Hole In The Wall

カリフォルニア州サンノゼ在のソフトウェアエンジニア。

今日の英語:argle-bargle

= 活発な議論。
一昨日の最高裁の歴史的ゲイマリッジ判決、今日のカリフォルニアprop 8廃止によるゲイの人々の結婚再開でお祭り騒ぎのこの辺り。SFのパレードも最高潮だけれど、最高裁での判決、5-4の僅差のなか、反対に回った判事、Antonin Scaliaの発した言葉、"legalistic argle-bargle"。辞書によれば「活発な議論」という意味で、最高裁の議事録に載せるような言葉ではないらしい。彼がこの言葉を選んだのは実は結構深い意味がある様子。

It originates from the Scottish "argy-bargy" ― an even sillier expression ― which, according to Meriam Webster means a "lively discussion." Other places describe it as "a relatively amicable, if somewhat heated, argument" and "an argument or confrontation of moderate intensity, somewhere between a spirited debate and a fistfight." In other words it's a very Supreme Court justice way to describe a disagreement.

The Brouhaha Behind 'Argle Bargle': A Linguistic Explanation - The Wire

更にこうある。

It's not exactly Supreme Court level language, which is exactly why Scalia chose it. People use these types of terms to sound either juvenile or pejorative, which was the justice's point: These other opinions aren't just wrong, they're argle-bargle level wrong, or plain dumb. "I think Scalia's pejorative intentions were clear, but he was looking for something a bit more exotic than 'mumbo-jumbo,'" added Zimmer.

要は彼にとって相手の議論は「全く分けの分からない馬鹿げたこと」(= mumbo-jumbo)であるということを示唆した上での活発な議論、ということを表現したかったんだろう。