ呼び入れたことから「内閣」の意が生じた」とありました。なるほどです。
ケリー氏と言えば、２００４年の大統領選挙の民主党の大統領候補でした。このケリー氏の起用により、海外のアメリカに対するイメージの向上につながることを期待したいですね。(Hatahata)
Someone was watching over them.
アメリカのペンシルバニア州で乱射事件が起きました。どうもこの州では銃に関係する事件が頻発する地域です。 Someone was watching over them.は「誰かが守ってくれていた」という意味。神様なのでしょうね。今度，新ゼミ生の一人がサスケハナに留学しますが，きっと神様が見守ってくれることでしょう。（UG）
4 dead, including shooter, in central Pennsylvania
(CNN) -- A man killed two men and one woman Friday in central Pennsylvania, then died in a gunfight with state troopers, authorities said.
The first report of shots fired "at multiple locations" in Frankstown Township came in a 911 call placed around 9 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said. As state troopers converged on the area, someone in a truck -- going the opposite direction on a two-lane road -- fired at two marked patrol cars.
The truck's driver continued driving and then "rammed ... head-on" into a different patrol car, Bivens said. He then got out of his vehicle and began firing at officers.
State troopers returned fire, eventually killing the truck's driver.
Three state police members were hurt in the response. One was struck in the wrist by bullet fragments and in his chest -- which was protected by body armor -- by a bullet. Another trooper got glass fragments in his eyes and bullet fragments in his forehead. The third suffered minor injuries in the car accident with the shooter's truck.
"It was a very violent attack," Bivens said, adding all three had been treated and released from a local hospital as of Friday evening. "As more details come out about the investigation, I think you'll see just how lucky they really were ... Someone was watching over them."
By 10 a.m., the "active shooter situation" in Frankstown Township, about 7 miles southeast of Altoona and 100 miles east of Pittsburgh was under control, the Blair County Emergency Management Agency reported on its Facebook page.
But the gruesome story wasn't over. After this episode played out, authorities discovered three slain people at three different locations.
One woman was killed at Juniata Valley Gospel Church, one man was found dead in a residence, and another man was killed after getting into a car accident with the truck's driver, added Bivens. All three had been shot.
"It is believed that the male subject committed three homicides before encountering the troopers," Trooper Jeffrey Petucci said.
Their killing and the exchange of gunfire that led to the shooter's death occurred in "a relatively short duration of time," added Petucci, and physically all within a 1.5-mile radius.
Authorities have not identified the shooter or the victims. "I don't believe you're going to find any biological relationship between the (shooter) and the victims," Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio said, adding the three victims "were not immediate family" of one another.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/21/justice/pennsylvania-violence/index.html?hpt=us_c2
ご指名質問回答：buy#4
ご指名をいただきましたのでお答えいたします。buy #4 - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
ここでのbuyの用法についてです。記事では滅亡説に対するマヤの人々の反応について書かれています。
buyといったら当然「買う」という意味を第一に思い浮かべるでしょう。LDOCEでは"to get something by paying money for it"と第一に定義がされています。
第３番目の定義(ibid)には" to believe something that someone tells you"とあります。つまり、「（誰かから伝わったものを）信じる」ということでしょう。記事では、マヤの人々は終末論を信じていないと述べられています。
簡単な動詞にも色々な意味があることについて、このbuyも私は存じ上げませんでした。とても勉強になりました。(Minnesota)
Some believe Friday is doomsday on the Mayan calendar; the Mayans don't
Merida, Mexico (CNN) -- There may be no one left on Earth to say TGIF this week.
Some believe the world is coming to an end Friday -- on 12/21/12 -- which is when an important phase on the ancient calendar of the Mayan people terminates.
Mayans don't buy it.
At least the ones living in the city of Merida, Mexico, don't. Neither does anyone in the Mayan village of Yaxuna. They know the calendar their ancestors left them is about to absolve a key phase -- the end of an era and the heralding of a new one -- but they don't think we're all gonna die.
