実践 8/28 〜 8/30

実践ビジネス英語　　　Wednesday, August 28

1) Collins says some of the people she was having dinner with often post pictures of food on social networks, but that everyone managed to control their desire to pick up their smartphones. Umemura mentions two well-behaved young children at the restaurant he went to, and says it was a special evening during which the restaurant helps young patrons learn proper etiquette.

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Good Food, Nice manners (4)

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2) foodstagram addict: An "addict" can be someone who's physically hooked on drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, that sort of thing, but like Collins, we can also use it when someone just really, really likes something when they do it or use it all the time. Some people are "TV addicts." I have a nagging suspicion I'm a "smartphone addict."

3) get indigestion ⇒ upset stomach とか heartburn ともいう

4) control one's impulse to: An "impulse" is a sudden wish or desire, the unplanned urge to do something. When we do something "on impulse," we act, do something out of a sudden urge or desire. We should never make a proposal "on impulse," for example. We should always think it through carefully and prepare a well-reasoned argument before talking to our boss.

buy on impulse = 衝動買いをする

5) That's something to write home about: That's impressive, that's wonderful, Pearson is saying. He is using the image of being so impressed by something that we would write a letter about it to our family. It's much more common, however, though to say, "Something is nothing to write home about." Person is deliberately twisting the idiom. When you "something is nothing to write home about," then it's not particularly special, not impressive. Say a colleague asks you, "What did you think of Phoebe's proposal?" You could answer, "It was all right, but 'nothing to write home about.'"

6) have quite a time: Person means that it was difficult, required a lot of effort. However, you could also use this expression to mean that a certain experience was wonderful, memorable, you know, involved lots of good things, such as "We 'had quite a time' on our trip to Paris, saw beautiful art, met some amazing people."

7) tyke: This refers to a small child especially a boy. My dictionary says it can also mean an inferior or mongrel dog. But I've never heard that usage.

8) patron: In this case, a "patron" is a customer of some business. It can also mean a sponsor or supporter of things like institutions, events, causes. Museums and orchestras often list their patrons in catalogues and concert programs, for example, with indications of how much money they donate. People are referred to as a "patron" of the arts or a "patron" of medical research.

9) take one's hat off to: Japanese has exactly the same expression, doesn't it? The image of removing a hat to express admiration, respect for someone, such as "John saved that much money in just a year? I 'take my hat off to' him for being so frugal."

10) full marks: This means high praise as if someone got a perfect score on a test or homework. It appears to be primarily British, but Americans would certainly understand it. If someone said to me, "'Full marks' to Karen for handling that crisis so well." Or "Karen deserves 'full marks' for handling that crisis." I'd certainly know what they are talking about.

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Thursday, August 29

1) Pearson says technology has made it harder to teach children about manners. People no longer make eye contact because they're using digital devices he says. And parents are too busy with work and other things to teach children about manners. Collins adds that some restaurants are keeping computer records of customers' different preferences, something that Pearson finds a bit unsettling.

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Good Food, Nice Manners (5)

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2) harder than ever: We put "than ever" after many terms to mean something was this way before and now it's even more so. So, teaching children manners was hard before technology and now it's even harder. You can also say things like, "We're busier 'than ever ' since the merger." Or "Companies are trying harder 'than ever' to secure young costumers."

3) make eye contact: This means looking someone in the eye. We also say "meet someone's eye." When we're introduced to someone, for example, it's very important to meet their eye while we are shaking hands.

4) looking someone in the eye とも言う
eyeball to eyeball communication というフレーズもある
似たようなフレーズ see eye to eye ⇒ 見解が一致する、同じ考えを持つ

5) all too true: We use "all too" with many different words to mean excessively, very. Not always but the nuance is very often negative, like "She is late 'all too' often." Or "He know 'all too' well the consequences of not saving."

