続 今日の英語

はてなダイアリーで地味に続けていた「今日の英語」の続き。日常出会った気になる英語表現を、オンライン辞書の例文などとともにメモしています。

I assume she scrubbed your floors, going by the state of her knees.

(彼女が君の家の床を磨いたであろうことも膝の状態からわかる。)
 BBCドラマ「シャーロック」エピソード1 "A Study in Pink" より。事件現場でソリのあわない警察のアンダーソンとのやりとり。同僚のサリーが君の家に泊まったろう?という推理のあと。これって下ネタってことでよろしいかシャーロック…。

  • この "go by" =「〜に基づいて(判断する)」(to form an opinion about someone or something from the information or experience that you have)という表現は今後の推理の場面でもよくでてくる。原作でもこういう言い方だったのか気になる。私が過去原語で読んだ数本の短編では気がつかなかったけど…。(忘れてるだけ?)
    • You can't always go by appearances.
    • If his past plays are anything to go by, this should be a play worth watching.
    • If past experience is anything to go by, they'll be late.
    • It's wise not to go only by appearances.
    • She may be guilty but we have very little evidence to go by.
    • That's a good rule to go by.
    • Going by what Tim said, we should be there by mid-afternoon.
    • Victim is her late 30s. Professional person, going by her clothes. I'm guessing something in the media, going by the frankly alarming shade of pink. (SHERLOCK)
    • You don't get that splash pattern any other way. Smallish case, going by the spread. (SHERLOCK)
    • The luggage. Probably your first trip to London, right? Going by your final destination and the route the cabbie's taking you. (SHERLOCK)
  • go by the book/rulesとなると、「それが正しいかどうかはともかくきまりだから従う、規則通りの、慣例通りの」って感じになる。(obey rules without considering whether they are right/to do something exactly as the rules tell you)
    • Police officers protect themselves from criticism by going by the book.
    • Only a fool goes by the rules all the time.
    • There was no doubt that the referee had gone by the book.
    • My lawyer always goes strictly by the book.


(DVDはリージョン違いなのでご注意を!)