在英中、恩師から良く耳にした表現の1つに、’You will have a sticky end.’ というのがあります。意味は、「その内、ひどい目に遭うよ」に近いと思います。映画やドラマで主人公が ‘a sticky end’ を迎えると、最悪の場合、「死ぬ」こともあります。仮に「死」を免れても、刑務所行きになるとか、悪事が周囲にばれてしまい村八分になるといった場合も考えられます。
During my stay in the UK, my ex-tutor originally from England often used the following expression: ‘You wil have a sticky end!’ My understanding to this phrase is something like ‘You will be in a big trouble in the future.’ This phrase can be used in many situations. For example, the main character from a given film or drama may ‘have a sticky end’ as a plot where he/she could die in the worst possible scenario. Or in a less dramatic way, the main character could be sent to prison, or the wrong-doing itself was exposed against his/her will and hence, he/she becomes the public enemy number one!
ということで、普段自分中心というか自己本位の振る舞いをしていたり、人のドジ加減を笑ったり、人の弱点を笑い飛ばしたりしている人がいたら、この表現を使って、「そんなことをしていると(言っていると)、いつかそれがマイナスとなって自分に帰ってきますよ」と相手に伝えることができます。この表現、シリアスに使わなくても、友達とじゃれあっているときに、半分注意として、半分冗談として言うこともできます。
So if you come across someone who is so self-centrered or selfish in his/her mannerism or thinking, or someone who finds pleasure in pointing out your clumsy handling of a certain task, or someone who laughts at your shortcomings, then use this expression to tell off the person in question that all the negative waves he/she sends out in the end all come back to him/her as a karma: ‘I am sure one day you will have a sticky end if you say (do) such a thing to people!’ Of course, the phrase can be used with a semi-joking and semi-warning tone to your friend in a less serious way. So use it with a right tone of your voice.
どのような英語表現にも当てはまりまるのですが、ある表現をどのような声の調子で言うかで意味も、そして「相手に」与える印象も、まったく変ってきます。前述の表現を「シリアス」な調子で言うか、「軽く冗談っぽく(もう、仕方ないなーのような感じ)」言うかで、相手に与える印象は、まったく違ってきます。
The previous statement applies to all the expressions in English (well, also in Japanese, come to think of it). The same thing can be interpreted in a totally different way depending on how you say it, ie what kind of tone of voice you use. That is, you could sound very serious if you stick to a serious tone of voice, or you may sound jocular if you use a joking tone of voice. In this way, you could give totally different impression to the listener.
例えば、私が講義中に堂々と眠っている一人の学生の肩を軽く叩いて目覚めさせ、物凄く深刻な声のトーンで、’You will have a sticky end.’ と言えば、「単位を落とすことになるよ。」というレベルの「警告」になるでしょうし、もっと穏やかな声のトーンで、諭すように言えば、「(別に、罰として課題の量とかを増やしたりはしないが、)講義中に寝ては駄目だよ。」という注意程度で留めることもできます。
For example, if I spot one of my students nodding off during my lecture, and taps his/her shoulder and say in a serious manner ‘You will have a sticky end.’, the message could sound quite strong to suggest the following: ‘If you fall asleep in my lecture, you are likely to fail.’ Alternatively, I could be less stern with my student, and use much kinder tone of voice and say the same thing. In this case, ‘You will have a sticky end’ could be taken as a mild caution to the student to mean the following: ‘(I am not going to punish you for your conduct in my lecture, say, by increasing the workload of a given assignment), but be careful not to fall asleep during the lecture!’
最後に、1つ。自分の親に対して「もっと、○○○に生んでくれたらよかったのに!」と嘆いているあなた!’I gurantee that you do have a sticky end!’
Finally, if you happen to be one of these people who often deplores to your parents saying, ‘If only I had not inherited all your bad genes!’, then you are certainly going to have a stikcy end!!!
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