work round (or around) the clock 復習

熊本、大分では不安な日々が続いています。

7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Japan

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s Kyushu region on April 16. There have been a total of 32 reported deaths, according to Kumamoto Prefecture’s disaster management office.

Following the earthquake, heavy rains struck the region, making the search for the remaining survivors even more difficult. The quake struck near the city of Kumamoto and turned landmarks into piles of debris, taking down buildings and other structures.

“We don’t know what is happening in the whole disaster area because it is a remote mountain area and some big bridges were down and many landslides were found, so we were working around the clock and are making assessments,” Nobuaki Sato, director of the International Relief Division at the Japanese Red Cross, said according to CNN. “But so far the road access is not easy to the remote areas.”

Two days prior to the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, a 6.2 quake shook a nearby area, Ueki City, taking the lives of nine civilians. The combined “twin-quakes” have killed 41 and have left 968 people injured, according to Japan’s disaster management office.

http://www.jhunewsletter.com/2016/04/28/7-0-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-japan/

今回取り上げる表現は、” around the clock”です。最初に「時計の周りで働いている」という意味だと思ったのですが、さっぱり通じないので調べてみました。

Oxford Dictionary of English (Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)を引いたところ、” round (or around) the clock)で “ all day and all night”と載っておりました。

また『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版、大修館）でも調べてみたところ、「まる一日、夜も昼も、24時間ぶっ通しで」と載っておりました。

つまり文中の” we were working around the clock”は、「昼夜兼行で動いています」という意味になるかと思います。

この表現は過去に何度かブログで取り上げられております。そちらも是非ご覧になってください。（Gomez）

around the clock - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
around-the-clock - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
around the clock #3 - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から