= ヤブ。
昨日何気なく書いた"brush axe"、そういえば"bush"もヤブだったなぁと思いだしてちょっと調べた。Wiktionaryだと、
4. (uncountable) Wild vegetation, generally larger than grass but smaller than trees (Wikipedia). [quotations ▼]
「不可算名詞」ってことは集合としてのヤブを指すらしい。で、かたやbush:
- (horticulture) A woody plant distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, being usually less than six metres tall; a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category. [quotations ▼]
- (slang, vulgar) A person's pubic hair, especially a woman's; loosely, a woman's vulva. [quotations ▼]
- A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
- bushes to support pea vines
- A shrub or branch, properly, a branch of ivy (sacred to Bacchus), hung out at vintners' doors, or as a tavern sign; hence, a tavern sign, and symbolically, the tavern itself. [quotations ▼]
2.を除けばｗ、大体低木そのもの、あるいはその枝を指すらしい。なるほど、例えるなら、"mail"と"letter"みたいな関係？
そういえば「ブッシュマン」って言葉・種族があるけれど、ヤブ地帯に住んでいる人間、という意味だと"brushman"の方が的確なんじゃないだろうか、いやそれとも体型がブッシュに似ている？
