buffoonery 復習
Through a series of self-inflicted wounds the Conservative party has reduced itself to this: hovering between delusional and deranged, bluster and buffoonery. Insisting on concessions that have not been offered; suggesting solutions that have already been rejected; showing up to negotiations with nothing to offer; refusing to concede anything, only then to capitulate to everything. (Skip the rest)
今回取り上げる語は、buffoonery /bəˈfuːnəri/ です。文脈からあまり好ましい意味でないことが推測できます。以下で意味等を確認していきます。
まず意味を OED でみると、“Behaviour that is ridiculous but amusing” とあり、Merriam-Webster Dictionary には “foolish or playful behavior or practice” と定義されていました。
次に語源を ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY でみると、“"low jokes, vulgar pranks," 1620s; see buffoon + -ery.” とあり、buffoon をみると “1540s, "type of pantomime dance;" 1580s, "professional comic fool;" 1590s in the general sense "a clown, a joker;" from Middle French bouffon (16c.), from Italian buffone "jester," from buffa "joke, jest, pleasantry," from buffare "to puff out the cheeks," a comic gesture, of echoic origin. Also see -oon.” とありました。
以上のことから、buffoonery は「おどけ」という意味だとわかりました。(OkaUchi)
