意味一覧 (2件)
泥沼
解説 Definition
進退が困難な非常に危険な状態や状況。逃げ場のない絶望的な状態を表す。
A quagmire is an area of soft, wet ground that is difficult to walk through. It is also commonly used in a figurative way for a difficult situation that is confusing and hard to escape from. This second meaning is very common in news and formal writing.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
このエントリの quagmire は、基本的な比喩義「苦境」とは別に、文字通りの「泥沼、ぬかるんだ湿地」を表す意味です。mire が「沼、泥地」を表すことを押さえると、quagmire は足元が柔らかく沈み、歩くと抜け出しにくい場所だとつかめます。swamp や bog に近いですが、特に足を取られて動きにくい危険な地面という感覚が強い語です。自然描写や古めの文章で出会いやすい意味です。
Focus on the `mire` part, which is wet, sticky ground. A `quagmire` is not just mud; it is the kind of place where you get stuck and cannot move easily. That is why it is also used for situations like a `political quagmire`, where getting in is easy but getting out is hard.
例文
The company found itself in a financial quagmire.
その企業は財政的な窮地に陥った。
The political situation became a quagmire for the government.
政治的状況は政府にとって窮地となった。
They were trapped in a quagmire of debt.
彼らは借金の窮地に陥っていた。
苦境
(意味 2)解説 Definition
quagmire は、抜け出すのが難しい複雑で厄介な状況を指す名詞です。政治、戦争、財政、法的問題など、関わるほど身動きが取れなくなる場面で使われます。
A quagmire is a difficult and complicated situation that is hard to escape from. It is often used for problems in politics, war, finance, or law, where every step to fix the situation seems to create more trouble. Compared with a simple problem, a quagmire suggests being deeply stuck and unable to move forward easily.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
quagmire は mire「ぬかるみ、沼」と結びつけると覚えやすい語です。足を取られて簡単に出られない場所のイメージから、比喩的に「抜け出しにくい苦境」を表します。political quagmire, legal quagmire, financial quagmire のように、政治・法律・財政などで問題が絡み合い、解決が長引く場面に多いです。単なる problem より、はまり込んだ感じが強い点に注意します。
Think of the part mire, which means mud or swamp. If you step into a muddy place, your feet get stuck and it is hard to get out. In the same way, a quagmire is a situation where problems keep pulling you in deeper, especially in politics, law, or money matters.
例文
The company fell into a financial quagmire after years of poor planning.
その会社は長年の計画不足の末、財政的な苦境に陥った。
What started as a small dispute soon became a legal quagmire for everyone involved.
小さな争いとして始まったものが、関係者全員にとって法的な苦境へと発展した。
The new policy created a political quagmire that lawmakers could not resolve quickly.
その新しい政策は、議員たちがすぐには解決できない政治的な苦境を生んだ。
quagmire の語源・成り立ち Etymology
quagmire は英語方言 quag「ぬかるみ」と mire「沼」から成る語で、mire は古ノルド語 myrr「沼地」にさかのぼります。mire や miry と同根で、似た意味の語を重ねているぶん、ただの泥ではなく「抜け出せない泥沼」という感じが強まります。
Quagmire is made from dialect quag, meaning "bog" or "marsh," and mire, meaning "swamp" or "deep mud." Mire goes back to Old Norse myrr, "bog" or "marshland." Because both parts have a similar meaning, the compound became especially strong and vivid, suggesting a muddy place that traps you. Related words include mire and miry.
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