2008年4月1日 星期二

bouquet, girder, hedge, beat about the bush

The president and first lady traveled in the afternoon to Arlington, Va., to pay their respects at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed on Sept. 11.
Ceremonies were held world-wide to remember the victims of the attacks on the U.S. Bells tolled in Rome's city hall square. In London, bouquets of white roses and yellow carnations were piled in a memorial garden where the names of 67 Britons killed in the New York attacks are inscribed -- and where a steel girder from the wreckage of the World Trade Center is buried.



ESSAY


Reviewed by LUC SANTE
In Sontag’s journals, the intellectual items seem more naked and the private items more hedged.

hedge (PROTECTION)
noun [C]
a way of protecting, controlling or limiting something:
She'd made some overseas investments as a hedge against rising inflation in this country.

hedge
verb
1 [T + adverb or preposition; usually passive] to limit something severely:
We've got permission, but it's hedged about/around with strict conditions.

2 [I] to try to avoid giving an answer or taking any action:
Stop hedging and tell me what you really think.


verb
  1. To shut in on all sides: begirdbesetcirclecompassencircleencompassenvirongirdgirdlehemring1surroundSee open/close.
  2. To surround and advance upon: besiege, close in, encloseenvelophemSee open/close.
  3. To use evasive or deliberately vague language: equivocateeuphemizeshuffletergiversateweaselInformal pussyfootwaffleIdioms: beat about/ around the bush, mince words. See clear/unclear.
  4. To avoid fulfilling or answering completely: dodgeduckevadesidestepskirtSee seek/avoid.

beat around the bush (UK ALSO beat about the bush)
to avoid talking about what is important:
Don't beat around the bush - get to the point!

bou・quet


━━ n. 花束; 芳香; お世辞 ((for)).



girder
noun [C] 樑 a long thick piece of steel or concrete, etc. which supports a roof, floor, bridge or other large structure:
steel roof girders

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