bravura

歌手のエルトン・ジョン氏がインスタグラムに、ロシアのプーチン大統領から電話があったと投稿しました。しかし、ロシア側はこれを全面的に否定したために、ジョン氏が偽の電話に騙された可能性が高いことが分かりました。

The Détente That Wasn’t: Putin’s Call to Elton John

It was a story that seemed almost too good to be true. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, celebrated for his macho bravura, and the pop star Elton John, known for his elaborate costumes, ballads and gay activism, coming together in a phone conversation that the singer said had been initiated by the Kremlin.
“Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today,” Mr. John wrote in an Instagram post on Monday afternoon that went largely unnoticed for a day. “I look forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia.”
Once discovered, the Instagram post went viral. Many news organizations, including The New York Times, reported Mr. John’s account. The only problem is that, according to the Kremlin, the phone call never happened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/16/world/europe/elton-john-vladimir-putin-russia-gay-rights.html?_r=0

今回取り上げるのは、“bravura”という表現です。LDOCEで調べてみると、“great skill shown in the way you perform, write, paint etc, especially when you do something very difficult”という定義が見つかりました。また、『ジーニアス英和辞典G4 大修館書店』で確認してみると、「｟正式｠華麗な演奏、華やかな行動〔態度〕、妙技」といった意味が記載されていました。さらに調べてみると、語源としてはイタリア語の“bravery”という単語が由来しているようです。(ninetails)