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。

pending(回答)

UG先生からの指名に応えさせていただきます。
cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20131228/1388190004
pendingというと「〈問題業務などが〉未決定[未完]の」という意味の形容詞が想起されがちですが,今回のpendingは前置詞で「…の間, …じゅう」というduringと同じ意味です(『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館)。よってpending an investigationで「調査をしている間」と解釈できます。
なおpendはラテン語のpendēre(ぶら下げる)を語源に持ち(『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』同上),この「ぶら下げる」から転じて「継続中」という意味を持つようになりました。「ぶら下げる」のニュアンスはsuspendやpendantなどの単語からもわかりますね。(Koyamamoto)


Panhandle Police Shoot and Kill Teen Driver
A Florida teenager is dead after being shot by police during a high-speed chase.
The Pensacola Police Department says a police officer fired shots into the vehicle of 17-year-old William Goodman after the teen ran over another officer's leg.
The injured officer was treated and released at an area hospital. The officer who shot Goodman is on paid leave pending an investigation by state authorities.
Officers were trying to stop Goodman after numerous reports that he was driving recklessly and at excessive speeds. They said Goodman fled from them at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour.
The dead teen was scheduled for a court appearance next month on charges from earlier this year. According to prosecutors, Goodman killed a pedestrian in March while illegally passing another vehicle.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/panhandle-police-shoot-kill-teen-driver-21328929