Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About the Origin of the Word “pyjamas”

12 October 2017 (Thursday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “pyjamas”, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“How the word entered the English lexicon, and how the garment was adopted by Europeans – though not initially as nightwear”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2115038/where-word-pyjamas-comes-or-it-pajamas

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks About Why it is Hard to Argue There is One Chinese Language

29 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about why it is hard to argue there is one Chinese Language, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“To a linguist ‘the Chinese language’ is a family of languages – not dialects – that for the most part are mutually unintelligible and written different ways; an appreciation of this variety would help discussions about language policy”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2113222/cantonese-mandarin-its-all-one-big-family

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “gweilo” and Other Names East Asians have for Foreigners

15 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “gweilo” and other names East Asians have for foreigners, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Once considered offensive, the Cantonese slang for white man is now generally accepted, even embraced, by some expats as a light-hearted epithet”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2111173/where-word-gweilo-comes-and-other-names-east-asians-have

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “typhoon”

1 September 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “typhoon”, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“A closer look shows ‘typhoon’ may not have originated from Chinese after all”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2109164/hong-kong-braces-mawar-find-out-where-word-typhoon-came

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Talks about the Origin of the Word “Praya” and how it Became Part of Place Names in Hong Kong

18 August 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, talks about the origin of the word “Praya” and how it became part of place names in Hong Kong, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Hong Kong once had Praya Central, a glorious stretch of seafront that fell victim to reclamation in the late 19th century”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2107162/where-word-praya-came-and-how-it-became-part-place-names

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Discusses the Reason of Adopting English as the Official and Working Language in Asean

6 August 2017 (Sunday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, discusses the reason of adopting English as the official and working language in Asean, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“Why the 50-year-old association, whose 10 members encompass 1,000 dialects, continue to converse in a foreign language.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2105289/speaking-tongues-why-asean-members-stick-english

Source: SCMP

Language Matters: Dr Lisa Lim Explores the Dramatic Evolution of Ketchup

21 July 2017 (Friday) – online

Dr Lisa Lim, Associate Professor in the School of English, explores the dramatic evolution of ketchup from a preserved fish sauce to sweet tomato gloop, in her fortnightly Post Magazine column: Language Matters.

“The name of the world’s favourite sauce originated with Min Chinese, entered the lexicon in Indonesia, and from there was eventually absorbed into English via British India; along the way the sauce evolved dramatically.”

Please click on the following link for the complete article:

http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/2103418/when-china-invented-ketchup-300bc-and-how-it-morphed

Source: SCMP