常時英心:言葉の森から 1.0

約10年間,はてなダイアリーで英語表現の落穂拾いを行ってきました。現在はAmeba Blogに2.0を開設し,継続中です。こちらはしばらくアーカイブとして維持します。

second-guessing 復習

アメリカのオハイオ州シンシナティにある動物園での出来事です。3歳の男の子がゴリラの獣舎に転落し、動物園側はゴリラを射殺してその男の子を助けました。

'We'd make the same decision,' zoo director says of gorilla shooting

Zookeepers shot and killed a rare gorilla on Saturday after a 3-year-old boy slipped into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo, triggering outcry over how the situation was handled.

If they had to do it again, they would respond the same way, the zoo's director said Monday.

Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said he stands by the decision to kill 17-year-old silverback Harambe to save the child.

The boy went under a rail, through wires and over a moat wall to get into the enclosure, according to the zoo. Footage shot by a witness shows Harambe dragging the child through the water as the clamor of the crowd grows louder.

Zookeepers shot the 450-pound gorilla with a rifle, rather than tranquilizing him. The brief encounter sparked widespread Internet outrage over the decision to shoot Harambe and whether the child's parents were to blame for failing to look after him.

But those second-guessing the call "don't understand silverback gorillas," Maynard said in a news conference. And, they were not there when it was time to make the crucial decision.

"That child's life was in danger. People who question that don't understand you can't take a risk with a silverback gorilla -- this is a dangerous animal," he said. "Looking back, we'd make the same decision. The child is safe."

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/

今回取り上げるのはsecond-guessingです。second-guessを『ライトハウス英和辞典』(第5版 研究社)で調べてみますと、他動詞で「1(米)(済んだ事)に後知恵を働かせる(後になってああすればよかった、こうすればよかったと言う)、(…)に結果論を振り回す 2(…)を予言(予測)する、(人)の先を読む」という意味であることがわかりました。今回は1つ目の意味になるかと思われます。LDOCEには “to try to say what will happen or what someone will do before they do it” という意味と、 “American English to criticize something after it has already happened” という意味が載っていました。

射殺されたゴリラは絶滅が心配されているだけに、今回の決断に対してさまざまな意見があるようです。
この表現は過去にも取り上げられております。(aqua)

second-guess - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心:言葉の森から