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。

Are you anybody?

(アンタ何様のつもり?)
 映画「雨に唄えば[Singin' in the Rain]」より。ひどい悪声のため、人前で喋らせてもらえないサイレント映画のスター女優・リナ。次回は私にスピーチさせてよ、原稿を覚えるわ、と訴えると、音楽家のコズモーがゲティスバーグ演説でも暗唱したら?と茶々を入れる。頭にきたリナがコズモーに対して言ったセリフ。

  • anybody は、主に否定文で「重要な人物、ひとかどの人物」という意味で使われることがある( (in negative sentences) an important person/(usually used with a negative or a question) a person of any importance)。ここではその例。
    • She wasn't anybody before she got that job.
    • If you're anybody, you'll receive an invitation.
    • If you're anybody, you'll get an invitation.
    • He isn't anybody in this town.
  • 肯定文では somebody が同じような意味で使える(an important person/a person of greater importance than others)。
    • She was the first teacher who'd made Paul feel like he was somebody.
    • The teacher convinced her that she could grow up to be somebody.
    • He seems to be somebody in this town.
    • Obviously she was somebody--a real presence in the room.
    • She thinks she's really somebody in that car.
    • a small-town girl who hopes to become a somebody someday
  • そうすると、あわせて使えるようにしたいのが nobody。「重要でない人、影響力のない人」という意味に(a person of no importance, influence, or power)。例文見ると、この使い方をする時だけ冠詞がつくんだね。不思議だ。
    • He was a nobody in high school.
    • I was a nothing and a nobody with everything to prove.
    • She rose from being a nobody to become a superstar.
    • Tired of feeling like a nobody, she decided to launch her own business
  • この some/any の持つニュアンスは、something が「重要なもの、価値あるもの、特筆すべきもの」という意味を持つ( a person or thing that is important or worth noticing/ a remarkable or important thing or person/a thing that is thought to be important or worth taking notice of )のと共通している。前にまとめたのはこれ→(08/1/30)。私は今までこの something を使って "He's something." というような表現は好んで使ってきたけれど、今回まとめたsomebody/anybody/nobody は使ってこなかったので、今後使えるようにしたい。
    • She thinks she's really something ever since her promotion.
    • That waterfall is really something, isn't it?
    • He decided to go back to college and make something of himself. [=become successful]
    • Running your own company at 21 is really something.
    • He thinks he is something in that uniform.
    • That was really something, wasn't it?
    • It's quite something(= a thing that you should feel happy about) to have a job at all these days.
    • The President visiting our hotel - that would really be something.
    • He is really something!
    • This writer has something to say and she says it well.