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。

trip wire

オーストラリアで警官が悪ふざけで仕掛けられたトラップにはまり,汚物にまみれるという事件がありました。
「旅行」などの意味が想起されるtripには動詞で「〈人〉をつまずかせる, つまずかせて倒す」という意味があり,文中のtrip wireは「しかけ線 〘地面に張り, 人などがこれに触れたり引っ掛かると, 爆発したりわなが落ちる〙」という意味です(『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館)。
見出しのcrap dayはしばしば「つまらない日」などのような意味で用いられますが,今回は違うようですね。(Koyamamoto)

Austrian traffic cop has crap day
VIENNA – A traffic cop in Austria got more than he bargained for after a booby trap covered him head-to-toe in manure as he was trying to catch people speeding, police said on Tuesday.
A bucket containing the slurry exploded 3 meters from the officer after he triggered a trip wire at a site often used for speed traps, police in the southern state of Carinthia said.
The 58-year-old was not hurt and police said the device was likely designed by an irate motorist to humiliate officers rather than cause injury. But they were nonetheless not amused.
“What could have happened if the officer had been nearer the explosives, or if a child had set it off? Doesn’t bear thinking about,” spokesman Rainer Dionisio said.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/17/world/crime-legal-world/austrian-traffic-cop-crap-day/#.VBlvO0uXjA8