"It's an era. We are lucky to see how it ends," said wood carver Santos Esteban in Yaxuna, a sleepy village of fewer than 700 Mayans, located in a territory that once belonged to the ancient kingdom founded around 2000 B.C.
He feels it is a momentous occasion and is looking forward to the start of the new age. He is not afraid.
"Lots of people say it's the end of the world, but we don't believe that," he said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/20/world/doomsday-coming/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
普段は絶対に表舞台の記者会見などしない有力ロビー団体「全米ライフル協会」（ＮＲＡ）が２１日、ワシントン市内で記者団に対し，「銃を持つ悪人を止められるのは、銃を持つ善人だけだ」と強調し、なんとすべての学校に銃を持った警官らを配備する必要性を訴えったのです。The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. なんというロジック，「目には目を〜」の発想そのものです。あきれて物が言えません。（UG）
NRA clear on gun debate stance: arm schools
(CNN) -- The National Rifle Association responded Friday to a chorus of voices calling for gun control in the wake of last week's horrific mass shooting in Connecticut by doubling down on its own position: more guns, not fewer, provide true security.
After one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history -- 20 children and seven adults killed, not including the gunman -- polls show that a slight majority of Americans favor restrictions on guns. Conservative Democrats and even some Republicans who have supported gun rights have said they are open to discussing gun control.
But the NRA made its position clear: The prominent gun rights organization will not budge an inch toward discussion of gun control. To the contrary, the group announced it will fund a team that will design a program to get armed security personnel on school grounds across the country.
"You know, five years ago, after the Virginia Tech tragedy, when I said we should put armed security in every school, the media called me crazy," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said.
But what if the gunman, Adam Lanza, had been confronted by a trained security guard?
"Will you at least admit it's possible that 26 innocent lives might have been spared?" LaPierre asked.
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," he said.
LaPierre's position sets the stage for a contentious battle between the NRA, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington, and the Obama administration, which has promised quick action on "real reforms" to gun laws.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/21/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html?hpt=us_c2
sneak peak #2
サウジアラビアの大富豪 アルワリード王子がエアバスの超大型機「A380」のVIP版、A380「Flying Palace」をお買い上げ！王子は，私も結構 使っている米金融大手シティグループの大株主としても知られています。
記事にあるsneak peekは文字通りには「盗み見る」ですが，何かが正式に発表される前に関係者に公開されることを意味し，日本語では「（みなさんだけに）こっそりとお見せします」に相当します。ともあれ，これは別世界の話しです。（UG）
cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20101227/1293459423
It's a long flight from Saudi Arabia to Le Cap d'Antibes or Monaco or London--what's a Saudi prince drowning in petro-dollars to do? Buy a custom flying palace naturally, so that no moment passes without the comforts of home.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud spent $485 million on the custom Airbus A380, with interior and amenities designed by British firm Design Q. Now, courtesy of the Daily Mail--which previously brought you a sneak peak at Obama's limo--we've been treated to a tour of the prince's flying mansion.
The plane usually seats 600, but lots of room had to be cleared for various perks. Naturally, there's an on-board garage, so that the prince can be driven right to the threshold of of the airplane's elevator. After arrival, he can retire to his master suite--one of five with king-size beds, and computer generated prayer mats which always face Mecca (one must always be humble); up to 20 extra-guests have to make due in sleepers that are the equivalent of first class.
