countenance 復習
Owen Smith, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, has waded into the row about Labour’s Brexit stance, warning the return of border posts in Northern Ireland will be unavoidable without the UK “effectively retaining membership of the single market and the customs union”.
Jeremy Corbyn expressed renewed scepticism about some aspects of the single market on Sunday, and repeated his assertion that it is not possible to remain inside the single market without being a member of the European Union. ...
“It is incredibly important for the peace process that we do not have, cannot countenance, a hard border on the island of Ireland,” he said. ”At the moment the government appears to me to be conceding that the only way in which they deliver on their guarantee of not having that, is that we remain aligned with the rules of the customs union and the single market; or that they come up with some, frankly fantasy, solution.” (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、countenance /kάʊnṭənəns/ です。
まず意味を確認します。この記事でこの語は動詞として使われています。LDOCEをみると、”to accept, support, or approve of something” とあり、OEDには、”Admit as acceptable or possible.” と定義されていました。『ジーニアス英和辞典』(大修館)をみると、「…を支持する、…を是認する」とあります。また同書に “consent to” と同意であるとありました。
次に語源を確認します。OED をみると、”Middle English: from Old French contenance ‘bearing, behaviour’, from contenir (see contain). The early sense was ‘bearing, demeanour’, also ‘facial expression’, hence ‘the face’.” とあります。
最後に用例を確認します。OEDをみると、”out of countenance” が載っていました。同書によれば、”Disconcerted or unpleasantly surprised.” とあり、「あわてて、困惑して」と訳をつけることができます。(OkaUchi)
