Question of the Day #1318

"We’re all on pins and needles": Birmingham’s Jamaican community braces for hurricane

From the headline of this article at ABC 3340 News.

  上記の文で、on pins and needlesの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "on pins and needles" mean?

  答えは、コメントに書いてください。
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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

1. 《be ～》〔脚などが〕しびれてチクチクしている
2. 《be ～》〔心配・不安などで〕興奮［ハラハラ・そわそわ・ビクビク・やきもき］している、ひやひやする、ピリピリして神経過敏になっている

1番の意味でon pins and needlesが使用された英語を聞いたことがないので、ちょっと怪しいと思います。なので、そのような意味もあるかもしれないと思ってください。

 

Answer

According to Dictionary.com:

In a state of anxiety or tense expectation

 

Examples

1. “Jackie was on pins and needles waiting to hear about her job application.”
2. “Everybody was on pins and needles,” the counselor said at the hearing. Read more on Salon
3. Since Trump’s takeover, Kennedy Center watchers have been on pins and needles about what the schedule might look like. Read more on Los Angeles Times
4. Don’t keep Margaret on pins and needles – give her a call.
5. I think we all have been sitting on pins and needles and anxious for something to happen.

   

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Question of the Day #1317

How to mind your own business

From the headline of this article at NPR.

  上記の文で、mind your own businessの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "mind your own business" mean?

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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

余計な［大きな・いらぬ］お世話です。／人のことに口出しするな。／おまえには関係ない。

   

Answer

According to the Cambridge Dictionary:

used to tell someone in a rude way that you do not want them to ask about something private

 

Examples

1. "Where have you been?" "Mind your own business!"
2. I asked Laura what was wrong and she told me to mind my own business.
3. I wish you'd stop interfering and mind your own business.
4. The idea is but too prevalent in almost every community, that a man has discharged his duties as a citizen, well enough, if he minds his own business and does not meddle with the affairs of his neighbours.
5. I asked her if he'd returned home and she told me to mind my own business.

   

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Question of the Day #1316

Fits like a glove

From the headline of this article at Health & Safety International.

  上記の文で、fits like a gloveの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "fits like a glove" mean?

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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

ぴったり合う

   

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

1. To be perfectly sized for someone, as of an article of clothing. A noun or pronoun can be used between "fit" and "like."
2. To be very suited for someone. A noun or pronoun can be used between "fit" and "like."

 

Examples

1. The alterations turned out great—that gown really fits you like a glove now.
2. That sweater never fit me right, but you look great—it fits you like a glove. Why don't you keep it?
3. She's very shy, so working in a research lab really fits her like a glove.
4. Seldom do I find any pair of shoes that fit me like a glove.
5. I love this song because it fits my mood like a glove.

   

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Question of the Day #1315

In the NEWS: Consumer Drug Ads: All Washed Up?

From the headline of this article at the Lipponcott Nursing Center.

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

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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

1. 《be ～》〔人が能力的に〕成功の見込みがない、役に立たなくなっている、終わっている、おしまいである
2. 《be ～》〔心身が〕疲れ切っている、ぼろぼろになっている

2番目の訳は、washed outの訳でwashed upの意味ではありません。

 

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

no longer successful, skillful, popular, or needed

 

Examples

1. The tragedy of being a dancer is that you're all washed up by the time you're 35.
2. We are dealing with a washed-up relic of an idea from the last decade that has outlived its usefulness.
3. He ended his career on a dismal losing streak, and was washed-up by age 22.
4. The film, about a group of revolutionaries who reunite to help one of their own — Bob Ferguson, a washed-up, paranoid stoner — rescue his daughter from their longtime enemy, has a lot to say about our fraught, divisive reality. —Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Sep. 2025
5. This is what happened last year when their most significant trade-deadline pickup was washed-up pitcher Lance Lynn, or the year before when their major summer acquisition was strikeout-prone outfielder Joey Gallo. Dodgers Clayton Kershaw returns to the Dodgers. —Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2024

   

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Question of the Day #1314

Unions Run It up the Flagpole

From the headline of this article at the Mackinac Center.

