hit the jackpot 復習
今年も世界の優良航空会社ランキングが発表されました。
AirlineRatings names 'most excellent' airlines for 2017
(CNN) — What does New Zealand, home of "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit," love better than a blockbusting trilogy?
Hitting the jackpot four times in a row.
Just like when the All Blacks won their fourth Grand Slam in 2010, Air New Zealand has been named 2017 Airline of the Year by AirlineRatings.com in its Airline Excellence Awards, the fourth time it's taken the title.
The Australia-based website praised the "industry trendsetter" for its record-breaking financial performance, award-winning in-flight innovations, operational safety, environmental leadership and motivation of its staff.
"Air New Zealand came out number one in virtually all of our audit criteria, which is an exceptional performance," said editor-in-chief Geoffrey Thomas.
以下省略
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/14/aviation/airline-excellence-awards-2017/index.html
今回取り上げる表現は、“hit the jackpot”です。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(第３版、三省堂)で“jackpot”を引いたところ、「積立賞金[賭け金]；(ゲーム・宝くじなどの)最高[多額]の賞金；(ゲームの)特賞」とありました。また、同じ項目に“hit the jackpot”で「積立賞金[賭け金]を得る；«…で»大成功を収める；大金[幸運]をつかむ«with»」と載っていました。
LDOCEには“to win a lot of money”や“to have a big success”などと定義されています。
『ウィズダム英和辞典』の定義にもあったように、“jackpot”の元々の意味は賭け事における多額の賞金を指す表現です。そのことから、今回の表現には信じがたい大成功といったニュアンスが含まれるのではないかと思います。(Blue Sky)
