smatter 復習
ゼミで以前、彼女の動画を見ました。
She Broke Japan’s Silence on Rape
In a news conference in May and a book published in October, she said the police had obtained hotel security camera footage that appeared to show Mr. Yamaguchi propping her up, unconscious, as they walked through the hotel lobby. The police also located and interviewed their taxi driver, who confirmed that she had passed out. Investigators told her they were going to arrest Mr. Yamaguchi, she said — but then suddenly backed off.
Elsewhere, her allegations might have caused an uproar. But here in Japan, they attracted only a smattering of attention.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/world/asia/japan-rape.html?referer=https://www.google.co.jp/
smatter (smatter)に注目しました。『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版，大修館）を引いたところ、 「 〈言語など〉を不十分な知識で話す，たどたどしく話す」、「〈科目など〉を生半可に学習ふる」などと載っておりました。Oxford Dictionary of English (2th) には、smattering で“a slight superficial knowledge of a language or subject”や “a small amount of something”と定義されております。
以上から、文中のattracted only a smattering of attentionは、「ほんの少ししか関心を持たれなかった」のような意味合いで用いられていると考えられます。(Gomez)
