Question of the Day #134

"Conservative’s Story About ‘How Republicans Are Born’ Backfires Spectacularly"
From the headline of this article at the Huffington Post.

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

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解答

意味： 英辞郎によると、


1. しっぺ返しを食らう、恨みを買う、思わぬ面倒を招く
2. 期待外れに終わる、裏目に出る

で、この場合は、２番が適訳です。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

 to have the reverse of the desired or expected effect 

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

動詞として「期待外れに終わる、裏目に出る」の意味で使われ始めたのは1912年で、銃器の暴発から。

According to Online Etymology Dictionary:

As a verb, of schemes, plans, etc., "to affect the initiator rather than the intended object" it is attested from 1912, a figurative use from the accidental back-firing of firearms.

Examples

• their plans backfired
• My plan to throw her a surprise party backfired when she ended up sobbing that everyone had forgotten her birthday
• "But that also backfired, particularly with women, Hill said." — Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, "Here are some takeaways from the Uber founder’s departure," 20 June 2017
• "There are already signs that the effort may backfire." — Gregg Carlstrom, The Atlantic, "The Qatar Crisis Is Pushing Hamas Back to Iran," 14 June 2017
• "Deportation of gang members from the U.S. to Central America could easily backfire and make the situation in Central America worse." — Miami Herald, "Miami summit an opportunity to rethink Central America," 13 June 2017

Question of the Day #133

"High-living North Carolina ‘prosperity gospel’ pastor indicted for bilking church in massive tax fraud scam"

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

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Write your answer in the Comments.

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解答

意味： 英辞郎によると、


1. （人）をだます
2. 〔人から金などを〕だまし取る
3. 〔希望などを〕くじく、挫折させる
4. 〔追求などを〕逃れる、かわす

ということなので、この場合は、２番目が適訳でしょう。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

to cheat out of something valuable

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

1650年ごろ、当初はトランプ遊びのcribbageで「相手の得点を邪魔する」として使用された。「人を騙す」としての使い方は、1670年代から。

According to Online Etymology Dictionary:

1650s, from or along with the noun (1630s), first used as a cribbage term; as a verb, "to spoil (someone's) score." Meaning "to defraud" is first recorded 1670s.

Examples

• bilking investors out of their life savings
• The lawsuit alleged that Danone used these claims to bilk consumers out of more than $100 million.
• Con artists routinely hack into accounts to impersonate people and bilk money from strangers.
• He bilked clients out of tens of millions of dollars.
• ‘some businesses bilk thousands of dollars from unsuspecting elderly consumers’

Question of the Day #132

"Science Calls Out Jeff Sessions on Medical Marijuana and the 'Historic Drug Epidemic'"
From the headline of this article at Scientific American.

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


（人）に挑戦する、（人）を非難する

Answer

According to MacMillan Dictionary:

to challenge someone over something they have said or done

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

「人を決闘に呼び出す」という意味は、1823年から。

According to Online Etymology Dictionary:

To call out someone to fight (1823)

Examples

• Why he would call her out in an open forum is beyond me.
• You should politely but firmly call them out on their offensive behavior.
• Both films quite seriously question and call out the cretinous conception of　"black masculinity" pushed in the idiom.
• Too many in the opinion world have a disinclination to call out their ownside.

Question of the Day #131

"THE LICKSPITTLES WHO SERVE TRUMP, NOT AMERICA"
From the headline of this article at Newsweek.

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

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Write your answer in the Comments.

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解答

意味： 英辞郎によると、


おべっか使い

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

a fawning subordinate

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

lick-spittleとも書く。1741年頃に初めて使われた。

According to Online Etymology Dictionary:

also lick-spittle, "sycophant, abject toady, one who will do any repulsive thing," 1741

Examples

• a partisan news program whose host is more of a lickspittle for the White House than a serious journalist
• ‘he is a lickspittle for the Establishment’
• "You get up right after midnight to practice being a lickspittle and a trimmer!" Such is Life, Frank Wedekind

Question of the Day #130

"Al Franken hammers Trump judicial appointee for pushing ‘conspiracy theories and white nationalism’"
From the headline of this article at Raw Story.

