A New Word For Pee!
My visit to the emiction compartment.
The other day coming out of a public toilet near the Bund, I noticed this sign. For someone who is a fan of public urinal signage (see my civilizaiton post) and the English poetry printed on people’s cloths (see my poetry in motion post), this couldn’t be ignored. Emiction?!? Is that a word? Pee, urinate, tinkle, piddle, empty the bladder, golden shower, shake the snake, etc. I thought that I had mastered every word for pee by age eight. Apparently not. I looked up “emiction” and found that it has roots in latin and can be traced back to the 16th century.
Peeing For Civilization
It is not uncommon to see plaques above public urinals urging the urinator to step closer. What I first arrived in China every urinal had them, but they have become less common in newer public bathrooms. I have never brought these urinal plaques up in conversation or heard them mentioned by either expats or locals. I have filed this public safety camp…
Poetry In Motion
In China, english is strangely popular on clothing. There is no crowd of Americans that I have ever been in where chinese words and slogans are printed on everyones’ clothing. Reading people’s clothing, in China, is a source pleasure for me while walking down the sidewalk or riding the metro. Part of my interest is musing about what thinking or reaso…
Ha! The trend goes both ways. My wife never fails to laugh (not to their face) when she sees a foreign person with a "Chinese" tattoo. Seems the character is always used incorrectly...