But the real insanity begins elsewhere on the plane's three floors: There's a concert hall that seats ten and has a baby grand piano; a boardroom with a holographic projector; and a full-size steamroom. The most entertaining perk is a "Wellbeing Room" which has a floor upon which is projected an enormous image of what the plane is flying over--thus creating a "magic carpet" effect.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1290924/peek-inside-saudi-princes-485-million-flying-palace
ferret out
いつの時代もhuman intelligenceについて、人類は研究を重ねてきました。それについて科学的なメスを入れることは、客観的な調査・分析に基づいた結果を以って、仮説を証明できます。さて、The Economistでは、そんなhuman intelligenceに関係する記事がありました。ここから英語表現を拾います。
Cleverer still - Human intelligence
The three researchers drew their data from Duke University’s Talent Identification Programme, TIP, which is designed to ferret out especially clever candidates early on: all the participants had scored in the top 5% of ability when confronted with exams designed for much older students. TIP, in turn, draws on three national exams: SAT, EXPLORE and ACT. Altogether, Dr Wai, Dr Putallaz and Dr Makel looked at data from 1.7m children. Those data spanned the years between 1981 and 2010.
結論から申し上げると、ここで使われるferret outは「〜を捜し出す」という意味で使われています。このferretの語源は、もちろん動物フェレットです。
まず、名詞ferret『リーダーズ英和辞典』を参照してみると「ケナガイタチ《polecatのアルビノ変種でウサギ・ネズミなどを穴から追い出すために飼育される》」とあります。この意味から転じて「熱心な探索者、探偵」という意味になったことも頷けます。
次いで動詞ferretは他動詞で「[フェレット]を使って狩りをする」という意味の他にも「〈秘密・犯人などを〉探しだす、探索する」という意味があります。Oxford English Dictionary 4th Ed.では“to rummage, search, about”や“to search out, bring to light”と定義されていました。初出は、Holinshed’s Chroniclesで1577-87年であるとされています。また、Holinshed’s Chroniclesは、シェイクスピアの歴史劇やMacbethのプロットの種本であるとされています。(Othello)
best kept secret
殺伐とした話題ばかりなので，たまにはこんな話も。アメリカのベスト「隠れ家的都市」（best kept secret ）として，Charlestonを推す記事がDaily Telegraph紙で紹介してありました。なお，あのCondé Nast（高級 旅雑誌）もこの街をperfect cityに選出しています。わたしもいつか行ってみたいと思いながらもまだ実現させていません。来年あたりはどうかな。
なお，これはあくまで海外に住む英国人の観点からのお話ということだけは留意しておきましょう。（UG）
Why beautiful Charleston is America's best kept secret
As our World's Best Places to Live campaign draws to a close, an expat living in Charleston explains why this part of the American South would be a worthy winner.
Charleston is known as The Holy City, Americas best kept secret and America’s politest and most beautiful city. It was voted Conde Nast’s most perfect city in 2012.
In 1663 Charles II granted a charter to eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina who set up the colonial government. The city was named in honour of the king and thus its illustrious and sometimes tragic history began.
My love affair with Charleston started almost 40 years ago, when my husband and I came to the city for a week’s holiday; while we were there he was offered a position at the Medical University of South Carolina.
The peninsula city is truly beautiful; the houses, most of which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries have side piazzas (verandahs) which catch the summer breezes as well as lush gardens. There are modest homes and many grand mansions which reflect the prosperity of Charleston during the colonial era, when cotton and rice were king, and huge fortunes were amassed, making Charleston one of the wealthiest cities in America.
