Longtime readers of my column may remember I wrote about scraping the back of my throat while swallowing chewed peanuts more than ten years ago. To scrape used this way means to injure with something sharp such as chewed peanuts. As I said in my column, the injury caused a huge blood bubble at the back of my throat which burst and caused a mouth ulcer. Many readers emailed me at the time to say I had “yeet hei”, a Chinese expression that roughly means heat element inside your body. Foods such as potato chips, peanuts, and mangoes can cause “yeet hei”.

I remembered that column when I told a friend during my recent Hong Kong visit that I liked ginger tea. I make it myself by boiling fresh ginger with water. I sometimes add honey. My friend cut me short and told me ginger tea made that way is very “yeet hei”. To cut people short means to interrupt them before they have finished what they were saying. I am dumb as a rock about what causes “yeet hei”. To be dumb as a rock means to be very stupid or unintelligent. But if you say you are dumb as a rock about something, it means you know nothing about it.

Is ginger tea really “yeet hei”? I hope not because I love ginger. I looked high and low (everywhere) for a jar of pickled ginger while in Hong Kong, but no store sold it. It is easily available in Chinese supermarkets in the US. I am now in Taipei and hope I can find it. Happy 2024 to you all!

長期讀我專欄的讀者們可能都會記得，我大概超過十年前曾寫過，我在吞吃咀嚼過的花生時刮到（scraping）喉嚨的背部。To scrape在這裏是指以某些尖利的東西刮傷，例如咀嚼過的花生。正如我在專欄中所說，那次刮傷引致喉嚨背部起了一個大血泡，它爆破再變成了口腔潰瘍。那時有許多讀者電郵給我，說我有「熱氣」，粗略地說就是身體有些上火了。薯片、花生和芒果也可以導致「熱氣」。

當我最近回港，跟朋友說我喜歡薑茶的時候，我想起了那篇專欄。我喜歡用水煲滾新鮮的薑片，有時會加蜜糖。我的朋友cut me short，跟我說這樣煮薑茶非常熱氣。To cut people short是指在別人未說完之前打斷人說話。我對於是甚麼導致熱氣實在 dumb as a rock—— to be dumb as a rock是指愚笨得很、蠢鈍得像塊石頭一般；但若你說 you are dumb as a rock about something，意即你對某事物一竅不通、一無所知。

薑茶真的「熱氣」嗎？我希望不是吧，因為我很愛吃薑。我在香港的時候，四處搜尋（high and low）一樽醃薑，但沒有店舖有售。我在美國的一些中式超市很容易便找到。我現在身處台北，希望能找得到吧。祝大家二零二四年新年快樂！

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