Question of the Day #567

"Ending the summer in style! Ivanka Trump gets dressed to the nines to pose for a sweet family photo with her three children - before celebrating the start of the school year with cupcakes"

From the headline of this article at The Daily Mail.

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

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

《be ～》申し分なくスマートに着こなしている、着飾っている、盛装している、めかしこんでいる、おめかししている

Answer

According to The Cambridge Dictionary:

to be wearing fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion

Examples

• Jackie went out dressed to the nines.
• She goes out dressed up to the nines and comes home after midnight. The Sun (2016)
• Most of the photographs of her at her lowest weight show her dressed up to the nines for the runway. Times, Sunday Times (2017)
• Even a simple photo of themselves — pretty, proud, plump and dressed up to the nines — is enough to excite a strange moral response. Times, Sunday Times (2012)
• We could tell the black tie event was the most important of the social season. Everyone was dressed to the nines.

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Question of the Day #566

"'Tenet' is super slick and full of ambition, but forgets to be a thriller"

From the headline of this article at Slick.com.

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

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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slickの形容詞系の意味は、

1. 滑らかな、ツルツルした、スベスベした
2. 〔人や話が〕口先だけの、ペラペラとしゃべる、調子のいい
3. 〈話〉〔人が〕利口な、如才ない、巧妙に立ち回る
4. 〔物事が〕洗練された、優雅な、心地良い
5. 〔人が〕物腰が柔らかな、上品な
6. 〈米話〉素晴らしい、格好いい

問題文の場合は、6番目の訳が適切でしょう。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

1. 1. having a smooth surface: SLIPPERY
   2. having surface plausibility or appeal: GLOSSY
   3. based on stereotype: TRITE
2. 1.  characterized by subtlety or nimble wit: CLEVER
   2.  DEFT, SKILLFUL
3. extremely good: FIRST-RATE
4. archaic: SLEEK

Examples

• When the 21st century arrived, the music industry was near the historical peak of its profitability—in part because of slick sing-alongs catering to teenagers and written by grown-up Swedes. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Katy Perry and the End of Pop," 1 Sep. 2020
• Manilow gave the slick, polished performance that we've come to expect.
• A slick pass from Eaves to Brinkworth set up the goal.
• There's a big difference between an amateur movie and a slick Hollywood production.
• His style is slick and visually exciting.

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Question of the Day #565

"The uniting theme that pieces this little episodic shards together into a bigger picture is that every one of these teams defenestrated their franchise scorer and were notably worse off for it."

From the 7th paragraph from the end of this article at The Hockey Writers.

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

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

～を窓から放り出す

なお、下記英語の定義にあるように、「～を窓から放り出す」から「人（特に指導者）を無理やり退陣させる」意味もあります。

Answer

According to the Cambridge Dictionary :

1. to throw or push someone out of a window
2. to force someone, especially a leader, out of his or her job

Examples

• They threatened to defenestrate him.
• It would not be a good time to defenestrate the Prime Minister.
• And, as this summer and fall have shown, she can expertly defenestrate an adversary when the situation calls for it. From The New Yorker
• Name the poet who threatened to defenestrate himself when he was a judge if his choice did not win. Times, Sunday Times (2008)
• "The rebels stormed the palace and defenestrated the President"

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Question of the Day #564

"Apple and Shazam sing the same tune"

From the headline of this article at the Financial Times.

上記の文で、sing the same tuneの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "sing the same tune" 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、

同じことばかり言う

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary :

To have the same understanding of something as someone else; to say the same things about something as other people, especially in public.

Examples

• I think we should have a meeting with everyone who's involved in the project. That way we can all be singing the same tune before we begin.
• Make sure everyone the campaign is singing the same tune before we release any kind of statement to the press.
• Everyone was singing the same tune – one politician after another stood up to declare that there was only one solution to the crisis.
• Not all moms and dads can sing the same tune.
• But when Saddam Hussein, Madeleine Albright and the Israelis all sing the same tune, something has got to be wrong.

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Question of the Day #563

"The rest of it should be a piece of cake. Should be, but often isn't."

From the 5th paragraph of this article at Joe.ie.

上記の文で、a piece of cakeの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "a piece of cake" mean?

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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、

非常に簡単な［たやすい］こと

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

something that is easy to do

Examples

• "How was the test?" "It was a piece of cake."
• Getting rid of him will be a piece of cake.
• Just another surveillance job, old chap. Piece of cake to somebody like you.
• `It's not exactly a stressful job is it?' `If it's quiet, it's a piece of cake. It's just a bit boring.'
• No problem. When you know what you're doing, it's a piece of cake.

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Question of the Day #562

"We can't wait to share the rest of the lineup... in due time."

From the 4th paragraph of this article at Complex.com.

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

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

（いずれ）時［時期］が来れば、そのうちに、やがて

同じ意味のイディオムは、in due course, in due season, in good time, when the time comes等です。

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

eventually at an appropriate time

Examples

• I will answer all of your questions in due time.
• In due time, all the people who mocked you will go from disparaging you to asking, “Hey… how’d you do that?” [TIME]
• Things will get better in due time.
• The article is currently submitted and will be reviewed in due time.
• In due time, our own youth will be embarking on this programme.

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Question of the Day #561

"In a TV interview in 2010, Putin issued death threats to Russian defectors, stating: 'Traitors will kick the bucket...'"

From the 5th paragraph of this article at The Herald.

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

〈俗〉死ぬ、くたばる

Answer

According to The Free Dictionary:

slang: To die.

Etymology/語源

英辞郎によると、

首つり自殺をするときにバケツ(bucket)の上に乗り、首をロープにかけてからバケツを蹴っ飛ばすところから。

とあるのですが、多くの英語のサイトでは語源が曖昧とされていて上記の説明も一つの説に過ぎず、Oxford English Dictionary (OEC)等が最も有力な説としているのは下記の英語のものです。すなわち、古フランス語のbuquetというと動物の屠殺に使用された櫓が語源としています。（屠殺される動物は、当然その櫓buquetを蹴る様子から。）

According to Vocabulary.com:

The origin is a little blurry, though most experts think it stems from the Old French buquet, a trébuchet or beam from which slaughtered — and possibly still kicking — animals were hung.

Examples

• If they invent a hoverboard before I kick the bucket, I'm definitely going to try it, no matter how old I am.
• Any plant under my care kicks the bucket in about a week.
• The old horse finally kicked the bucket.
• I think my sewing machine has kicked the bucket.
• All the money goes to her when the old man kicks the bucket.

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