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後をたたない / 摘発なんのその / これに / これはもしかすると

eeky

先輩
8 Jun 2010
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Happy New Year folks!

2012 ... the year in which I become fluent in Japanese. Heh-heh.


1. 後をたたない違法駐車。中には、代行会社の利用で、「 摘発なんのその」という車も?

(Picture caption.) Translation given: "The inevitable parking violators. Among them, how many are subscribers to traffic ticket proxy companies -- and fearless of being exposed?"

a) What is the literal meaning of 後をたたない, and which of the numerous versions of たつ is this?

b) How is 後 pronounced in this case?

c) How does 摘発なんのその work? While I know that 摘発 means "exposure", I can't figure out how the whole could mean "fearless of being exposed".


2. 静かな住宅街の午後のひととき、くつろいで雑誌を開い ていると、突然、中年の男の声が窓から侵入してくる。 「毎度おなじみのちり紙交換車でございます。」

Translation given: "Sometime in the afternoon, in a quiet residential area of people enjoying a relaxed moment with a magazine, outside the window the voice of a middle-aged man suddenly booms through the quiet. "Your paper collector here!"

a) When I started reading this, I basically understood it OK but thought it was a first-person narrative, like "... I'm relaxing with a magazine ...". In the absence of any further context, is my interpretation possible?

The author continues:

最近の騒音公害にはかなわないが・・・

Translation given: "No one likes the noise pollution of late..."

b) Similarly, I thought this meant "I don't like the the noise pollution of late..." Could it mean that? How do you tell?


3. This is talking about a paper collection man's polite behaviour and humble speech (which has just been quoted):

これにきわめて低姿勢、丁寧なことばづかいだ。これは もしかするとひとつの風物詩といえるかもしれない。

Translation given: "Here, extreme humility and politeness in speech are considered poetic features."

a) In the first sentence, why これに and not これは?

b) Does これはもしかすると mean (literally) "if/when (he) does this"?

c) I always seem to get confused about <noun>のひとつ and ひとつの<noun>. What is the difference?
 
Happy new year! 😄

1) a)
The followers are endless.
たつ = 絶つ

b)
あと

c)
なんのその is a set phrase.
なんのその - Yahoo!辞書

2) a) b)
Yes. I, too, interpreted so.

3) a)
これに加えて, i.e., "In addition to that" doesn't fit the context?

b)
もしかすると~かもしれない acts as a set.

c)
Those two forms are interchangeable in some cases, but ひとつの can also mean "only one ~" or "a kind of ~". I think the example sentence has a nuance of "a kind of".
 
Hi Toritoribe, thanks for your reply.

1a. Sorry, I still don't see this. Do you mean that 後 means "followers"? Is it possible to express 後をたたない違法駐車 very literally in English (even if strained English) in a way that keeps 後 as an object of the verb たたない? All I get out of it is gibberish like "parking violators who do not cut off the remainder".

1c/3b Yeah, sorry, I forgot to look these up as set phrases...!

3a. This sentence comes directly after a quote of the paper collection man's words (basically he's shouting out that if you wave to him from the window he'll come and collect your old newspapers and stuff). If これに meant "in addition to this", then my question would be "in addition to what?". I thought これ and きわめて低姿勢、丁寧なことばづかい were referring to the paper man's elaborately polite language, as just quoted. In that case I don't understand the purpose of に. I am probably barking completely up the wrong tree. Any ideas?
 
1) a)
違法駐車が後をたたない
The followers of the parking violators are endless.

後をたたない違法駐車
The parking violators whose followers are endless = The never-ending parking violators

3) a)
What is the sentence before his words?
 
1a. It has just occurred to me that these "followers" might be more people in future who commit parking violations. Is that correct?

3a. The sentence before his words is:

新聞の折り込み広告やダイレクト・メールなど、紙の洪水になやまされている多くの家庭にとって、これはなかなかありがたい存在に違いない。

Then comes the quote of the paper man's announcement about collecting stuff.

Then これにきわめて低姿勢、丁寧なことばづかいだ。
 
I see, then it is これに(加えて)きわめて低姿勢、丁寧なことばづかいだ。
これに can be translated as "in addition", I guess.
 
1)
The reason I used "followers" is that 後をたたない means "the same action/behavior is repeated". Even if the police charge the parking violator, another one will do the same thing the next day.

3)
The paper collector is welcome, in addition, he behaves politely and speaks humbly.
 
Thank you both. I think I was trying to make 3a more complicated than it actually is.
 
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