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Tuesday, November 15, 2022

What’s in a word?

 During our time in Hong Kong I was always interested to spot words which were in fairly common use but were neither Chinese nor recognisable English. A good example of this was “Shroff “- a word which outside of HK probably would leave English speakers scratching their head but which we soon came to recognise as the place where one had to pay for a ticket eg when parking in a multi-story car park.

“Godown” was also a word I used to come across at work - it means a warehouse (usually close to a wharf or at a Port) and seemed to be the favoured destination for the storage of old documents or records - my heart always sank when I was directed to a Kowloon-side Godown if I wanted to see claim records as this almost certainly meant I would have to pick my way through files of mouldy paper (there was never any Aircon) which would almost certainly have  also been chewed on by cockroaches.

“Nullah” was another favoured word - usually a ditch or soak away draining water found by the side of a road.

There are fewer words/phrases that are peculiar to Dubai -  I suspect because Arabic is the language of the locals and English tends to be used by the Expats (unless particular nationalities are speaking to each other then they will use their native language) so there are no hybrid words. There is occasionally a particular cast of expression that is used - adverts on the radio will usually suggest that one “avails” oneself of a special offer.

I also recall being introduced to the “Jumeriah Janes” when I first arrived - being the ex pat ladies who shopped/dined at the various cafes in Jumeriah after the school drop off. Thinking about it there must be more of these types of phrases but I cannot think of them - will try to look out for other examples and report back.

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