6) sad to say: This is pretty self-explanatory. It means unfortunately, I'm sad to say this. A newspaper article could read, "'Sad to say' unemployment remained high last quarter."

7) dietary preference: In Japanese, "diet" refers to an eating program meant to help someone lose weight. But in English, it can also refer to a person's eating habits. So a doctor might tell me I need more protein in my "diet," or that my "diet" contains too much salt.

The Diet (parliament) = 国会

8) maitre d': This comes from French, and is short for maitre d'hotel, uh... please forgive my pronunciation. Collins means the head waiter, the person responsible for supervising and coordinating all the other restaurant wait staff.

9) in theory: According to theory, theoretically. The opposite expression is "in practice," which means in reality when something is actually done, such as "The tax break was meant to encourage consumer spending. 'In practice,' however, people are saving the extra money."

10) a wee bit: "Wee" has a strong Scottish aura. It means small, a little. Though I think Americans mostly use it with a humorous tone, such as "I'm going to be 'a wee bit' late, maybe two hours."

11) We also talk about the 'wee hours' of the morning, which means very, very early.

12) creepy: If something was "creeping," crawling along your skin, you'd feel afraid or repulsed, right? "Creepy" refers to things that make you feel that way. We also say the "creeps." I saw a picture of an enormous spider the other day, bigger than my hand, gave me the "creeps."

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実践ビジネス英語　　　Friday, August 30

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Good Food, Nice Manners (6)

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1[S]: In our current vignette, Umemura Seiji describes how some friends of his who　were visiting from Japan were asked not to photograph their food at an expensive New York restaurant. Do you ever take pictures of your food, Heather, and post them online?

2[H]: No, I have never really seen the point of that and I agree with Paul Pearson and Alyce Collins that it's especially inappropriate in a high-end restaurant. Expensive restaurants need to maintain a certain ambience, you know, that's part of what people are paying for when they go there -- and they can't do it if some customers are aiming smartphones at their food. There really are foodstagram addicts out there, you know, I am amazed that just how often some people snap and post pictures of their food.

About a year ago, I was floored to see a social media post by a friend who put up a picture of a delicious-looking steak and attached the caption "Enjoying a wonderful anniversary dinner with the Mrs." It was all I could do not to send him a message saying, "What on earth are you doing posting on social media during your anniversary dinner? Put down the phone and concentrate on your wife." I did know, of course, it wasn't my business. But my husband would get an earful from me if he did that.

3[S]: You'd give him what-for, I am sure. Collins says photographing food disturbs other diners in some undefinable way. But what your take on why it bothers people?

4[H]: I think there's an invasive quality that gets on people's nerves. Perhaps it's similar to how a lot of us feel about people talking on their cell phones or putting on makeup in the trains. We feel forced to be part of that person's activity. We are essentially trapped together in an enclosed area and they are invading our space to use a phrase that was popular back in my day.

5[S]: The conversation eventually turns to teaching small children about manners something Paul Pearson says is harder than ever before due to technology. As one example he says, "We are too busy looking at our silly digital devices to make eye contact with each other.

6[H]: That's another thing that has really shocked me over the years how digital devices are cutting into personal interaction, even family interaction. I once saw a family of four sitting at a coffee shop: mother, father and two primary school-age children. Each one of them was doing something on a different digital device, and they didn't speak or even look at each other for more than half an hour.

I've seen couples and friends doing that too many, many times. I'm definitely going to establish an ironclad rule when our daughter is big enough for to be an issue. No digital devices during family meals. My husband and I never look at our smartphones when we are eating together, and I certainly want my daughter to know that mealtimes are for conversation and family bonding.

7[S]: What did you think about restaurants computerizing customer preferences?

8[H]: That wouldn't bother me, I think. On the contrary, I probably feel pampered by it. I think the restaurant's making an effort to give me exactly what I want not just plumping me down on the conveyer belt of service.

【原稿チェック： Kodo Ogata, Hiromi】
【ディクテーション： Sanae】