気になる表現

時事英語に戻る　　 洋書の部屋　　 気になる表現 2004年 

ＰＢを読んでいて、気になる表現、謎の表現、変わった表現を集めてみました。




☆Happy Policeman by Patricia Anthony から

    

  1.  "Shit's gonna hit the fan, DeWitt. Man. Oh, man. I need some."
Curtis looked up fast. "You want a little?"
 The shit was going to hit the fan. And there was nothing Dewitt
could do about it. (P13)

hit the fan:大騒動になる








☆Conscience of the Beagle by Patricia Anthony から

    

  1. "Did Colonel Yi tell you to call me that?"
 The question brings me up short. (P46)

bring someone up short :(人)を立ち止まらせる







☆Brother Termite by Patricia Anthony から

    

  1.  Reen steeled himself for the answer. All morning he had
been haunted by Marian's puzzling anger. He had always believed
she was intelligent, but females, after all, were females. Perhaps
her intelligence was as much of a house of cards as his own. (P29)

house of cards: 砂上の楼閣







☆Survivor in Death by J.D.Robb から

    

  1.  Besides, like they gave a woo. The whole deal meant Mom--the Rule
Monster--bent the rules about school nights. Even if they'd had to
turn the lights out at nine-thirty--were they two?--she and Linnie
had the most magolicious time. (P1)

ネットで検索してもそれほどヒットしません。文脈から想像するしか
ないです。






☆The Ring of Charon by Roger MacBride Allen から

    

  1. Larry was twenty-five, and starting to feel a bit long in the tooth
for boy wonder. He looked younger than his age, and the Chinese half of his
ancestry showed in his face far more than the Irish half. (P7)

long in the tooth :年を取った


  2. Hiram McGillicutty was the staff physicist of the Venus Initial Station
for Operational Research. Most days, that job made McGillicutty as 
useful as a parachute on a fish. (P97)







☆The Challenge by Susan Kearney から

    

  1.  Special Agent Tessa Camen recognized the voice of a local cop,
Officer Davis, the one she'd dressed down yesterday for his
careless attitude, now talking about her career as if he had 
a clue about PPD, Presidential Protective Detail. (P1)

dress down:叱りつける







☆The Vampire's Assistant by Darren Shan から

    

  1.  "Of course you are," he insisted. "What is a hero but a person
who lays everything on the line for the good of somebody else?"(P75)

lay everything on the line :すべてを賭ける


  2.   Before I could put the hat on, she made me sit down, got a pair of 
scissors and gave me a haircut, which I badly needed.
  The haircut and hat were the icing on the cake. I almost didn't 
recognize myself in the mirror when I looked this time. (P122)

icing on the cake:添え物








☆The Patient by Michael Palmer から

    

  1.  'Tomorrow's going to be tough,' Jessie began.
 Sara's eyes held none of their usual playfulness.
 'I'm running out of steam, Jess.'
 'I know you are. I would have cracked long ago. You've been
a titan. Everyone around here has gotten stronger from watching
the way you've handled things--especially me.' (P26)

run out of steam: 精力を使い果たす








☆Murder List by Julie Garwood から

    

  1.  The tapping increased. "There's no need to be nervous," he said.
 "I'm not nervous." It was a lie, and he knew it.
 Then she realized she was jiggling the table with her knee,
making a racket with her foot. (P188)

make a racket:大騒ぎをする、


  2. "Is everything okay?" he asked, knowing full well it wasn't.
"Yes," she said. "Everything's fine."
 He leaned to the side to look behind her.
 "What are you looking for?" she asked.
 "I just wanted to see if your pants were on fire. You know,"
he drawled. "'Liar, liar ...'"(P215)

Liar, liar, pants on fire:「うそつき、うそつき、尻に火がつき」という
子供が使うはやし言葉


  3.  In the evenings, Regan and Henry and Alec changed into running
clothes and worked out together in the gym. Alec beat the socks off 
her and Henry on the track. He was in much better shape than she was
and gleefully pointed that out, several times as a matter of fact.(P236)

beat the socks off: 靴下が勢いよく脱げるほどびっくりさせる


  4.  "Not yet. You're gorgeous. You've got a face and body Sophie
and I would die to have, and I swear that if you weren't my best
friend, I'd have to hate you. Your brothers, especially Aiden,
have done a real number on you to keep you in line." (P279)

do a number on: 虐待する


  5.  "When I found out what some of the kids were calling me, I cried,"
she said. "But that was when I was in school. I got over it."
 "Regan wears her heart on her sleeve." (P289)

wear one's heart on one's sleeve: 感情を露骨に表す


  6.  "Are you still sick?" He sounded suspicious, as though she
were trying to pull a fast one by getting out of bed too soon.
 (P364)

pull a fast one:(人)をだます







☆Visions in Death by J.D. Robb から

    

  1. She ran a hand over her face and made an obvious effort to 
settle. "She was qualified, of course, but we just hit it off 
right away. If I were to hire someone who'd live in my house, 
be a part of my household, I wanted it to be someone I was 
comfortable with, on a personal level. (P18)

hit it off: 相性が良い







☆The List by Steve Martini から

    

  1.  'Don't get mad. That's business. You gave him a price,' said Jack.
'His house, his soul, and his first born. As soon s Carla rubs his
ego down they'll be back. You gotta think there's one rule in the 
Jungle. We come and go. The agents live in the sandbox with the 
publishers. The writer's always the odd man out. Still, she brought
you the deal. You couldn't have gotten here without her.' (P250)

odd man out :仲間外れ


  2. He thought he knew his former wife, but the episode with his 
credit card had showed him that he didn't know her as well as he 
thought. The Abby he was married to would never have had the sand 
to take his credit care, or to use it.(P311)

sand: 勇気


  3.  'I'm here. Everybody in the place knows my name,' she told him.
'The woman with the flashy little car.'
 'Have you driven it?'
 'Not yet.'
 'They're a kick in the ass,' said Spencer. 'I tried one at a 
dealership here in town before I ordered yours. Stop on a dime,
turn on a nickel,' said Spencer. (P365)

on a dime :狭い場所で、という意味があるので、小回りがきくという意味
かな？







☆The Burning Man by Phillip Margolin から

    

  1.  Mentally handicapped kids have feelings like everyone else,
but they have a harder time controlling them. They sort of wear
their heart on their sleeves. I remember Gary being in tears while
the coarches attended to this kid. (P275)

wear one's heart on one's sleeves: 感情を露骨に表す








☆Take a Chance on Me by Susan Donovan から

    

  1.  "Not much at this point, but we're still looking. If Slick 
went to the clubs, nobody's saying. If he had any significant
others, they're being real discreet."
 "My God," Chick said. "Can you imagine how many customers
he would have lost if it got out that he was light in the loafers?" (P76)

light in the loafers: homosexual, gay



  2. "I wouldn't give you a dime if I were the richest woman
on earth" God, Aaron, thanks to you, I'm barely keeping
the clinic doors open! I can't believe you've got the gonads
to come out here and ask me to bail you out again!"(P86)

get the gonads:勇気がある（？）have the nerveと似たような使い方か？








☆Axe by Ed McBain から

    

  1. They were hopeful, you see, that the lab
would find some fingerprints on the weapon,
thereby enabling them to solve the case
almost before the crime was severao hours old.

Some days, though, you can't make a nickel.(P18)