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。

ticking time bombs

ブラジル北部のマヌアスで行われた聖火リレー式典に登場していたジャガーが脱走し、兵士に襲いかかりました。鎮静剤が効かなかったため、ジャガーは射殺されました。

Jaguar shot dead after Olympic torch ceremony

Reuters
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) — A jaguar featured at an Olympic torch ceremony was shot dead by a soldier shortly after the event in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus as the animal escaped from its handlers, an army statement said.

The jaguar was killed on Monday at a zoo attached to a military training center where the Olympic torch ceremony was held. A soldier fired a single pistol shot when the escaped animal, despite being tranquilized, approached the soldier, the army said.

“We made a mistake in permitting the Olympic torch, a symbol of peace and unity, to be exhibited alongside a chained wild animal. This image goes against our beliefs and our values,” the local organizing committee Rio 2016 said in a statement.

中略

The shooting caused uproar among animal rights groups, which pointed to the recent killing of a gorilla at a Cincinnati zoo and alligators at Walt Disney World in Orlando as evidence of flawed policy toward wild animals. Many questioned why the animal was involved in the Olympic event.

“When will we learn? Wild animals held captive and forced to do things that are frightening, sometimes painful, and always unnatural are ticking time bombs — our actions put them and humans at risk,” Brittany Peet, director of captive animal law enforcement at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), said in a statement.

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003033424

今回取り上げるのはticking time bombsです。『ライトハウス英和辞典』(第5版 研究社)ではtickは「1(時計などが)かちかちいう 2(略式)(機械などが)動く」とあり、time bombは「1時限爆弾 2大問題になりかねない事態」とありました。ticking time bombsを直訳で表すと「動いている時限爆弾」となり、爆発へ向かっている危険な状態の爆弾に例えられているのではないかと考えられます。

この表現に関連するものが過去にもございました。(aqua)

The grey planet's ticking timebomb - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心:言葉の森から