抄録
This is a note or sketch on some concise English expressions useful for the learner of the language. The author refers to the following four expressions:1) We talked him into going alone. (= talked with him and succeeded in getting him to go)2) He moved very slowly, inching his way up the steep sides. (= moving his way inch by inch)3) He is one of university-paid personnel. (= paid by the university)4) He is a former president of the company and expects to be treated accordingly. (= in agreement with the fact)"A concise expression" is defined as:Given two expressions A and B, where the two expressions share the same cognitive meaning, the expression A is more concise than the expression B when the former is composed of fewer words than the latter."University-paid" in 3), for example, is paraphrased by "paid by the university, and the former expression is more concise than the latter. The Japanese counterparts of the underlined phrases above are less concise. "Inching his way" in 2), for example, is put into Japanese: ippo ippo (= inch by inch) susumu (=make one's way). Utilizing the productive expressions mentioned above, the learner of English is expected to use more effective, English-like expressions.