kickback 復習
8月5日に開幕するリオデジャネイロオリンピックですが、国民のほぼ3人に2人が開催に反対していることがわかりました。
Many Brazilians polled think Games not good for country
Two weeks away from the Olympics, nearly two out of three Brazilians believe that hosting them will cause the country more harm than good, an opinion poll said Tuesday as worries grow over crime and budget cuts.
Half of the people surveyed by Datafolha pollster oppose the big sporting event. The disapproval has doubled in three years, and the frustration is even greater in south and southeast Brazil, which includes the host city Rio de Janeiro.
The popularity of the Games has dropped dramatically as Brazil weathers a two-year-long recession, and unemployment and inflation shoot up.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the hardest-hit states. Plunging oil prices and a massive kickback scheme at state oil company Petrobras have depleted the state’s accounts so severely that the state’s acting governor declared financial disaster in June. The move gave officials the freedom to manage shrinking resources without breaking fiscal laws and opened the way for the federal government to send an aid package of $860 million to pay for security during the event.
More than half of Brazilians think that the city’s security problems are a cause of shame.
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003091706
今回取り上げるのは kickback です。そのまま考えると蹴り返すようなイメージがわきますが、どのような意味なのかわかりませんでしたので、『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版 研究社）で調べました。すると「（略式、主に米）（支払い金の）一部返却、不当な謝礼、リベート」という意味があることがわかりました。LDOCEでも調べてみますと “money that someone pays secretly and dishonestly in return for someone's help” とありました。
この表現は過去にも取り上げられておりました。その時のものを見てみますと、kickbackには銃の強い反動、予期せぬ反発という意味もあるそうです。(aqua)
