常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

kick in

インド北部の広範な地域で2日連続で大停電が発生し、メディアは全人口約12億人のうち約6億人が影響を受けていると報じています。あの国の暑さを肌で感じた身には、この暑さの中、エアコンが停止するなんて考えられないことです。

kick inは面白い表現です。サッカーのkick offから類推できるように、offがinにとって代わると 「〜の状態に入る(in)」という意味になり、ここでは(自家発電機が)「稼働状態になったまま」と解釈できます。 (UG)

Indian power failure puts 370M in dark for hours

NEW DELHI (AP) -- A power grid failure blacked out northern India for hours Monday, halting trains, forcing hospitals and airports onto backup power and providing a dark, sweltering reminder of the nation's inability to meet its energy needs as it strives to be an economic power.

While the midsummer outage was unique in its reach -- it hit 370 million people, more than the population of the United States and Canada combined -- its impact was softened by Indians' familiarity with almost daily blackouts of varying duration. Hospitals and major businesses have backup generators that seamlessly kick in during power cuts, and upscale homes are hooked to backup systems powered by truck batteries.

Nonetheless, some small businesses were forced to shut for the day. Buildings were without water because the pumps weren't working, and the vaunted New Delhi Metro, with 1.8 million daily riders, was paralyzed during the morning commute.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120731p2g00m0in021000c.html