日本人があまり知らない英語の慣用句がたくさんあるバイ。私は、ヤンキーに見えるけど、１５年の大学教員の経験がある。その１５年間の間に、大体、日本人がわかっている英語と、わかっていない英語は把握できるようになった。今日は、あまり知られていないけれど、知って欲しい４つの英語の慣用句をリストアップしようかなと思っている。さて、始めよう！
There are a ton of English idioms that Japanese people never learn in school. I may look like a gangster, but I have been teaching in a Japanese university for almost 15 years, so I have a pretty good idea of what they know and what they don't. So today, I want to talk about few English idioms that not many Japanese know, but I wish they did.
1. Pain in the neck （めんどくさい）子供がいる日本人は、必ずこの英語を知っておかないと。私には、小学生の娘３人がいる。３人ともよく言うことは「めんどくさい」「ずるい」「意味わからん」だ。わかるやろう？なんでも、めんどくさいと思っている。辞書で調べると、bothersome, tiresome, troublesomeが出て来るけど、正直、あまり言わん。けど、pain in the neckはバリバリ言う。直訳をすると、「首が痛い」と言う意味があるけど、実は、この単語の意味は首の痛みと全く関係ないバイ。毎年、この表現を学生に教える。実用的な英語なら、絶対に忘れないからさ。授業で、こういう例文を一緒に練習する。
If you have kids, you definitely need to remember this one. I have three daughters in elementary school, and most of the time they are saying mendokusai, imi wakaran and zurui. Right? Are your kids the same? Everything seems to be mendokusai. If you look up this word in the dictionary, it says, "bothersome" "tiresome" or "troublesome." But to tell the truth, I almost never say any of these words. Yeah, you gotta say "pain in the neck." I have no idea how this term, which translated directly means kubi ga itai, came to mean mendokusai, but well, it does, so let's use it! Maybe it is a huge bother to have a pain in your neck. Anyway, I teach this term to my students every year. I figure, if I teach them practical English that they may actually use, they won't forget it. We practice sentences like these in class:
「この宿題はバリバリめんどくさいなぁ。」
"This homework is such a pain in the neck."
「また英語のプレゼンをせんといけんと？めんどくさい！」
"Another English presentation? What a pain in the neck!"
「TOEICのe-ラーニングは超めんどくさいやん！」
"E-learning is a such a pain in the neck."
学生を笑わせることが出来たなら、多分、頭からこの英語は離れないかな、と期待している。どう思う？いい作戦やろう？学生を笑わせた後、どんだけe-learningやプレゼンが大事か。と、いうことを説明する。はは。
I figure if I can get my students laughing about English, it will stay in their heads. What do you think? Good strategy? After I make them laugh, I preach to them about how important e-learning and presentations are. Haha.
*pain in the buttもよくいう。pain in the neck よりスラングで、ちょっとだけ下品だから、友達の間だけで使ってね！
２。I'm crazy about it. （バリバリ好き、夢中）
何かがめちゃくちゃ好きなら、英語では、I'm crazy about it はよく言う。 I really like it, I love it, I'm really into it でも言うけど、I'm crazy about itを言うと、どんだけ好きかってすぐ相手に伝わる。例文を見てみよう。
In English, when you totally love something, you say "I'm crazy about it!" Of course you can also say "I really like it," or "I love it," or "I'm really into it," but when you say "I'm crazy about it," just how much you love something is crystal clear to the person you are talking to. Let's take a look at some examples.
"Annechan is crazy about Japan."
アンちゃんは、日本が好きすぎてたまらん。
"Annechan is crazy about peanut butter."
アンちゃんは、ピーナッツバターが自分の子供より好き。（冗談）
"I am crazy about Annechan's blog!"
アンちゃんのブログに超ハマってる。
"My mom is crazy about K-Pop."
お母さんはK-Popに夢中になっている。
"I was really into comics in college."
大学生の時、バリ漫画が好きやったバイ。
日本では、crazyという単語は、結構ネガティブなイメージがあるけど、英語ではいつもそうではない。例えば、He is so crazy! と言ったら、彼は、バリバリ面白くて、変わっている人やね、という意味がある。もちろん、イントネーションを変えると、頭がおかしいと言う意味になるね。"He is CRAZY!" 英語では、慣用句がある。"He has a screw loose" と言ったら、彼は精神的におかしいという意味がある。兎に角、もし英語のネィティブスピーカーにふざけているような感じで「You are so crazy!」と言われたら、落ち込まんで。それは褒め言葉バイ。
In Japan, the word "crazy" has mostly negative connotations, but it is not always so in English. For example, if you say, "He is so crazy!" in a joking kind of way, you mean that someone is really funny and will do over the top kind of things. Of course, if you change your intonation and say something more seriously, you really mean that someone is mentally off. In English, we have an idiom that says, "He has a screw loose" for someone who is not mentally all there. Anyway, if a native English speaker is joking around with you and calls you crazy, don't worry about it. It is a compliment.
