nonplussed

NZの隔離騒ぎの続報です。この記事では、ホームステイ・オーガナイザーの代表はnonplussedだったと書かれていますが、この表現にひっかかりました。実はnonplussedにはふたつの相反する意味があります。日本の学習辞典には「当惑している、閉口している」（bewildered, be unsure how to respond）という意味が記載されていますが、近年の米国・カナダでは（俗語）「人が落ち着いた、平静な」（cf. 『研究社大英和』）と別の意味になり、さらに文脈によっては「意にもかいさない、まったくなんとも思っていない」（unimpressed, unfazed）という意味合いになります。ということで、これを書いた記者は果たしてどちらの意味で使ったのでしょうか？バレンタインデートに勤しんでいるSugiuchiくん、どうですか？（＊いずれのケースでも、形式はbe nonplussed（at /by）、もしくはlook nonplussed）（UG）

NZ admits overreacting to flu scare on plane from Japan
NATIONAL FEB. 13, 2012 - 04:30PM JST ( 36 )WELLINGTON —
New Zealand health authorities on Monday admitted they overreacted to an influenza scare on a flight from Japan by quarantining the plane on the tarmac at Auckland airport for several hours.

The Air New Zealand flight from Tokyo was isolated after it landed Monday morning when the airline informed health officials that about 60 Japanese students were displaying flu-like symptoms.　The Auckland Regional Public Health Service put local hospitals on standby for mass patient admissions, as medical teams in biohazard suits entered the Boeing 777-200 to examine the sick passengers.

They were eventually allowed to disembark after about three hours when it was determined that, while some had colds, they had been immunized against flu and did not have the virus.
“In hindsight we overreacted to this but that’s better than underreacting. We needed to make it safe until we were sure,” health service medical officer Richard Hoskins said.　He said authorities had a duty to treat all health scares seriously.

Stuart Cundy, head of the homestay organization that is hosting the students in Taranaki, was nonplussed at the fuss his visitors had created.　“I’ve been traveling with them for an hour-and-a-half on a bus and I haven’t heard a sneeze,” he told the New Zealand Herald.　Health Minister Tony Ryall said the quarantine response was precautionary.