Question of the Day #111

"Robert Reich masterfully turns Ann Coulter’s ‘free speech’ gripes into smackdown on Trump’s media war"
The headline from this article at Raw Story.

上記の文で、smackdownの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "smackdown" mean?

答えは、コメントに書いてください。
Write your answer in the Comments.

明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

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解答

意味：
実は、英辞郎にsmackdownの訳はありませんが、イディオムのsmack downの訳はあります。 英辞郎によると、smack downの意味は、


～に灸を据える

また、下記Merriam-Websterの四つの定義を考慮すると、問題の場合の適訳は、「決定的な敗北をあたえる」ぐらいがいいと思います。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

1. the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent
2. a contest in entertainment wrestling
3. a decisive defeat
4. a confrontation between rivals or competitors

Etymology/語源

The Bleacher Reportによると、

smackdownは、２００７年７月１０日に初めてMerriam-Websterに掲載されたが、使われ始めたのがその約１０年前の１９９０年代半ば。（もっと詳しい説明は、下記英語の語源参照。）

According to The Bleacher Report:

It's one of those minor factoids that often gets glazed over, but today marks the anniversary of a pretty cool accomplishment for WWE. It was exactly five years ago today, on July 10, 2007, that the people at Merriam-Webster announced 20 new words that would officially be added to their English dictionary. Words that were added that day varied from trendy things like sudoku to advancing technologies like DVR. One of the words added was a word birthed nearly a decade before that day and has been a fixture in WWE for more than a dozen years now. The word was "smackdown".

Examples

• If he wins South Carolina, the smackdown with John King may well be remembered as the turning point.
• Halfway through his speech, Obama laid the smackdown on Congress.
• The third Romney smackdown in his first week back was something of a surprise.
• The technology made you feel like you had your finger on your mouse, made you expect the instant gratification of a “smackdown.”
• Way back during the 2000 Bush-Gore smackdown, I dug around in the data, interviewed undecideds, and called up a passel of experts.