skeleton key
昨年12月にカリフォルニア州で起こったテロ事件の捜査で、FBIがAppleに対し容疑者の所持していたiPhoneの情報解析のためにロック解除を求めたところ、Appleはこの命令を拒否しました。
Apple Fights Order to Unlock San Bernardino Gunman’s iPhone
FRANCISCO — Apple said on Wednesday that it would oppose and challenge a federal court order to help the F.B.I. unlock an iPhone used by one of the two attackers who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Calif., in December.
On Tuesday, in a significant victory for the government, Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of the Federal District Court for the District of Central California ordered Apple to bypass security functions on an iPhone 5c used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who was killed by the police along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, after they attacked Mr. Farook’s co-workers at a holiday gathering.
Judge Pym ordered Apple to build special software that would essentially act as a skeleton key capable of unlocking the phone.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/technology/apple-timothy-cook-fbi-san-bernardino.html?_r=0
今回取り上げるのは、“skeleton key”という表現です。この表現をLDOCEで調べてみると、“a key made to open a number of different locks”という定義が見つかりました。“skeleton”には「（人や動物などの）骨格、（建物などの）骨組み」といった意味があるため、これらの意味から転じて、“skeleton key”で「合い鍵、親鍵、万能鍵」と表せると考えられます。「合い鍵」と聞くと、“master key”や“spare key”、“pass key”も思い浮かぶので、これらと併せて覚えておきたいです。(ninetails)
