MICなInshallah

アラビア語を話しているというだけで不審者扱いされ飛行機を降ろされるということがあったようです。通訳でも翻訳でもそうなんですが、こいつ信用ならないと思われると言葉を普通に聞いてもらえなくなるので、信頼を得ることの重要性をいつも感じます。

Inshallah Is Good for Everyone
By WAJAHAT ALI APRIL 22, 2016
A COLLEGE student was recently escorted off a Southwest Airlines flight after a fellow passenger said she heard him making comments in Arabic that were “potentially threatening.”
In a statement, Southwest Airlines said that the student, Khairuldeen Makhzoomi, who came to the United States as a refugee from Iraq, was removed for the “content of the passenger’s conversation” and not his language choice.

航空会社の方は単に怪しいから降ろしたのではないことを弁明しています。この航空会社の弁明をそのまま受け取りたくはないですが、このようなデリケートな問題を扱う文章は表現の勉強になります。抜粋したのは後段です。

April 18 2016 - DALLAS, TX
Statement Regarding Customer Situation on Flight 4620
We provided the passenger an immediate refund of his unused ticket and regret any less than positive experience a Customer has onboard our aircraft. We welcome onboard more than a hundred million Customers each year; and we aim to safely transport each, while maintaining the comfort of all. Safety is our primary focus, and our Employees are trained to make decisions to safeguard the security of our Crews and Customers on every flight. We would not remove a passenger from a flight without a collaborative decision rooted in established procedures. Southwest neither condones nor tolerates discrimination of any kind. Our Company could not survive if we practiced or believed otherwise. In fact, a cursory view of our workforce, as well as our expansive, multi-cultural Customer base is a reliable indicator that we exalt and appreciate diversity.

電話でInshallahと語っていたことが他の乗客から不審に思われた原因だとこのコラムの著者は考えているようですが、Inshallahは多義的な言葉のようです。まあアラブ社会の本を読むとよくでる話なのでおなじみの人もいるのではないでしょうか。

Inshallah is the Arabic version of “fuggedaboudit.” It’s similar to how the British use the word “brilliant” to both praise and passive-aggressively deride everything and everyone. It transports both the speaker and the listener to a fantastical place where promises, dreams and realistic goals are replaced by delusional hope and earnest yearning.

Inshallah is the Arabic version of “fuggedaboudit.”の “fuggedaboudit”でフリーズしてしまった方は新形式のTOEICで口語表現に苦戦するかもしれません。意味がわかるとなんてことのないものです。表現が耳で馴染んでいるとピンときますよね。

(wikitionary)
fuggedaboudit
English
Etymology
Eye dialect spelling of forget about it.
Interjection
fuggedaboudit
(slang) Do not worry about it; it does not matter; it is beyond your control.
(slang, New York) There is no hope of it being so, the idea is preposterous; do not waste my time with such notions

英語学習者として興味深かったのが、Inshallahのさまざまな使われ方の紹介です。文脈によってさまざまな意味を持ちます。こういうのをMIC(meaning in context)と呼ぶのでいいのでしょうか。このような文脈によってではないと意味が決まらないような表現が新形式TOEICで連発したら嫌ですね。

If you are a parent, you can employ inshallah to either defer or subtly crush the desires of young children.
Boy: “Father, will we go to Toys ‘R’ Us later today?”
Father: “Yes. Inshallah.”
Translation: “There is no way we’re going to Toys ‘R’ Us. I’m exhausted. Play with the neighbor’s toys. Here, play with this staple remover. That’s fun, isn’t it?”

If you are a commitment-phobe or habitually late to events, inshallah immediately provides you with an ambiguous grace period.
Wedding Planner: “We only have the hall from 7 to 10 p.m. We’ll incur extra charges if we go past 10. Please tell me you’ll be on time.”
Wedding Attendee: “But of course! Inshallah, we’ll be there.”
Translation: “Oh, you sad, sad, silly little man. I hope you have saved a lot of money or have access to an inheritance. I’ll leave my house at 9:45 p.m.”

Inshallah is also an extremely useful tool in the modern quest for love.
Man: “So, you think we can go on a date later this week?”
Woman: “Yeah, let me think about it, inshallah.”
Translation: “No. Never. There is no way we are ever going on a date. Even if there was a zombie apocalypse and you were the last man on earth, I would not consider this an option and would rather the human species perish as a result of my decision.”

I drop about 80 inshallahs a day, give or take. I’ll get to the gym, inshallah. Yes, I’ll clean up around the house, inshallah.
Most commonly, inshallah is used in Muslim-majority communities to escape introspection, hard work and strategic planning and instead outsource such responsibilities to an omnipotent being, who somehow, at some time, will intervene and fix our collective problems.

昨年末にエジプトの紅海からのロシア航空機が墜落した事件があったりと脅威は確かにあるので、バランスは難しいところなんですが、不審の悪循環を避ける方法がないのか、どうしたら過剰反応を避けることができるのか、考えないといけないのでしょうか。