namby-pamby
Donald Trump has confirmed he has cancelled his trip to London that was likely to prompt huge protests, saying he did not want to cut the ribbon on the new US embassy as the building’s relocation was a “bad deal”.
Trump’s plan to visit has caused huge controversy and repeated calls for Theresa May to withdraw the invite - though she insisted as recently as Sunday that he was still coming.
On Thursday evening, there were multiple news reports in the UK that the US President was cancelling the trip and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would replace him. …
Defending Trump, Boris Johnson said the President did not take a “namby-pamby” approach to politics.
“Maybe he’ll ruffle feathers - there’s no question that maybe some feathers were ruffled,” he added.
This non-namby-pamby approach has been on full display today after it was reported he referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries”. (Skip the rest)
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-cancels-uk-visit_uk_5a57ee90e4b02cebbfda4b63
今回取り上げる表現は、namby-pamby /n`æmbipˈæmbi/ です。
この表現の意味を『ジーニアス英和辞典』(大修館)でみると、「[略式]感傷的な(人)、弱気な(人)、優柔不断な(人)」とありました。また、LDOCEには “too weak and gentle and not strict or tough enough” とあります。
語源を確認すると、LDOCEには “namby-pamby (1700-1800) Name given to the English poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749) to make fun of him” と、OEDには “Mid 18th century: fanciful formation based on the given name of Ambrose Philips (died 1749), an English writer whose pastorals were ridiculed by Pope and others.” とありました。これ以上の情報は辞書になかったので WIKIPEDIA をみたところ、“Namby Pamby is a term for affected, weak, and maudlin speech/verse. It originates from Namby Pamby (1725) by Henry Carey.” “Carey wrote his poem as a satire of Ambrose Philips and published it in his Poems on Several Occasions. Its first publication was Namby Pamby …” とあり、詩の題名が Ambrose Philips のあだ名になり、現在も先に示した意味で用いられ、子供向けの詩としても読まれてきた、ということになります。WIKIPEDIA の該当リンクを載せておきますので一読してみてください。(OkaUchi)