  上記の文で、run it up the flagpoleの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "run it up the flagpole" mean?

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解答

意味：
このイディオムは、run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes itを省略したもので英辞郎によると、

試しに話してみて反応を探る◆【語源】1950年代から1960年初頭にかけて、アメリカでよく使われた表現。◆【直訳】旗ざおに掲げてみて誰か敬礼するかどうかを調べる。

   

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

To test out an idea in order to gauge interest or gain feedback.

 

Examples

1. Run your idea up the flagpole before you pitch it to the boss, so that you don't make a fool of yourself.
2. Before we finalize the marketing strategy, let's run it up the flagpole and see what the team thinks.
3. have a new product idea; I’ll run it up the flagpole at the next meeting.
4. She suggested a new design for the website and wanted to run it up the flagpole before making any changes.
5. They decided to run their budget proposal up the flagpole to see if it would be approved by upper management.

   

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Question of the Day #1313

Big Apple Polisher

From the headline of this article at the New Yorker.

  上記の文で、apple polisherの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "apple polisher" 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。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

【名】
〈古〉ゴマすり、ご機嫌取り、おべっか使い、おべんちゃら屋、おべんちゃらを言う人、追従者、へいこらするやつ、へつらうやつ、太鼓持ち

   

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

A flatterer. (Apples are a typical gift for teachers.)

 

語源

Wiktionaryによると、

かつてアメリカでこびへつらう生徒が先生にりんごを贈ることがあったとの考えから

 

Etymology

According to Wiktionary:

In reference to the idea of an obsequious child bringing apples to the class teacher.

   

Examples

1. The title character of “Luce” is introduced as a star student and first-rate apple polisher. Read more on New York Times
2. Among Beck’s qualities: he’s young, malleable, fleet, accurate, gung ho, and an apple polisher. Read more on Washington Post
3. That kid is always quick to help the teacher with any little thing—what an apple polisher!
4. Your dad was the furthest thing from an apple-polisher when he was in school. He had detention all the time!
5. Quit being such an apple-polisher, it's not going to get you a better grade or anything.

   

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Question of the Day #1312

‘My job is really to listen’ – Rukhsana Jamal is a people person

From the headline of this article at McMaster News.

  上記の文で、people personの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "people person" 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。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

他人の気持ちをよく分かってくれる人、人付き合いの良い人、社交的な人

   

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

someone who enjoys being with or talking to other people

 

Examples

1. The adoring columns touting Wu as a people person have already begun. — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 11 Sep. 2025
2. Rod is a people person, after all, while Leticia is a bit more reserved. — Christopher Kuhagen, Journal Sentinel, 10 Apr. 2024
3. Weidenfeld was also a people person, gifted with irrepressible bonhomie and considerable personal charm. — Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2023
4. I'm a people person and I'm pretty caring towards the people in my charge.
5. What emerged was the picture of a real people person, a man who related easily to officers and enlisted men.

   

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Question of the Day #1311

Out with the old, in with the glizzy

From the headline of this article at Washington Square News.

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

  答えは、コメントに書いてください。
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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎にglizzyは掲載されていないので、下記Wiktionaryの訳は、

1. ＜スラング＞Glock社の拳銃
2. ＜米スラング＞ホットドッグ（食べ物）

他の綴りはglizzyとglizz。

 

Answer

According to Wiktionary:

1. (slang) Glock, handgun.
2. (US, slang) Hot dog (food).

 

語源

Wiktionaryによると、

Glock+izzyより（izzyはヒップホップの造語を作る時に用いられる接尾辞）。ホットドッグの意味は、バンズが拳銃の弾倉に似ていることに由来。両意味は、Washington D.C.都市部で初めて使用された。2020年6月・7月ころからインターネットユーザがこのglizzyを使いたいがためにホットドッグの写真と共に投稿し始めた。

 

Etymology

According to Wiktionary:

From Glock +‎ -izzy (suffix forming hip-hop-sounding words). The "hot dog" sense comes from comparison to the extended magazine of a pistol. Both of these senses were ascribed to the Washington metropolitan area until piquing the curiosity of the world in June–July 2020 when internet users endeavoured to upload pictures containing sausage buns just to say the term.

