gaffe 復習
消防士が誤ってプレミアリーグのレスター・シティに賭けたところ、２０,０００£を手に入れました。
Leicester City betting gaffe scoops firefighters £20k
Two firefighters who mistakenly backed Leicester City to win the Premier League are celebrating after winning £20,000.
Jordan Wright, from Stanford-le-Hope, Essex, thought he had placed a £5 bet on Leicester to win their first match of the season against Sunderland, at odds of 2,000/1.
He roped in friend Mitchell Baldock to do the same, neither realising it related to the team winning the league.
The pair each won £10,000.
Mr Wright said he and Mr Baldock "thought BetFred had messed up the odds" for Leicester's first game of the season, so decided to place a bet to try to take advantage of the mistake.
The pair were mercilessly mocked by their fire brigade colleagues who told them the mistake they had made.
After realising his error, Mr Wright said he "didn't think too much" about Leicester's fortunes during the season "until the last quarter".
"It was when they won 3-1 against Manchester City - that's when I started thinking we had a real chance of winning," he said.
"Everyone loves an underdog so it was nice to see them win," Mr Wright, a London Fire Brigade worker, said.
"Every Premier League team wanted them to win, too - no-one will begrudge them for it."
Mr Wright said he had put part of his £10,000 into a personal training business he runs alongside his job, and was planning a trip to Las Vegas in June.
Mr Baldock, from Thurrock, had also put his share of the money into a new business, he said.
今回取り上げる表現は、見出しで用いられている”gaffe”です。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(第３版、三省堂)を引いたところ、「(社交上の)失態、不手際；失言」とありました。
Collins Dictionary.comでは、“a social blunder, esp a tactless remark”と定義されていました。”blunder”には「大失敗」という意味があるので、比較的大きな間違いを表現するときに用いられるようです。
今回は、「間違えてレスターに賭けていた大失敗で、２０,０００£(約３１０万円)をもうけた」などと解釈できると思います。おそらく、大失敗から大金を手にするという大逆転劇をより印象的に表現するために、この”gaffe”を用いたのだと思われます。(Blue Sky)
過去にも本ブログで取り上げられておりますので、そちらもご覧ください。
Gaffe of the Century? - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
