バートランド・ラッセル 英単語・熟語 s048 - scratch one's head

★ scratch one's head [（困って）頭をかく;途方に暮れる,当惑する]

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１．ラッセルの用例

ラッセルと20世紀の名文に学ぶ英文味読の真相39 [ 佐藤ヒロシ ] 楽天で購入

あるいは アマゾンで購入

When it was found that the average weight of a man's brain is greater than that of a woman's, this was held as proof of his superior intellectuality. When it was pointed out that an elephant's brain is even heavier, the eminent scientists scratched their heads since they could not admit that their wits were elephantine.
[男性の脳の平均重量が女性の脳の平均重量より大きいことが分ると,それは男性のほうが女性よりもすぐれた知性を持っていることの証拠とされた。さらに象の脳は人間（男性）の脳よりも重いという事実が指摘されると,有名な科学者たちは,自分たちの知力は象並みであると認めたくないので,途方にくれた（頭をかきむしった）。
　出典：ラッセル『アメリカン・エッセイ集』の中の「科学者は科学的か？」]

２．参考例

ラッセル英単語・熟語1500

He was scratching his head over the question his teacher had asked.
[彼は先生の質問に何と答えたらよいか分からず困惑していた。
出典：『研究社－ロングマン イディオム英和辞典』, ｐ.234]

If you say that someone is scratching his head, you mean that he is thinking hard and trying to solve a problem or puzzle. / The institute spends a lot of time scratching its head about how to boost American productivity.
[ (出典：Collins COBUILD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 3rd ed.]

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