[No. 156] I have delved into some useful English expressions from scenes in the Disney movie "The Incredibles."

1. If he even sneezes, we’ll be there with a hanky and a pair of handcuffs. The literal translation is, "If he even sneezes, we will be there with a handkerchief and a pair of handcuffs." (Hanky is a short form of handkerchief.)

This is a humorous expression, meaning they are ready to catch Syndrome without missing even the slightest thing. You can feel a strong will of "

I won't even miss a sneeze." I picked it up because it's an interesting expression. 2. Let the politicians

figure that one out. figure... out
means "to think about and solve something yourself." It is interesting that it has a deeper meaning of searching for a solution by "thinking thoroughly

" than synonyms like understand or solve.

That one refers to what Bob said: we can come out of hiding.

In other words, it becomes "You should let the politicians think about that (whether it is possible)," which means "You can leave that to the politicians" or "The government will decide" as in the subtitles.

The following two sentences mean "I can't figure out why my phone won't charge," but the nuances are different.

I can’t figure out why my phone isn’t charging.
→ There is a nuance of "I thought about it and tried various things, but I still don't know."

I don’t know why my phone isn’t charging.
→ Simply stating "I don't know the reason," which may include cases where you haven't thought about it deeply or tried anything.

The second sentence using know is probably used more often. But when it involves the result of "thinking it through," I want to use figure out as well. 3. I’ve been asked to

assure you we’ll take care of everything else.The key word is
assure, which means "to guarantee something to someone."

More colloquially, it means, "It's okay, don't worry. I guarantee that... will be taken care of."

If you break this line down from the beginning to understand the meaning: I’ve been asked (I was requested to) / to assure you (to guarantee to you) / we’ll take care of everything else. (that we will handle everything else.)

It means, "I have been asked to assure you that we will handle everything else (= everything except whether superhero activities can resume). (So you don't have to worry.)"

I assure you that there’s nothing to worry about. "I assure (guarantee) you that there is nothing to worry about." I have always thought that

assure was a difficult verb to use personally, but I want to use it more often with assure (someone) that...

Hey, you’re wearing your hair back?
This is an interesting expression. wear is used for a hairstyle.

wear If you only understand it as "to put on clothes" or "to wear," the idea of wear one’s hair back meaning "to pull one's hair back" might not easily come to mind.

The subtitle translation "Did you pull your hair back to show your ears??" is also good. It makes sense that pulling your hair back reveals your ears.

In Japanese, we use expressions like "to style one's hair" or "to fix one's hair," but in English, since hair is perceived as something you "wear," I think wear is used naturally.

By the way, this is an image of wear one’s hair back that I asked ChatGPT to create.

wear one’s hair ( ) is a very versatile expression, as shown below.

Wear one’s hair up

Wear one’s hair down

Wear one’s hair curly

Wear one’s hair parted in the middle

I think connecting English to photos or pictures without going through Japanese is effective for developing the habit of "thinking in English."

Sorry for freaking out, but …
This is the scene where Kari, who was babysitting Jack-Jack, is in a panic on the phone.

Sorry for … is a colloquial expression often used in phrases like Sorry for being late, but Sorry for freaking out, but ... is something you might not have heard very often.

freak out is an idiom meaning "to lose one's cool" or "to panic." Therefore, Kari said to Helen, "Sorry for losing my cool." When I hear this word

freak, I remember what a friend who came from America a long time ago said. He said that Japan is safe, so you don't have to worry much about daily life, but there is one thing you must be careful about. That is "chikan" (groping) on crowded trains.

She said, "So he is a freak, right?" At the time, I knew freak out, but I wasn't very familiar with the noun freak. However, from the context, I guessed it meant "a weirdo," so I replied, "Yeah, that's right."

A molester and a freak are strictly different, but for some reason, the fact that she said freak is burned into my memory... (freak means "an eccentric person" or "a strange person")