Question of the Day #33

今回は、和文英訳の問題。
最近、時々テレビ等で「ボリューミー」というカタカナ用語を聞きます。
例えば、
「ボリューミー・スマホ」
「超ボリューミーなサンドウィッチ」
この二つをなんと訳す？また、「ボリューミー」に一つの適訳があるとすれば、それは何？

There is a Japanized sort-of-English word that is sometimes heard on tv, etc. In romanized form it is spelled boryuumii.
For example:
「ボリューミー・スマホ」
「超ボリューミーなサンドウィッチ」
Can you translate the two phrases above? Or can you guess what the correct English word might be?

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.

---

解答

ボリューミー = Voluminous
ただし、個人的には、上記の例の場合は、voluminousを使いません。なぜなら、Oxford Dictionariesの定義を見ればわかるように、この形容詞が使用できる対象の名詞が限定されているから。


1. (of clothes) very loose or full; having much fabric.
• (of a piece of furniture) large and accommodating.
2. (of writing) very lengthy and detailed.
• (of a writer) producing many books.

なので、私だったら上のフレーズを下記のように訳します

「ボリューミー・スマホ」= a huge smartphone
「超ボリューミーなサンドウィッチ」= an enormous sandwich

Answer

For ボリューミー the best translation would probably be voluminous.
As the definitions in the Oxford Dictionaries show, however, this adjective can only be used for certain nouns.

1. (of clothes) very loose or full; having much fabric.
• (of a piece of furniture) large and accommodating.
2. (of writing) very lengthy and detailed.
• (of a writer) producing many books.

So, I'd probably translate the two phrases above by using different adjectives, such as:

「ボリューミー・スマホ」= a huge smartphone
「超ボリューミーなサンドウィッチ」= an enormous sandwich

Question of the Day #32

"What kind of car did you get?"

"I got a Beemer."
"What? You bought a motorcycle?"

"No, I bought a car."

"Oh, then you mean you got a Bimmer."

上記の会話で、BeamerとBimmerの意味は？
In the dialogue above, what do "Beamer" and "Bimmer" 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.

---

解答

意味：
BMW Car Club of BCによると、


• BeemerまたはBeamerは、BMW社のオートバイの俗称
• Bimmerは、BMW社の自動車の俗称

Answer

From the BMW Car Club of BC:

• Beemer or Beamer is the proper accepted slang for BMW motorcycles.
• Bimmer is the proper accepted slang for BMW cars.

Etymology/語源

Oxford Dictionariesのウェブサイトによると、1980年代に登場した俗称で、BMWの最初の二文字(BM)にerをつけたもの。
BMW Car Club of BCには、もう少し詳しい説明があり、BeemerとBeamerは、もう少し古いのではないかと主張している。

According to the Oxford Dictionaries website: 1980s (originally US): representing a pronunciation of the first two letters of BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG) + -er.
The BMW Car Club of BC has a slightly more detailed explanation which indicates that Beemer or Beamer is older.

Weekend Recommendation #11

This week's recommendation:

今週のおすすめ：

The Famous Last Words of Famous People

Why is this recommended?

なぜ、これがおすすめ？

I've always found quotes to be interesting and useful (especially when I was involved in public speaking), so for that reason alone this page interests me, although it does seem to be a bit morbid. :)

このサイトは、ゲーテの「もっと光を！」のような臨終の時の名言集です。もともとスピーチをやっていた学生時代から名言が好きで、ちょっと悪趣味（？）のような気もするが、このようが臨終名言集も面白いと思います。

The Famous Last Words of Famous People

Question of the Day #31

Week 6: New York Giants dodge a bullet beating Detroit Lions 28-20

上記のとあるスポーツ面の見出しの dodge a bulletの意味は？
In the headline above, what does "dodge a bullet" 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.

---

解答

意味：英辞郎によると「弾丸をよける、問題［嫌なこと］を回避する、惨事［悲惨な結果］を免れる」とあるが、最初の「弾丸をよける」は確かに間違いではいかもしれないが、現実的にあまり使わないでしょう。（笑）これは、どちらかというと、語源だと思う。

Answer

According to Oxford Dictionaries: Manage to avoid a difficult or unwelcome situation.

