H: Grace describes a poll she took of A&A managers, many of whom said people were dressing more casually than before. Ueda mentions the Cool Biz campaign in Japan, but says Japan’s offices are a long way from going casual. Grace talks about the kinds of equipment that are now standard in American offices as well as the so-called gig economy.

business casual dress code
ビジネスカジュアルという服装規定
H: Relatively casual clothes that are still appropriate for the workplace. Maybe requiring men to wear a dress shirt, but no jacket or tie. Likewise women could wear a nice sweater with a shirt or slacks instead of a more formal women’s suit. I’ve also seen things like dressy casual on a party invitation. That’s a similar idea, so things like maybe a nice but not too formal dress.
S: いまヘザーさんはdressy casualと言っていましたね。他にも例えばsmart casualとかいくつかの表現方法があるんですけれど、何がbusiness casualで何がsmart casualで何がdressy casualなのかという定義はあまりはっきりしていないんですね。一般的に言えばテニスシューズやTシャツなどはこういった範疇に入らないとされていますがオフィスウェアがカジュアル化しているので、そういったものもbusiness casual、ビジネスの場における比較的カジュアルな服装の範疇に入ってくるようになるかもしれませんね。

humid 
湿度の高い、むしむしする
S:Ueda Shotaが中ほどで言っていました。hot and humid summer months、高温多湿の夏の時期ということですね。
H: Another way to say this less formally is muggy. There’s also sultry weather and that means humid and hot.
S: muggy、蒸し暑い。日本の夏についてよく使われる形容詞です。humidからhumidifierといえば加湿器のことですね。

be a long way from
何々には程遠い、何々はまだ先のことだ
H: Something will not happen for a long while. It won’t be achieved for a long while. Such as “We’re a long way from curing cancer.” Or “He’s still a long way from opening his own business.”
S: 何々どころではない、何々とは決して言えないといったようなニュアンスですね。


go the casual route
カジュアルの道を行く
H: Or go the casual . That’s fine, too. Go the something route means take a certain approach. For example, many people are not buying expensive items these days. They’re renting them. So a lot of people are going the rental route. Or he’s decided to go the freelance route instead of working for a company full-time. 

concern
何々に関わる、何々に関係する
H: In this case concern means be related to, involves. Such as “This study concerns the obesity problem in the United States.” Or “Gender equality is an issue that concerns all of us.”

the rule rather than the exception
例外ではなく普通のもの
H: The way things usually happen, rather than the unusual event, the normal event, no the deviation from the norm. Nowadays having a cellphone is the rule rather than the exception. 

gig economy 
インターネットを介して単発あるいは短期の仕事を請け負う非正規労働で成り立つ経済形態。
H: A gig is a job or a task that’s usually for a limited time or one project. Musicians especially have gigs. “The band has a gig next week at the club.” Or “She has a speaking gig at the university this year.” And the gig economy is the world of jobs assigned on a one by one basis. Gig economy workers include freelance translators, drivers who work for ride-sharing services, that sort of thing.

work side by side with
誰々と並んで働く、一緒に働く
H: Work alongside would be OK here, too. Work next to, in other words. Work closely with. “He parked alongside the building.” Or “We worked side by side on the project for two months.”

 

スポンサーリンク

What would you say...?
H: Down towards the bottom, Ueda says “Lydia, what would you say has been the biggest change...” We use this construction to ask people’s opinions. What would you choose, what do you think. We also say things like “Who would you say is the best salesman at our company?” Or “What would you say was the best movie of 2017?”
S: What would you say、何だと思われますか、相手の意見をきく時のフレーズですね。