Question of the Day #698

“We kind of had a feeling they were ripe for the picking,” Canada’s Christine Sinclair said.

From the 5th paragraph from the end of this article at USA Today.

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

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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：
英辞郎にripe for the pickingは掲載されていませんが、ripe forはあります。

～の機が熟して、～に十分な、～の準備の整った

pickは、「摘み取る、採集する、採取する」の意味なのでripe for the pickingの直訳は、「摘み取るために十分熟している[果物]」になります。
しかし、直訳以外にripe for the pickingは、比喩的に使われることが多いので、「［米国女子サッカーチーム］に対して勝つチャンスは十分にある」という意味になります。

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

To be in an ideal position or at the perfect stage to be utilized, benefited or profited from, taken advantage of, exploited, etc. (Alludes to fruit being at the right stage to be harvested.)

Examples

• Assert our brand early and aggressively enough, and this new market will be ripe for the picking.
• I heard that massive company just dropped their current PR team—that contract is ripe for the picking!
• This land is ripe for the picking if we can get the locals to sign over the rights to it.
• With that sort of record, Republican governors might seem to be ripe for the picking. But the Democratic Party establishment, which remains obsessed with its collapsing fortunes at the federal level, has been slow to respond.
• The reaper is sure to be salivating and Taza is ripe for the picking. — Rosy Cordero, EW.com, 22 Feb. 2021

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