ringer #3

ろう者の高校生テニスプレイヤーがNYTに採り挙げられえています。記事にあるringerは過去にブログでもtest ringer（替え玉受験）という表現で紹介されていますが，辞書には「(競技などの)不正参加者」（『プログレッシブ英和中辞典』小学館）とあります。この訳は今回の文脈では適当ではないように思われるので，英英辞書を調べてみるとsomeone who pretends not to have a skill that they really have, in order to play on a team, enter a competition etc（LDOCE）とありました。deafがpretends not to have a skill that they really haveを連想させるからなのでしょうか。だとすればringerは「秘密兵器」や「隠し球」と解釈できます。（Koyamamoto）

cf. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20121126/1353887942

For Deaf Tennis Player, Sound Is No Barrier
ASAN, South Korea — To improve its chances in the boys’ team tennis event at the National Sports Festival here, Mapo High School in Seoul brought in a ringer from Jecheon, two hours southeast of the capital. His name was Lee Duck-hee, and he had first caught the coach’s eye when he was in elementary school.
Mapo High’s players pressed against the fence beside along the dusty hardcourts and chanted in support while Lee, 18, crushed forehand winners past his bespectacled opponent in the final. The 6-1, 6-1 win took little time — no surprise, as Lee is the best teenage player in South Korea, and a professional ranked 143rd in the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/22/sports/tennis/deaf-player-lee-duck-hee-south-korea.html?hpw&rref=sports&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well