Etymology/語源

Super Beefyによると、このイディオムは、第一次世界大戦の兵隊が使い始めたとのこと。当時の砲弾は、目で見えるほど遅く飛んだので、避けることができたとか。

According to Super Beefy: "The expression derives from soldiers in World War I who talked about artillery shells that could be avoided because they arced through the air slowly enough to be seen."

Examples

• ‘He dodged a bullet with his Oct. 24 mistrial, but his troubles aren't over.’
• A: "I heard that John has become a drug addict and is living out of his car. Didn't you two used to date?" B:"Yeah, but we broke up about five years ago. Looks like I dodged a bullet on that one."
• I really dodged the bullet when my exam was postponed to next week, as I hadn't studied for it at all!
• I couldn’t get time off work to go camping last weekend, but it was raining all weekend so I guess I dodged a bullet.

Question of the Day #30

"What do you think of my new computer?"
"Well, there's a lot of cruft in it."

上記の会話で、cruftの意味は？
In the dialogue above, what does "cruft" 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.

---

解答

OxfordDictionaries.comによると：

• 粗悪な（お粗末な・無駄に複雑な・不要な）コード・プログラム・ソフトウェア
• [形容詞] crufty: 粗悪な（とくに無駄に複雑な）デザイン（のソフト等）

Answer

According to OxfordDictionaries.com:

• Badly designed, unnecessarily complicated, or unwanted code or software.
• [adj.] crufty: Of software: poorly designed, especially unnecessarily or unintentionally complex; containing redundant code.

Etymology/語源

The Free Dictionaryによると、

1950年代のマサチューセッツ工科大学の学生のスラング用語。由来は、ハーバード大学で物理学部が不要の器具を保管したCruft Hall（Cruft Laboratoryの通称）という説がある。

形容詞のcruftyは、OxfordDictionaries.comによると1980年代から使用されていて、最も古い使用例はCoEvolution Quarterly誌。

According to The Free Dictionary:


[Originally 1950s Massachusetts Institute of Technology students' slang, perhaps after Cruft Hall (the informal name for Cruft Laboratory, a building on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the physics department stored unused technical equipment), humorously taken as "hall of cruft" (perhaps influenced by crud and crust).]

According to OxfordDictionaries.com, the adjective crufty originated in the 1980s with the earliest use found in CoEvolution Quarterly.

Examples

• Jim had to spend several days cleaning up the cruft left behind in the code by the newbie programmer.
• "By removing cruft, you can recover valuable disk space and reduce the chance of software conflicts." (Joe Kissell)
• So the more cruft there is in an interface, the more difficult it will be to use.
• This allows you to get very specific with your searches and weed out a lot of the cruft that can get in the way of good results.
• This will help control the cruft on your system as you install and remove source packages.

Question of the Day #29

今日は、ちょっと毛色の違う問題。
A slightly different question today.

インターネット等を使わずに、モデルの「ミランダ・カー」の氏名の英語の綴りが分かりますか？
Without using Google or any other Internet source, can you guess whom the Japanese know as "Miranda Kah"?

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.

---

解答/Answer

意味：

Miranda Kerr

苗字の発音に特に注意してください。 Note that Japanese should be especially careful of how they pronounce Kerr.

Weekend Recommendation #9

This week's recommendation:

今週のおすすめ：

Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary

Why is this recommended?

なぜ、これがおすすめ？

This is similar in concept to the Simple English Wikipedia posted to in Weekend Recommendation #7, in that it is a dictionary with simplified English definitions. Therefore, it is a good dictionary not only for students of English as a foreign language, but also children of native speakers.

このサイトは、 Weekend Recommendation #7で紹介したSimple English Wikipediaと同じコンセプトで、単語の定義をより簡単な英語で説明しています。このサイトは、初中級レベルの人のためだけではなく、ビッグワードではなく簡単な英語で説明することを覚えるという意味でも役に立つと思います。

Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary