イギリス英会話ブログ

Some idioms presented in the context of a conversation between a homestay student and a host mother.

context - 文脈・前後関係

• Mother : “Well, take a seat, Yumi, just make yourself at home. Would you like something to drink?”
• Yumi : “Oh yes, please. A cup of tea would be lovely.

1. take a seat - 座ってください - a friendly way to say ‘Sit down’.
2. make yourself at home - ごゆっくりどうぞ・自分の家に居るように行動してください - something we say to our guests to help them feel relaxed.

• Mother : Here are some biscuits and cake - just help yourself. I’m sorry if it’s a little cold in here but our heating is on the blink. We should have it fixed by tomorrow, but until then we’ll just have to put up with the cold. John’s putting your bags in your room. Is there anything else I can get you?
• Yumi : Yes, do you have a city map? I don’t want to get lost. I’d like to be able to find my way around as soon as possible.
• Mother : I think we have one somewhere. I’ll look for it a bit later.
• Yumi : Thank you.

1. help yourself - （許可を聞かずに）好きなだけ自分でとってください - inviting someone to take what they like without asking for permission first.
2. on the blink - 故障している・ちゃんと動いてない - usually used about electrical appliances.
3. put up with - （何々を）我慢する・耐え忍ぶ - a more casual way of saying ‘endure’.
4. find my way around - （新しい所の）道が分かるようになって、自由に動けること - other examples : ‘I don’t know my way around yet’ - 道がまだ分からない / ‘Do you know your way around London?’ - ロンドンの道が分かりますか・詳しいですか？

• Mother : You must be feeling jet-lagged. Would you like to take a nap?
• Yumi : Thank you. I am a little tired.
• Mother : OK. We can talk later when you’re feeling a bit fresher. Then tomorrow we’ll show you around the city.
• Yumi : That sounds great. I’m looking forward to it.

1. jet-lagged - 時差ぼけを感じている様子 - normally for 時差ぼけ we say ‘jet-lag’. Here we add -ed to make an adjective (or past participle to be more precise). It is not very natural Japanese but you can imagine this as 時差ぼけされた.
2. take a nap - 昼ねをする - to have a short sleep at any time.
3. show you around - （町を見回って）案内する - ‘around’ is the direction of movement.
4. I’m looking forward to it - （それを）楽しみにしています・楽しみです！ - ‘be looking forward to’ can also be followed by an -ing form of a verb : ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you again!’

past participle - 過去分詞
to be more precise - もっと正確に言えば・・・
imagine - 想像する