catastrophic 復習

米大統領選においてドナルド・トランプ氏が勝利したことを受け、日本の経済界では貿易に対する不安の色が隠せません。

Businesses fret over Trump victory

Japan’s business community is anxious about the prospects for future trade with the United States, which have become murky after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.

The victory of the Republican candidate shocked Japanese industries, as Trump has said he opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, calling for increased protection for U.S. industries.

“There was the Nixon shock [in 1971] and the so-called Lehman shock [in 2008]. I was so astonished that I’d say it’s a ‘Trump shock,’” Koei Tsuge, president of Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said Wednesday during a regular press conference.

Tsuge also said Trump’s victory was a shock on par with past events that had a substantial impact on the entire world.

The United States is an extremely important partner for the Japanese business community.

中略

Trump has said the TPP would be catastrophic for the U.S. auto industry, as the pact will increase the country’s vehicle imports. Thus, his victory will likely make it difficult to put the TPP into force.

以下省略

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003340621

今回取り上げる表現はcatastrophicです。『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版　研究社）で調べると、形容詞で「大災害を与える、大変動の、破滅（破壊）的な」という意味が見つかりました。LDOCEには “causing a lot of destruction, suffering, or death” や “extremely bad” と定義されておりました。
記事内にもあるように、トランプ氏はTPPに関して “the TPP would be catastrophic for the U.S. auto industry” という見解を示しており、「破滅的」ということばを用いることで強い批判を示していることがうかがえます。（aqua）

Chocolate meltdown: why we may be suffering a cocoa catastrophe - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から