   

Examples

1. "Glizzy means a glock. A Glizzy is a handgun". - “What does “Glizzy” mean?”, DailyRapFacts, 17 July 2020
2. So when we pulled up it was so hard to get in. That bitch was too thick. Everybody and their mammy was out that bitch. I got out the car and tucked my glizzy, zooted. The whole gang started striding toward the line, and I forgot I had a ratchet on […] - Deshawn Rankin, Dirty Hearts, Page Publishing, Inc.
3. I'm going to the store to buy some glizzys for the cookout.
4. Jack: You want a glizzy?
   Ryan: What the hell is a glizzy?
   Jack: A hot dog.
   Ryan: Well why didn't you just say that?
5. “I’m so hungry I could eat a hundred glizzies.”

   

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Question of the Day #1310

Texans' Nick Chubb: Slated to open season as bell cow

From the headline of this article at CBS Sports.

  上記の文で、bell cowの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "bell cow" 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。
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解答

意味：
おもしろい英文法によると、

bell cow は、「牛、特に群れの先頭の牛で、群れを簡単に見つけられるように首輪に鈴が付いているもの」

上記の定義からスラングで「リーダー」「第一人者」の意で、一般会話（特にスポーツ）等でこの意味で使用される事の方が多い。

 

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

1. a cow with a bell attached to its neck
   especially: a lead cow
2. slang: LEADER

 

Examples

1. It’s difficult to devote both the time and resources to the latter when your bell cow sports program is staggering. - Read more on Seattle Times
2. Without their bell cow, Minnesota saw three running backs and quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis get between 10 and 15 carries apiece. - Read more on Washington Times
3. Running backs coach Kiel McDonald made it clear in the past he prefers to have a bell cow back in place, even if multiple running backs sometimes share the workload during select games. - Read more on Los Angeles Times
4. Miles Sanders over 13.5 rushing attempts: Sanders was the bell cow for the Eagles all season, averaging 15.2 rush attempts per game, and he had 205 more than any other running back. - Read more on Los Angeles Times
5. Visitors to “the new aristocratic suburb” dubbed Palm Place would have found one home, an architectural bell cow, standing in an empty field. - Read more on Los Angeles Times

   

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Question of the Day #1309

EU consultation on digital rules: time to think outside the box

From the headline of this article at Euro News.

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

  答えは、コメントに書いてください。
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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

既成概念［既存の枠組み］にとらわれずに物事を考える、これまでとは全く違った観点で考える［思考する］

   

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

to explore ideas that are creative and unusual and that are not limited or controlled by rules or tradition

 

Examples

1. To get here, the South African government has had to think outside the box. — Bianca Nogrady, WIRED, 15 Aug. 2023
2. One of the things pandemic isolations have taught us is how to think outside the box. — Gregory Burnett, cleveland, 5 Jan. 2022
3. I've been trying to think outside the box about what I want this term paper to be about. I know the professor hates unoriginal ideas.
4. OK, team, we really need to think outside of the box if we're going to impress the CEO.
5. She goes on to urge companies to think outside the box and challenge the old ways of working.

   

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Question of the Day #1308

FBI agent relieved of duty over refusing Comey perp walk, four people familiar say

From the headline of this article at Reuters.

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

  答えは、コメントに書いてください。
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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

犯罪者の連行［連れ出し・引きまわし］◆警察が逮捕した犯罪容疑者を外に連れ出し、メディアに対して撮影の機会を与えること。

   

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

the public escorting of an arrested individual (as from a courthouse to a police car) by law enforcement officials

 

Examples

1. Oh, the perp walk: A glorious American tradition in which a person not yet convicted of any crime is paraded handcuffed before the media as an instantly recognizable icon of guilt. — Chris Rovzar
2. … U.S. District Court judge Allen G. Schwartz ruled that the so-called "perp walk" serves no legitimate law enforcement purpose other than to "humiliate" the defendant and "titillate" the public. — David Noack
3. During a perp walk, law enforcement publicly escort a person accused of a crime as they are transported outside a police station or courthouse, usually in view of media cameras. - From BBC
4. Oswald was killed two days later by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby during a perp walk broadcast on live television. - From Los Angeles Times
5. He said it bore similarities to the perp walk of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, who killed 168 people in 1995. – From Salon

   

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Question of the Day #1307

Different theorists may have different ideas about where MedBeds came from...but nearly all MedBedders agree that "The Elites" are hiding the technology from us proles, hoarding all the youth and health for themselves.

