without a hitch 復習

青森県五所川原市では, 今年も「立佞武多(たちねぷた)祭り」が開催される予定です。

Neputa floats captivate festival-goers

AOMORI — The tachineputa parade — an annual procession of towering neputa statues of warriors and other historical figures — offers a spectacular summer-night pageant for visitors to Goshogawara, Aomori Prefecture.

On the nights of Aug. 4 to 8 every year, three floats of tall, colorfully decorated statues are pulled along crowded streets in the central part of Goshogawara. The statues’ heights are about 23 meters, as tall as a seven-story building, presenting a stunning sight to visitors to the annual festival.

Goshogawara is located near the center of the Tsugaru Peninsula.

中略

During the annual festival, huge neputa statues are pulled out of a gate at the side of Tachineputa no Yakata. “When they come out without a hitch, the spectators applaud,” Fukushi said. “To me, that moment is a real thrill.”

In 2010, tachineputa were designated as an intangible folk cultural asset by the city government.

以下省略

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003091730

本日取り上げる表現は “without a hitch” です。

“hitch” は動詞「ひっかける, からまる」という意味で知られていますが, 『リーダーズ英和中辞典』(研究社)に “without a hitch” は, 「すらすらと, 首尾よく」と記されていました。The Free Dictionary.com には “with no problem(s)” と定義されています。

年にたった一度の晴れ舞台で, すべての山車がトラブルなく姿を現す様子を “without a hitch” と表現していることがわかります。(Cayu)

PS “hitch” の詳しい用例が過去に取り上げられていました。
hitch - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から