humongous #2
亀田製菓が世界最大の「柿の種」を製造し、ギネス世界記録に認定されました。
Cracking Japanese snack sets world record for size
NIIGATA—A humongous spicy rice cracker flavored with soy sauce has been recognized by Guinness World Records.
The record-breaking "kaki no tane," one of Japan's most popular traditional snacks, measures a whopping 55.4 centimeters and has been crowned the largest ever, being about 22 times the length of a regular one.
Usually the tiny snacks are about 2.5 centimeters in length and often mixed up with peanuts to be scoffed while drinking beer, or, perhaps, a pint or two of Guinness.
The monster cracker was unveiled Nov. 2 at the head office of confectioner Kameda Seika Co. here.
“We want to make Japan’s kaki no tane known around the world,” said Isamu Sato, the company president.
It was produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of sales of its kaki no tane product.
The cracker is called kaki no tane (persimmon seed) due to its crescent shape.
Eight members of the company's technical development division started to produce the giant one on Oct. 10.
Some were cracked and deflated while being baked, and others broke apart.
Finally, the holy grail of kaki no tane was rustled up and then held up for the world to see.
“The biggest challenge was to maintain the strength of the product,” a person in charge of the project noted.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611030067.html
今回取り上げるのはhumongousです。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版、大修館書店）では「ばかでかい、どでかい」とありました。
語源が気になったのでOxford dictionaries.com.で調べてみると“huge”と“monstrous”が組み合わさってできており、「並外れた、とてつもない」の“stupendous”のストレスパターンから影響を受けているということがわかりました。
ギネス認定された柿の種は通常サイズの3000倍だそうです。(flyingbird)
