Notes：
acronym 頭文字;
UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) カリフォルニア大学ロサンゼルス校;
UF (University of Florida) フロリダ大学;
smoother よりな なめらかにする;
remaining 残っている;
cumbersome長くて複雑な;
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TOEIC and listening exercises often use them. And, if you listen to or read about sports, you’ve probably heard them – acronyms that are pronounced like words – things like UCLA and UF. These are the names of American universities.
We shorten them to make our conversation smoother. Each letter represents a word. The U stands for university.The next letter is often a state name. For example, C represents California. The remaining letters show where the campus is. For example, LA means Los Angeles, so UCLA is the University of California, Los Angeles. We do the same thing in Japanese when we say ShimaDai rather than the more cumbersome Shimane Daigaku.(by Prof. Lieske Carmella)
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In the United States, the first name of the president often becomes a popular name for parents to give their new-born sons. Dwight was popular in 1945 and 1953; Franklin was most often used in 1933. Barack Obama is different. His names aren’t just popular in the U.S. Parents in other countries are also giving their children the name Barack, Obama, or Barack Obama. For example, according to BBC, in a south-west Kenyan province, 15 babies were born on America’s election night last year. Of them, five were named Barack Obama and three girls were called Michelle, after Mrs. Obama. Somehow I doubt Yukio or Miyuki have become popular baby names since Mr. Hatoyama became Prime Minister of Japan last fall. What do you think? (by Prof. Carmella Lieske)
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