diabolical 復習
ロンドンの大気質が10年ぶりに法定制限未満の値になりました。
London's air quality is within legal limits in mid-January for the first time in 10 years, City Hall has said.
中略
Friends of the Earth clean air campaigner Oliver Hayes said: "The windy start to 2018 is likely to have had as much to do with the reduced number of pollution spikes as anything else, but it's clearly good news for Londoners that their air isn't as filthy as usual this January.
"However, with the entire year's quota of pollution breaches due to be used up within the month, London's pollution can at best be downgraded from diabolical to terrible.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-42681113
diabolical /dὰɪəbάlɪk(ə)l/を取り上げます。『ジーニアス英和辞典』を引くと「非常に残忍な、邪悪な、極悪非道の」「不愉快な、いらいらさせる」とあります。語源はギリシャ語のdiabolikosの名詞diabolos（＝悪魔）からきています。またCambridge Dictionary では“extremely bad or shocking”と定義されています。
空気質（大気質）指数とはいくつかの国と地域で採用されている大気汚染の程度を示す指数だそうです。ちなみに日本では空気質指数の代わりに光化学スモッグ注意報などが市民への情報発表となっています。(Kiwi girl)
