veneer of believability 復習
Who was behind ‘Queen is dead’ conspiracy hoax?
On 29 December, the hashtag #mediablackout reached the top of Twitter's trends list in the UK. The story that the media were allegedly blacking out was the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Rumours swirled of a conspiracy to keep the public in the dark.
As with most rumours, hoaxes and fake news items, this one had an initial veneer of believability - if you are inclined towards conspiracy theories.
The Queen had recently been ill, causing her to miss Christmas Day services. And of course there had been a particularly high number of notable and celebrity deaths in 2016.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38510353
記事の中で気になった表現は"veneer of believability"です。
"veneer"を『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版(大修館)で調べてみると、「(家具などの表面に張る)化粧板、(合板用の)薄板、ベニア」という意味のほかに、「見せかけ、うわべの飾り」という意味があることが分かりました。
"veneer of honesty"で「うわべだけの誠実」とありました。
したがって、"veneer of believability"は「うわべだけの信頼」となるかと思います。
エリザベス女王だけでなく、以前にも米国と歌手のブリトニー・スピアーズの事故死など、有名人死去の誤報が相次いでいます。(Akim)
veneer of #2 - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
a thin veneer of - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から