cf. "Charleston, SC, United States"でマップ検索をどうぞ
奥原先生最終講義 #3
Minnesotaくん，EnDoughくんに続き，遅ればせながら奥原先生の最終講義のスナップをお届けします。英語に魅せられ，James Joyceに魂を奪われた「英語名人」が生田キャンパスから旅立っていかれます。
ご一緒させていただき，１０年。その間，ひょうひょうとしたお姿の奥にご自身の英語への思い，アイルランドへの敬愛の念を感じることが何度もありました。あの英語の巨星 斉藤秀三郎は「間違って仙台に生まれました。実はロンドンの真ん中 で生れるはずだったのですが」と述べたと伝えられていますが，奥原先生もひょっとしたらダブリンで生を受けられたかったのでは。
「Finnegans Wakeを，生きている間には最後まで行けそうにないので，退官後は最終章から読んでみる」と講義の最後にポツリと語られたのが印象に強く残りました。お別れを告げるにはまだ月日がありますので，できるだけお話をする機会を作ろうと思います。（UG）
教室は教え子たちで一杯！
先生のご略歴。ちなみにバンジョーはプロ。Bluegrassはアイルランドにつながるのでしょうね。
Finnegans Wakeの冒頭。ちなみに私もこれで大いなる挫折を経験しました。
これが読めるようになるには...人生をもう３度くらい繰り返さないと無理でしょう。
おなじみの花束贈呈。ゼミの卒業生から。
offering box
８ヶ月短くなって、懲役1年を言い渡されました。その罪は10円をoffering boxから盗んだという罪です。
文脈からも想像しやすいですが(templeなどから)、offering boxは「賽銭箱」のことです。ご存知の方も多いと思われますが、offerには「《正式》〈祈り、いけにえなど〉を［神などに/健康などの回復を求めて］捧げる(give)」（『ジーニアス英和辞典 第４版』大修館）という意味があるため、このような表現になったのでしょう。恥ずかしながら、私にとってはなかなか口をついて出ない表現であったため載せさせて頂きます。(Minnesota)
A court in Japan has jailed a 66-year-old man for a year for stealing 10 yen from a temple offering box, reducing his original sentence by eight months.
A district court in Osaka ordered Masafumi Tsuruhara to spend 20 months in prison earlier this year after being caught taking the coin at Kongou-buji Temple at Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture.
Tsuruhara appealed to the Osaka High Court, insisting he had just been “playing with it”, press reports said Friday.
A judge on Thursday said the sentence was “too heavy.” A court spokeswoman said the jail term had been reduced to one year.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/man-jailed-for-a-year-over-10-yen-theft-at-temple
奥原先生最終講義 # 4
アイルランドの文学は、今まであまり読んできませんでした。読んだのもワイルドやショー、さらにはスウィフトなどです。しかし、アイルランド文学を語る上で外せないジョイスに関しては、学部時代にDublinersですら挫折してしまい、いつか読もう読もうと思っていました。今回、奥原先生の最終講義に出席をさせて頂き、一層「ジョイスを読む」という気持ちが強くなりました。
そのような気持が強まったのは、先生が「生まれて初めてジョイスについて講義をする」という言葉があったからです。きっと一年の講義の数回では語り尽くせないのでしょう。それ程、ご専門であるジョイスの事を深く愛していらっしゃるのです。先生のまろやかで優しいお声で語りかけるような講義の節々からジョイスへの愛情が感じられました。そのようなことを感じたからこそ、先生が愛した文学について、もう一度挑戦してみたいと思うのです。
先生と、４号館で３限の授業の前に音楽などのお話をする時や、ご一緒にステージに立たせていただき演奏をしたことなどは、今では本当に良い思い出です。もうそんな時間が来ないと思うと、なんだか寂しくなってしまいます。
これからご勇退されてからも、先生のアイルランド文学への愛がますます深まることを心からお祈りしております。私は先生には一生追いつくことはできないでしょう。それでも、先生が示して下さった道を少しでも歩けるよう、努力をしてまいりたいと思います。奥原先生、ありがとうございました。(Othello)
cut back on the frills
初めてロンドンに行った時に、カフェの多さに、紅茶の国じゃないの！？と驚いた記憶があります。「どうやってイングランド人はコーヒー好きになったのか」というコラムがThe Guardianにありました。内容も面白いのですが、今回は英語表現を確認致します。
赤字のcut back on the frillsは「フリルを削減する」と訳せます。しかしこのfrillには、以前のブログ記事frillで語られているように「不要な装飾、虚飾、気取り」という意味があります。すなわち赤字は「無駄を省く」という意味になります。ちなみにfrills and furbelowsで「余分なもの、くだらないもの」という意味もあるので確認しておきます(『リーダーズ英和辞典』)。(Othello)
Hot coffee: how Britain fell in love with the bean | Food | The Guardian
What seems to be happening is that we're cutting back on the frills (such as those skinny blueberry muffins whose innards eerily recall the look, texture and flavour of carpet underlay) and demanding that our coffees work harder to titillate our palates. The very idea of us renouncing a beverage that King Charles II tried to ban and The Women's Petition Against Coffee of 1674 claimed had "so Eunucht our Husbands and Crippled our more kind gallants they come from it with nothing moist but their snotty noses, nothing stiffe but their Joints ..." is unthinkable. There is, incidentally, no good evidence for an inverse relationship between British coffee sales and sperm motility, despite what 17th-century women protesters claimed.
