tight-lipped

お隣の韓国で起きた、衝撃的な事件から英語表現を拾います。

Oxy offers to give 5 billion won to victims

All the disinfectants were removed from stores on Aug. 31, 2011, when the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the products were suspected of causing lung failure in pregnant women and children.

The prosecution has mostly stayed tight-lipped, but news outlets poured out reports concerning the investigation.

Prosecutors will reportedly seek cooperation with their British counterparts in investigating the headquarters of Reckitt Benckiser.

The prosecution was also quoted as saying that the company paid a scientist to produce a fraudulent report which became the foundation of its claims that there was no link between the chemicals used in the product and the deaths.

News reports also revealed that the company deleted consumer complaints about the side effects of its product posted on its website.

The prosecution is likely to conclude that the toxic chemicals caused the deaths, a key point the manufacturer has long denied. It is trying to find a correlation between the chemical and other illnesses. Many of the victims have suffered respiratory diseases and skin problems.

（一部抜粋）

http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=203135

今回取り上げる単語は、tight-lippedです。ニュアンスは伝わるのですが、うまく人に説明できないなと思ったので、調べてみることにしました。

Oxford Dictionary of English (Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)によると” with the lips firmly closed, especially as a sign of suppressed emotion or determined reticence “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）には「（話そうとせず）口を堅く閉じた，黙った，（怒りなどで）口を堅く閉じた」と載っておりました。

これらから、唇を一文字に固めている様子が思い浮かびました。また「口を閉じる」よりもさらに力が入っているイメージもいだきました。（Gomez）