上記の文で、hammer の意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "hammer" 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： 英辞郎にいろいろな役はあるが、これが一番近いかと思います。


〔敵を〕たたきのめす、攻撃する

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

to criticize severely

Etymology/語源

Online Etymology Dictionaryによると、

「激しく打ち負かす」という意味で初めて使われたのは、1948年

According to Online Etymology Dictionary:

that of "to defeat heavily" is from 1948

Examples

• The report hammers the private motorist.
• If we turned up late we would be hammered by everybody.
• ‘he got hammered for an honest mistake’
• Her latest film has been hammered by the critics.

Question of the Day #129

"Vice President Pence Lawyers Up"
From the headline of this article at Mother Jones.

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


〈主に米話〉〔裁判の当事者などが〕弁護士を立てる［選任する]

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

to obtain the services of a lawyer especially while being investigated for possible wrongdoing

Etymology/語源

Merriam-Websterによると、

初めての使用されたのは、1995年

According to Merriam-Webster:

First Known Use of lawyer up
1995

Examples

• He lawyered up, but only after he confessed to being in Cheryl's apartment.
• What really spooks the honest, hard-working, likable, routinely successful detectives on “N.Y.P.D. Blue” is the prospect of a suspect “lawyering up.” The detectives cajole and threaten to keep the probable perp from exercising his right to counsel, because once a sharp lawyer appears the client will say nothing and the audience will be deprived of the confession that climaxes so many episodes. — Walter Goodman, New York Times, 23 Feb. 1995
• The people at Madoff who had been highly compensated were the ones they were looking at. In the end, most of those people “lawyered up” or fled. — Eleanor Squillari et al., Vanity Fair, June 2009
• They should tell him the only course of action is to show up and tell the truth, come what may. But now he's all lawyered up, so that's not going to happen. He's all but untouchable now. — Christine Brennan, USA Today, 22 May 2014
• The interview ended abruptly when the suspect lawyered up.

Question of the Day #128

"‘He drank the Kool-Aid’: Homeland Chief Kelly ripped for lying at his hearing — then pushing Trump agenda"
From the headline of this article at Raw Story.

上記の文で、drink the Kool-Aidの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "drink the Kool-Aid" 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、


〈米俗〉むやみに信じる、無批判に従う、うのみにする、信奉者である

Answer

According to Oxford Dictionaries:

Demonstrate unquestioning obedience or loyalty to someone or something.

Etymology/語源

英辞郎によると、

【語源】1978年、米国の宗教団体Peoples Templeのメンバー多数が集団自殺し、または毒殺された。この人々の多くは毒を混ぜたクールエイドのような物を与えられ、それを飲んだという。そこから「クールエイドを飲む」とは「教祖が飲めと言えば毒入りでも飲む＝無批判に受け入れる」という意味になった。
なお、Kool-aidとは、このリンクにあるような商品で、水で溶く粉末の「ジュース」です。主に、子供が飲むもので、日本の駄菓子屋にあるようなものです。

According to Wiktionary:

Referring to the Peoples Temple cult movement, who committed mass suicide in 1978 by drinking Flavor Aid (not Kool-Aid as was believed then) laced with cyanide.

Examples

• ‘A lot of the press also drank the Kool-Aid in the first year.’
• ‘I'm not drinking the Pentagon Kool-Aid.’
• ‘The fact of the matter is that virtually every employee drinks the Kool-Aid and keeps their mouth shut publicly when still on board.’
• ‘It is strange that after he accuses his opponent of having "drank the Kool-Aid", he then complains that they call anyone who disagrees of being a bigot.’
• ‘If you can't see the bias in almost every news organization, then you're probably drinking their Kool-Aid.’