報告会のお知らせ
JACET教育問題研究会
「語学教育エキスポ 2013」開催について（連絡）
時下ますます，ご清栄のこととお慶び を申し上げます。
さて，JACET教育問題研究会では，神保尚武（早稲田大学）科研費研究と西山教行（京都大学）科研費研究の支援を受けて2012年度に実施した調査・研究に関する成 果報告会を下記の要領で開催することとなりました。この集会では，6つのシンポジウム，1つのワークショップ，そして15枠程度の個人研究発表の実施を予定しております。大会テーマは，「日本において最適な外国語教育法／学習法の開 発を目指して」です。
【大 会委員長】神保尚武（早稲田大学）【日時】2013年3月17日（日）早稲田大学11号館4階会議場
1.シンポジウム1：言語教育課程において学ぶ学生または初任者プログラムにいる教師が英語教師として成長するための気づきの手がかりとなるポートフォリオ(J-POSTL）の使用について（ラウンドテーブル）
2.シンポジウム2：生徒が英語力を向上させる時の気づきに資するCAN-DOリストの開発，利用について
3.シンポジウム3：中堅の教員が教員としてのさらなる成長を目指す場合，その成長の気づきに資するポートフォリオ(J-POTL)の使用はどうあるべきか −2012年に実施した全国調査（6000名を超える中高教師の回答）の結果をもとに−
4.シンポジウム4：英語以外の外国語教育について −2012年に実施した全国調査（1万6人を超える学生の回答）の結果の中間報告をもとに−
5.シンポジウム5：「英語教育における翻訳(TILT：Translation and Interpreting in Language Teaching)の意義と位置づけ—CEFRに よる新たな英語力の定義に関連して −」通訳翻訳をコミュニケーションのための言語活動として初めて正
当に位置付けた「ヨーロッパ言語共通参照枠」に言及しながら、我が国の大学教育における通訳翻訳教育の今日的意義と位置付けについて議論する。
6.シンポジウム6： 異文化間コミュニケーション能力をどのように養成するか −「複言語・複文化アプローチ参照枠（CARAP）」や「異文化間コミュニカティブ言語教育（iCLT）」 の活用について−
7.ビジネス英語能力育成のためのコンテスト型ワークショップ：英語ビジネスプレゼンテーション指導例。学生による英語ビジネスプレゼンテーションのコンテスト，コンテストの結果発表とビジネスマンによる
講評およびまとめ。
【参加申込】語学教育エキスポ2013に参加を希望する場合，3月10日（日）までに，shienアットcuc.ac.jpまでお申し込みください。参加証をお送りします。発表予稿集は参加証と引き替えにお渡しします。予稿集をご希望の方は早めに参加をお申し込みください。予稿集準備部数には限りがあります。
詳細は，http://www.waseda.jp/assoc-jacetenedu/expo2013.pdf を参照ください。
irreverent
postするタイミングがずれましたが，A's入団を決めた元西武ライオンズ 中島裕之選手に対する米記者の印象です。同選手が日本語で言った「とても格好いい」が通訳者により"extremely sexy & cool"と訳され，野球ファンの間で話題になっていますが，こちらも面白い表現です。記者がA'sのクラブハウスを形容した言葉に irreverentとあります。まさか「不敬の，神をおそれぬ」という意味ではないですよね。インターナショナルな雰囲気ということですが，この irreverentはどのような意味合いなのでしょうか。EnDoughくん，どうぞ。（UG）
Oakland A's introduce new shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima
OAKLAND -- Flashing confidence, a sense of humor and a very wide smile, Hiroyuki Nakajima introduced himself as a potentially promising fit to the A's multicultural roster on Tuesday. Most importantly, the 30-year-old Japanese veteran will be Oakland's starting shortstop after agreeing Monday to a two-year, $6.5 million contract that includes a club option for a third year.
