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Sir, I Have No Money

nomoney (Leica D-Lux5)

All human cultures have seasonal and transitional celebratory rites of some sorts. We celebrate the ushering in of Spring, the coming of age and the going of sickness, to name a few examples. When there is something jolly well happening, we will all be celebrating. Likewise, when there is something as useful as pumping a dry well, all societies will find it off-putting. But for one way or another, the brutal reality behoves us to put up with it no matter how off-putting it is. And for that matter, all human cultures have sarcastic and tranquilising phrases of some sorts to help tide over the coming of bad luck and the going of good fortune.

On this note, the colloquial Cantonese term for a traffic penalty ticket is "ngau yuk gone", literally beef jerky. A strong favour to mitigate the bad experience maybe? What is the colloquial term in your culture for a penalty ticket?

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