green confetti
green confetti
４日, アメリカ独立記念日恒例のホットドック早食い大会が, NY で行われました。
Naoさん, luaさんと同じ記事からです。
At Nathan’s Hot Dog Contest, 15 Women Challenge the Gluttony Ceiling
The contestants rolled up their sleeves and took to their plates of hot dogs on the stage, lining up their cups of water in a strategic array, as thousands of perspired onlookers watched with anticipation.
As the countdown ended, the reigning champion burst into action, hot dogs disappearing faster than the eye wanted to see, with only a pause given for a wipe of the mouth, or an occasional flip of her blond hair from her face.
中略
For decades, men have flocked to Coney Island on the Fourth of July to test their stomachs and their will against the likes of Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut, and scarf down the most Nathan’s Famous hot dogs in 10 minutes.
The competition on Monday was no different. But before Mr. Chestnut took the first of his many winning bites, before the green confetti fell and the cameras surrounded him and his competitors, a group of less celebrated women tried the same feat.
The reigning champion, Miki Sudo of Las Vegas, bounced up and down at center stage next to the three-time women’s champion, Sonya Thomas, known as the Black Widow. Ms. Thomas did less bouncing; she favored the time-honored technique of dunking her hot dog buns in cups of water before stuffing them into her mouth with her fist.
以下省略
本日取り上げる表現は “green confetti” です。
“confetti” は「(祝祭日・婚礼・カーニバルなどに戯れて投げ合う)色紙片」を指しますが, “green” がつくことにより, どのような “confetti” になるのか気になりました。
そこで『新英和大辞典』(第五版, 研究社)を調べると, “green” は「緑(色)の」のほか, 「万事好調に進んでいる」とありました。 つまり今回の “the green confetti fell” という表現は, 栄冠の獲得を目指して絶好調の食べっぷりをみせたチェスナットさんの様子を示しているのではないかと考えました。
今回の表現に因み, 他の色味も調べてみると, “blue” は「(米俗)酒に酔った」, “brown” は「一途な(serious)」などと記され, 一色で多彩な意味をもつということを確認できました。(Cayu)
