fall through
fall through は英検準1級・TOEIC 600レベルの英単語で、「頓挫する、通り抜けて落ちる」という意味があります。発音記号は /ˈfɔːl ˈθruː/ です。
頓挫する
解説 Definition
計画や交渉が途中で失敗し、最終的に実現しないこと。予定していたことが駄目になる場面で使う表現。
If a plan, deal, or arrangement falls through, it does not happen in the end. This usually means something failed or was canceled unexpectedly. It is often used when people were expecting success, but something went wrong.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
これは fall through の「通り抜けて落ちる」という文字通りの意味とは別に、計画・取引・約束などが最後まで成立せず流れる比喩的な用法です。through には「最後まで通る」感覚があるため、go through なら「成立する」、fall through ならその途中で落ちて実現しない、と対比すると覚えやすいです。主語は deal, plan, arrangement, talks などが定番で、人を主語にしにくい点にも注意しましょう。
`Through` often suggests reaching the end, but here something falls before it gets there. A plan or deal starts moving forward, then drops out on the way. Compare it with `go through`, which means it succeeds or is completed.
例文
The merger talks fell through when the two boards couldn’t agree.
2つの取締役会の意見がまとまらず、合併交渉は失敗に終わった。
Our hiking trip fell through because the rain didn’t stop.
雨が止まず、ハイキングの予定は中止になってしまった。
通り抜けて落ちる
(意味 2)解説 Definition
物や人が穴・すき間・弱い床などを通り抜けて下へ落ちることを表す。床板、氷、網、裂け目など、本来支えるはずのものに穴や弱い部分がある場面で使う文字通りの表現。
"Fall through" means to go down through a hole, gap, or weak surface instead of being supported by it. It is used for literal situations such as a person or object dropping through ice, a floor, a net, or a crack. The focus is on passing through something that should have held the weight but failed.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
fall は「落ちる」、through は「通り抜けて向こう側へ」という基本イメージなので、fall through は「穴やすき間を抜けて下へ落ちる」と考えると自然です。fall into は「中へ落ちる」、fall off は「離れて落ちる」ですが、fall through は床・氷・網などを突き抜ける点が中心。別エントリの「頓挫する」はこの物理的なイメージから生まれた比喩なので、まず文字通りの絵を押さえると区別しやすくなります。
Think of the two basic images: "fall" means "go down," and "through" means "pass from one side to the other." So "fall through" naturally gives the picture of dropping down through a hole or weak surface. This helps you separate it from "fall into," which means falling inside something, and "fall off," which means falling away from a surface. If you remember the physical picture first, the meaning is much easier to keep clear.
例文
The child almost fell through the broken wooden floor.
その子は壊れた木の床を通り抜けて落ちそうになった。
One of the hikers fell through the ice near the edge of the lake.
ハイカーの一人が湖の端近くで氷を突き抜けて落ちた。
Several stones fell through the torn net and hit the ground below.
いくつかの石が破れた網を通り抜けて下に落ちた。
fall through の語源・成り立ち Etymology
fallは古英語feallan（落ちる）、throughは古英語þurh（通り抜けて）から。計画が「底を抜けて落ちる」→「失敗に終わる」という比喩。fall apartも「崩壊する」で同様に崩れるイメージを持つ。
"Fall through" is built from Old English "fallan" and "thurh," meaning to fall and to pass through. The phrase uses the image of something dropping through a gap or weak place. That picture later became a metaphor for a plan that fails or does not happen. "Fall apart" shows a similar image of collapse.
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