repercussion 復習
Campaigners for the rights of EU citizens in the UK have predicted “utter chaos” in Britain after Theresa May vowed to stop freedom of movement for all Europeans coming to the country next March.
Activists in Europe campaigning for the rights of Britons said they were “horrified” by the prime minister’s statement in China on Wednesday, saying it showed she did not understand that everything she planned for EU citizens would have a reciprocal impact on 1.2 million British citizens in Europe. …
British in Europe, a campaign group for British nationals in the EU, said its members felt abandoned by May.
“Every time Theresa May rejects an EU proposal on citizens’ rights she has to remember that it has direct repercussions on the rights and lives of 1.2 million British people living on continental Europe. And she is also slamming more doors shut for young British people in the UK itself,” said Jane Golding, a lawyer living in Germany, who chairs the group. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、repercussion / rìːpɚkˈʌʃən / です。まず意味を確認します。OEDをみると “[usually repercussions] An unintended consequence of an event or action, especially an unwelcome one.” とあります。通例、“~s” をつけることがわかります。Cambridge Dictionary では同語を “the effect that an action, event, or decision has on something, especially a bad effect” と定義していました。また、『ウィズダム英和辞典』(三省堂)をみると「(1) 悪影響、(2)[やや古]<音などの>はね返り、反動、反響」とありました。
次に語源を確認します。OEDをみると “Late Middle English (as a medical term meaning ‘repressing of infection’): from Old French, or from Latin repercussio(n-), from repercutere ‘cause to rebound, push back’, from re- ‘back, again’ + percutere ‘to strike’. The early sense ‘driving back, rebounding’ (mid 16th century) gave rise later to ‘blow given in return’, hence repercussion (sense 1) (early 20th century).” とありました。(OkaUchi)
