copper-fastenとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

copper +‎ fasten. From copper sheathing of ship hulls (to protect from damage by marine organisms. Originally copper sheathing but non-copper bolts were used, leading to corrosion. Later copper bolts (fasteners) were also used, eliminating corrosion issues. Literal sense from 18th century, metaphorical sense attested 1948.^[1]

発音

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑpɚˌfæsn̩/
• (Received 発音) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒpəˌfɑːsn̩/

動詞

copperfasten (三人称単数 現在形 copperfastens, 現在分詞 copperfastening, 過去形および過去分詞形 copperfastened)

1. (transitive, historical) To protect the timbers of (a ship) with plates of copper secured with copper nails or bolts.
   • 1796, The Hull Advertiser, 9th July 1796:^[1]

     She is copper-fastened and copper-bottomed, and a remarkable fine ship.

2. (transitive, figuratively, Britain, Ireland) To reinforce, strengthen; to make permanent, embed.
   • 1948, The Evening Independent, November 1948:^[1]

     We had some striking examples of what happens when a guy gets so big for his britches that any pal of his is automatically a copper-fastened genius.

   • 2010 “Supreme Court rules on law translation”, RTÉ News, May 6, 2010:

     This brings to an end a ten-year campaign by Pol O Murchú and other Irish language activists to copperfasten rights to have Irish language legislation made available […]

使用する際の注意点

Particularly used attributively, as copper-fastened (less commonly, copperfastened).

Originally (in literal sense) an intensifier of copper-bottomed, meaning not only that the plates were copper, but the fasteners too.^[1] In meaning close to copper-bottomed, but emphasis on security and lack of ambiguity (compare nailed down), rather than on certainty and trustworthiness.^[1]

関連する語

• copper-bottomed

参考

• nail down
• pin down

参照

• “A Shipwright” “Foreign Zinc Plate” The Mechanic's Magazine, Museum, Register, Journal, and Gazette (31 May 1834) Vol.21, No.564, p.136