lick 「打ち負かす」「やっつける」

lick は「なめる」として覚えた人が多いと思うが、このほか「打つ、なぐる」とか「負かす、打ち勝つ」というハードな意味もあるのがおもしろい。

落ち着いてきた感のあるコロナ禍だが、われわれはそこからまだ脱したわけではない、と警鐘を鳴らす最近の「ニューヨーク・タイムズ」の記事を読んでいたら、lick が下記のように使われていた。

去年アメリカが経済・社会活動の再開に舵を切ったとたん、すぐにコロナが再拡大したことを指摘したくだりだ。

- You know how that turned out. America’s vaccination rate was too low, and just when we thought we’d licked it, Covid wriggled free. First the Delta variant spread widely, then Omicron and its many subvariants. Masks were ordered back on. Boosters were soon recommended for people over 12.
("It’s Still Covid’s World. We’re Just Living in It." The New York Times, May 26, 2022)

手持ちの英和辞典には載っていなかったが、「（問題を）解決する」「克服する」といった訳語も、下記のような英語圏の辞書の説明を読んでいると頭に浮かんでくる。

- If you lick someone or something, you easily defeat them in a fight or competition.
[informal]
He might be able to lick us all in a fair fight.
The Chancellor's upbeat message that the Government had licked inflation for good was marred by more job losses.
(COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)

- to defeat someone or something, or to solve a difficult problem:
He has licked the cancer.
(Cambridge Dictionaries)

- (informal) to easily defeat somebody or deal with something
We thought we had them licked.
It was a tricky problem but I think we've licked it.
(OALD)


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