Was sagst du? 樣樣都德

There’s no end to learning any language, and often the bits and pieces are picked up in the least expected way. Hong Kong may not stand out as the prime place for English learning, but in my two weeks in Hong Kong I was struck by the number of unfamiliar words and expressions I came across! A poster from the local Department of Health urging people to quit smoking came with a ‘Smoking Cessation Hotline’ phone number. Of course the meaning is immediately obvious, but it was the first time I see the phrase in use in a context for the general public. It does sound formal, and indeed it’s the correct medical term so it can’t be faulted after all. A warning on ‘dog fouling’ caught my eye, for no other reason than that it was the first time I saw this term. Maybe this term is also in use in Australia but I’ve never noticed it – or the Australian public no longer needs to be reminded to do the right thing! Now here’s a term that I’ve never seen anywhere in Australia, and I certainly hope the ...

I thought I heard the brush of a shower when I woke up yesterday morning. Just to ensure I heard the right sound, I looked outside the window and the pavements and the roads indeed looked wet. It wouldn’t have been anything remarkable to write about if not for the fact that it was the first decent rainfall that I came across in my two months in Melbourne! Before this rain, Melbourne has received a meagre 2 mm of precipitation since the start of the year. One could be forgiven to think that Melbourne lies in a desert, except the amount of vegetation does still suggest the otherwise. The dry conditions are one of the contributing factors to the ferocity and number of forest fires this summer, and thankfully this rain is supposed to linger for another couple of days yet. Hopefully this will finally rein in the remaining fires that are still burning. Something ho-hum in many parts of the world, rain has become a much treasured rarity in Melbourne and brought back some much needed joie de v...