Gazetted

I have a little extra bounce in my step; it's shaping up be a very good day. I just found another English word that is unique to Hong Kong. Okay, okay. It’s a somewhat common English word of which one of its usages is unique to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, most of the public beaches are classified as gazetted or non-gazetted.

Normally, the noun gazette refers to an official notice or bulletin. Dozens of newspaper around the English-speaking word are named Gazette including the hometown newspaper where I grew up: the Kalamazoo Gazette.

But in Hong Kong English, gazette has a very different meaning. Here, a gazetted beach is one that is maintained by the government for public use. A gazette beach has its water tested regularly, has life guards on staff, has its swimming area enclosed in a shark-proof fence, and has public restrooms.

Considering that the original meaning of gazette refers to a bulletin or notice, it is not hard to image how the meaning evolved over time to mean that the water was safe to swim in and life guards were on duty.

Thanks to my friend and fellow word-nerd, Becky Su who pointed out this one to me. Let the word hunting continue.

Jack

Gazetted joins the Hong Kong English Wall of Fame:

Shroff (payment office, from Hindi)
Godown (warehouse, from Malay)
Nullah (river, from Hindi)

picture: one of our favorite things to do in Hong Kong is to hike to this beach and camp with friends. Ironically, it is not a gazetted beach. No life guards on duty.