It appears the A's have added another character to their irreverent, extroverted international clubhouse scene. After studying nervously Monday night to introduce himself in English, the first question asked of Nakajima was why he picked Oakland as his American baseball destination.
"(A's general manager) Billy Beane is extremely sexy and cool," he said, prompting considerable laughter from a roomful of Bay Area and Japanese media. "That's definitely one of the reasons I signed here."
Answering a subsequent question about making a cultural adjustment from Japan to the U.S., Nakajima jokingly answered that the lack of bathtubs in America could be a concern. At the end of his news conference, he once again broke into English to add, "I will do my best for the team, but I also want to Bernie Dance with Oakland."
http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_22217986/oakland-introduce-
paper
思わぬ笑いが招いてしまった事態です。
Chechnya: Russia closes paper after journalists laugh at Vladimir Putin
A Chechen newspaper has been closed down just hours after its editor-in-chief embarrassed the region’s Kremlin-backed leader while questioning Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Belkis Dudayeva, the editor-in-chief of Kadyrov’s Path, provoked laughter when she asked Mr Putin a question which began: “Thank God that Chechnya has now become a region of peace and prosperity...”
The resulting laughter from other journalists seems to have stung Ramzan Kadyrov, inset, the head of the Chechen Republic, who announced later that the newspaper would be closed down.
Paperという表現が気になったのでとりあげます。普通は第一義の「紙」、また我々学生は「レポート、学術論文」という意味を連想しがちですが、ここでは意外にも「新聞」（『ジーニアス英和辞典 第３版』大修館）という意味で使われています。馴染みのあるシンプルな単語であるが故に、今まで辞書を引くことはなかったのですが、調べない限りは、特にヘッドラインからの意味は推測しがたい単語だと思いました。(Shou-VR*)
ご指名質問: spearhead
本当に大変遅くなって申し訳ありません。UG先生からのご指名質問にお答え致します。
Abe to install new minister to stimulate economy
Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe says he will create a new ministerial position responsible for boosting Japan's economic growth. Abe is due to become the country's prime minister next week. Abe said he will restore the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy to coordinate policies. The council was suspended under the Democratic Party of Japan's rule. He also proposed creating a task force within his Cabinet to spearhead Japan's economic revival.
The group's main job will be to discuss policy details. The new minister will be in charge of both bodies. Abe is to appoint former prime minister Taro Aso as finance minister as well as deputy prime minister. The LDP leader apparently hopes Aso will use his experience and economic expertise to deal with the dual problems of deflation and the strong yen. Abe plans to keep Masahiko Komura as LDP vice president. Aso and Komura both supported Abe in September's LDP presidential election.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20121219_05.html
spearheadは名詞で使われる事が多い単語ですが、ここでは動詞で使われています。werriam-webster onlineには" to serve as leader or leadingelement of"と定義されています。さらに手元の辞書を参照してみると、「〜の先頭に立つ」という意味(『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版、大修館書店)でした。
以上のことから訳出を致しますと「日本の経済を立て直すためのリーダーになる」といった意味になりますでしょうか。(EnDough)
