wurstにかかっているもの

The Economistから表現を取り上げます。

The world economy: Weaker than it looks | The Economist

Fearing the wurst

The euro area is in a far bigger mess than the headline figures suggest because its growth has long been flattered by Germany. Italy has been in recession for two years; France’s economy has been stagnant for months. Now that Germany is in trouble, the chances of a Japan-style deflationary spiral have risen sharply. German policymakers remain pigheadedly opposed to the stimulus the euro area needs. Even as their own economy has stalled, they are determined to balance the budget in 2015. They want to force France to cut its deficit, they show little interest in a euro-wide investment scheme, and their opposition explains why the ECB is going so slowly with a bond-buying scheme to address deflation. The quantitative easing that markets expect is months off, if it happens at all.

さて記事の小見出しにあるwurstとは何でしょうか？ずばり「ソーセージ」のことですね。安易なことではございますが、「ドイツ」を指しています。ここで音読をしてみると気付く方も多いと思いますが、ここではworstにかけています。つまり「ドイツ経済を恐れる」と「最悪なことを怖がる」という２つの意味があるわけです。もっと言うと「ドイツがもしもっと不安定になったら…」ということを指しています。

Yusuke