“Take sides”の意味と使い方 Bizmatesビジネス英会話 Tip 248

Take sides ってどういう意味？

Take sides は直訳すると「一方の肩を持つ」や「一方の側につく」という意味です。

以下のような前置詞と組み合わせて使います。

“Our client took sides

with

their old business partner.” (は古い仲の取引先の肩を持った)
“They took sides

against

us.” (あの会社は我々と敵対する姿勢だ）
“Our client has not taken sides

on

this issue.” （クライアントは、この問題に関して中立の立場を取っている）

Take sides ってどういう場面で使うの？

たとえば、企画会議の前日、同僚2人とお互いの案を見せ合っていたとします。

同僚A: How’s my idea? Don’t you think it’s great?
同僚B: You saw my idea. Which one do you think is better?
You: I think they’re both great. I’m not taking sides, guys.

同僚A: 僕の案をどう思います？すごくいいでしょう！
同僚B: 私の案を見たでしょう。どちらがいいと思いますか？
You: どちらも素晴らしい案だと思いますよ。私は中立の立場です。

Take sides の自然な使い方を動画で学ぶ

こちらの動画で、発音や、会話の中での自然な使い方をBizmatesのプレゼンター Hikaが解説します。

【CC】ボタンを押すと字幕機能がご利用可能です。英語学習に是非お役立てください！

Hey, everyone!

Welcome to this Bizmates Words and Phrases video series.

And today's idiom is to "take sides."

This side, that side, which side?

What does this mean?

We'll find out.

Let's look at our example.

Now here's what I sometimes hear,

now let's imagine I'm talking to my colleague, Taro.

and I made a proposal to Taro.

So I say "Taro, this is my idea..."
And then another colleague

proposes a different idea to Taro.

So the other colleague says
"Taro, how about this idea..."

So now Taro has two ideas:
My idea and another person's idea.

So I say:
Taro, so, whose idea do you prefer, mine or his?

Please choose.

So Taro has pressure to choose,

he says: I'm not supporting one person, okay?

Both good ideas,
but I'm not supporting his idea or your idea.

Okay, this is OK.

But a natural way to express this is like this...

So I say: Taro, whose idea do you prefer,
mine or his?

And he says: Hika, I'm not taking sides, okay?

Leave me alone.

Perfect. Okay, I'm not taking sides.

I'm not supporting your side,
I'm not supporting his side.

I'm not taking sides.

It's a very natural way to say "I'm not supporting
you or him or her

okay? I'm neutral.

Alright, so let's look at pronunciation, so
it's

I'm no' taking... the two Ts connect.

I'm no' takin'...

I'm no' takin' sides.

It's not I'm no' takin-G,
but I'm no' takin' sides.

I'm not taking sides. You try.

Good. Okay with my question:

So, whose idea do you prefer, mine or his?

Okay, fine, you're neutral. OK, that's fine.

Perfect.

So you can avoid getting into an argument
by using this idiom.

OK, so for homework, if someone asks you:

Whose idea do you prefer, mine or his?

You say...

not this one...

I'm not taking sides. Very good.

So please practice this and we'll see you
in the next lesson. Thank you.