３。It drives me crazy （いらいらさせる）どんだけアメリカ人は crazy を使っている表現が好きと？バリバリ好きよ。他の言い方はたくさんあるけど、私はこのフレーズが一番好きかな。annoying, drives me nuts, irritating, gets on my nervesもよく言うね。Gets on my nervesは、日本語の「しゃくにさわる」の意味に近い。何年か前に、ディズニーの「アナと雪の女王」のLet It Goという歌が世界中で流行っていたことを覚えている？おんなの子がいるお母さんは、「忘れる訳ないやん！」と叫びたかろう？マジ。世界中のお母さんたちは、あの歌を聞きすぎて、バリバリcrazyになりそうだった。私もそうだった。最初のほうは、「可愛いね！私のキッズの歌声は本当にいいね！」と思ったけど、時間が経てば、経つほど、どんどんいらいらさせられてきた。しかも、１カ国語じゃなくて、２カ国語で延々と聞かんといけんかった。マジ死ぬかと思った。兎に角、例文を見てみよう。
Maybe you are thinking, just how much do Americans love to use the word "crazy?" We love it. In the case of "it drives me crazy," there are several other ways to express the same thing, but "drives me crazy" is my favorite. You can also say something is "annoying," "irritating" "drives me nuts" or "gets on my nerves" This last one is kind of like the Japanese shaku ni sawaru. Do you remember when that annoying Frozen song, Let It Go, was a worldwide sensation? Stupid question, Annechan. There is no way that anyone with kids doesn't remember that song. Mothers from hundreds of countries and speaking hundreds of languages were driven entirely crazy by that song. Same for me. At first, I was like, "Aww. How cute. My kids sure do sing well." But the more time passed, the more irritating that song became. And the only thing worse than hearing it over and over again in English is hearing it over and over again in English and Japanese. I seriously thought I was going to die. Let's look at some example sentences.
"That Frozen song totally drives me crazy!"
「あのアナと雪なんとかの歌はマジしゃくにさわるバイ。」
"My mom is always nagging me. She drives me crazy."
「お母さんはいつも「ああして！こうして！」と、うるさくて言っている。超うざい。」
"My neighbor's dog is always barking in the middle of the night. Totally drives me crazy."
"隣の家の犬はいつも夜中にうるさく吠えている。超イライラさせられる。」
"That person really gets on my nerves."
「あの人はイライラさせるね。」
＊現在、アンちゃん家でバリバリしゃくにさわる歌は、TWICEの「TT」です。LET IT GOを卒業した。
４. It cracks me up （ウケる）このバリバリ使う英語は日本人は絶対に習わない。私は笑うことが大好きだから、普通の人より使うかも。例文を見てみよう。
This is an awesome phrase that most Japanese have never learned. I love to laugh and make others laugh, so I probably use it more than most. Let's look at some examples.
You crack me up!
That cracks me up!
He cracks me up!
My mom cracks me up!
My boyfriend cracks me up!
My mother's boyfriend's sister's cat's kitten cracks me up!!
まぁ、わかるやろう？ポイントは、日本語では、主語がなくてもいいけど、英語では、主語ないとダメだよ。cracks me up!だけはおかしいバイ。cracks me upの前に「どこの誰か」を入れないと。He, She, It, Thatなど。
You get it, right? The main point is, in Japanese, you don't really need a subject, but in English, you can't make a sentence without one. So, before "cracks me up," you have to say what exactly it is that is cracking you up.
主語も目的語もなくてもいいことは、日本語の特徴やね。例えば、「あの本、読んだ？」って聞かれたら、答えは簡単に、「読んだ。」でいいけど、英語で、「read」と言ったら、笑われるね。"I read it." を言わないと。
In fact, in Japanese you don't need a subject or an object. For example, if you are asked, "Ano hon、yonda?" (Have you read that book) you can just answer with the verb yonda. But in English if you do that, people will laugh in your face. You can't just say "read." You have to say, "Yes, I have read it."
ちなみに、.....makes me laugh はcracks me up の意味に近い。日本でいうと、「笑わせる」この表現も英語でよく使う。cracks me upはmakes me laughより爆笑するっというニュアンスがある。
By the way, you can also use the phrase "makes me laugh," which has a very similar meaning to "cracks me up." We use this expression a lot in English, too. The only difference is that "cracks me up" is stronger. In other words, you laugh harder and are more amused than when using "makes me laugh."
そういうわけで、アンちゃんはみんなに知って欲しい英語の慣用句をリストアップしたバイ。これらを正しく使うことができたら、あなたはバリバリクールだと思われる。私の母国語が難しすぎて申し訳ない。難しいけど、あなたは出来るバイ！
Well, there you have it. Four idioms that you just have to know to be considered a cool English speaker. English is crazy hard, but you can do it. Keep plugging away!Aaaa