I have just discovered that Nury Vittachi has a blog (The Curious Diary of Mr Jam). Quite an interesting read, and some of it is even informative.
Posted in Blogs
5 responses to “The Curious Diary of Mr Jam.”
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Dear Ordinary Gweilo,
Thanks for mentioning my site on your blog — you’re very kind.
I thought you might be intrigued to know one possible reason why your name is written Gweilo but pronounced Gwai lo…
In the late 1980s, there was no style book at the South China Morning Post, and things were written in a variety of ways. Hong Kong was written as one word, “Hongkong”, for example, and your name was written as it was pronounced, “gwai lo”.
One rather bumptious senior subeditor decided to standardize things a bit, with a series of memos over a few years in the early 1990s, but did not consult anyone — he just made a list. Illogically, Hong Kong was split into two words, while “gwai lo” was listed as one word, and mis-spelt as “gweilo”.
This has become the standard version, and some non-Chinese newcomers to Hong Kong have started pronouncing it “gweilo”…LikeLike
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Hi Nury,
So you’re very politely telling me that I am spelling “gweilo” incorrectly and Hemlock has it right. Hmmm…LikeLike
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No criticism intended — anyway, you’ve got a good website name, so you may as well stick to it! I’d be interested to hear who your regular readers are… do they tend to be Hong Kongers in general, or people in your industry, or former Hong Kongers who want to be reminded of their old haunts?
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Sorry, I’ve no idea – mainly Hong Kong people, I think.
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Nury also has a very fine column in A-1, the monthly magazine for accountants.
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Ordinary Gweilo 
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