From the 5th paragraph of this article at Lifehacker.

  上記の文で、proleの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "prole" 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：
英辞郎によると、

【形・名】
〈侮蔑的〉プロレタリア階級の（人）◆可算◆【語源】proletarian

   

Answer

According to Dictionary.com:

Informal

1. a member of the proletariat.
2. a person who performs routine tasks in a society.

 

Examples

1. In the Roman Empire, the games at the Circus Maximus were an amusement and a distraction, a token to the proles as a substitute for being able to exercise any political power. - From Salon
2. Last year gave us “The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe” with Eddie Marsan as an angry prole who chose to paddle away from society. - From New York Times
3. Nicky Whelan, as the sheriff, is like a prole Angelina Jolie, and the hulking actors who play the prisoners, like Mike Ferguson and Randall J. Bacon, turn them into convincing hardened sinners. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 July 2023
4. We had proles working alongside university types as equals.
5. Superior journalists..would think it Victorian and prole to know shorthand. - ‘H. Calvin’, Chosen Instrument x. 132

   

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Question of the Day #1306

Ramcharger Takes A Belt And Suspenders Approach To Electric Pickup Trucks

From the headline of this article at Clean Technica.

  上記の文で、belt and suspendersの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "belt and suspenders" 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：
英辞郎には、なぜかbelt and suspendersを掲載していませんが、同義語のbelt and bracesはあります。(bracesは、suspendersの別名) belt and bracesの意味は、

〈比喩〉〔危険を回避するための〕二重対策、念には念を入れた対策

   

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

involving or employing multiple methods or procedures to achieve a desired result, especially out of caution or fear of failure

 

Examples

1. A small, personal estate-planning company accurately applied belt-and-suspenders thinking when it created an instructional service for insurance salesmen to teach them how to "push" its financial plans. —Mack Hanan, Harvard Business Review, May-June 1976
2. These are belt-and-suspenders kinds of investments. —Thomas P. Murphy, Forbes, 25 Dec. 1978
3. ‘Belt and suspenders’ ordinance regarding a new ski lift ticket tax means most Mountain Village voters will get two separate ballots for the Nov. 4 election.
4. While some cities may be rushing to codify a sanctuary city statute, it could be "a little bit of belt and suspenders," said Attorney General Rob Bonta.
5. “It’s kind of a belt and suspenders approach. We don’t want to wait until anything is necessary. We have to be prepared to implement it if the time arises, and hopefully it won’t,” Schmidt said.

   

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Question of the Day #1305

Maybe it will take a woman, clearly wronged and then ousted from leadership by her own colleagues and leaders in a historic vote, to repair the destruction wrought by Trump and expose the blatant lies of those determined to toady up to him.

From the 5th paragraph of this article at NBC News.

  上記の文で、toady up to (someone)の意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "toady up to (someone)" mean?

  答えは、コメントに書いてください。
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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

～の機嫌を取る、～にごまをする

   

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

To attempt to gain or maintain support, approval, or advantage from one through fawning, flattery, or other such sycophantic behavior.

 

Examples

1. That sniveling twerp is always toadying up to the boss.
2. Plenty of people toady up to her now that she's become so wealthy and powerful.
3. I'll be completely honest, I watched it with a mixture of curiosity and cringe, which is why I'll never be a diplomat as I wouldn't be able to toady up to people I don't really like very much - which is also why I wouldn't make a good pub landlady, or so my husband tells me!
4. He defended his decision shortly after the initial outcry from staff that it was based on him trying to toady up to Trump.
5. The biotech millionaire accused the other candidates of trying to toady up to front-runner Donald Trump and of failing to see who the “real enemy” is.

   

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