又中又英｜To put paid to something

There were many things I wanted to do while visiting Hong Kong after being away for nearly two years, but the weather put paid to that. Top on my to-do list was, of course, to see my close relatives and friends. Another top priority was to go to Hong Kong’s country parks, which I love, but the weather made me scrub my plan. I arrived in mid-April, which I now realize was bad timing. I should have known from many years living in Hong Kong that spring weather here is awful. To put paid to something means to put an end to it.
A to-do list is a list of things you want to do. To scrub a plan means to postpone something indefinitely. I scrubbed my plan to visit country parks because the weather was too humid and muggy, which means unpleasantly warm and damp. It was so muggy that even my suitcase had mould (mold for US spelling) on it. Mould is a fungus growth that happens during damp weather. Sizzling weather replaced muggy weather for much of May. There were also rainy days. Sizzling weather means very hot weather. The combination of muggy, sizzling, and rainy weather put paid to my plan to visit country parks.
I will leave Hong Kong soon for the US but plan to return in September. Autumn weather in Hong Kong is usually cool and crisp. The word “crisp” used this way means cool, dry, and bright. I hope the weather will be cool and crisp when I return but no one can be sure nowadays because of climate change.

我離開香港接近兩年，再訪港有許多事想做，但天氣都毁掉了（put paid）那些計劃。我那 to-do list的榜首，當然是想去見見我的近親和朋友。另一樣很想做的事就是去我愛的香港郊野公園，然而天氣令我不得不無限期押後我的計劃（scrub my plan）。我於四月中抵港，現在我知道那是個很不恰當的時機。我住在香港這麼多年，好應知道這裏的春天天氣很可怕。To put paid to something意即結束或毁掉了某事。
A to-do list就是你想做的事情的清單。To scrub a plan是指無限期押後某事。我不得不無限期押後（scrubbed my plan）我去郊野公園的計劃，因為天氣實在太潮濕和 muggy，意即悶熱潮濕。天氣悶熱潮濕（muggy）得就連我的行李箱上也長霉菌（mould，美式串法是mold）了。Mould就是潮濕天氣下生長的黴菌。到了五月，大部分時間都變成了sizzling weather，取代了之前的悶熱潮濕（muggy），同時亦有下雨天。Sizzling weather是指非常灼熱的天氣。悶熱潮濕（muggy）、灼熱（sizzling weather）加上下雨的天氣，盡都延遲了（put paid）我想去逛郊野公園的計劃。
我很快便會離開香港去美國，但計劃於九月回港。香港的秋天通常都是清爽和 crisp的—— crisp在這裏是指清新、乾爽、怡人的。我希望我再回來時，天氣會變得清涼乾爽（crisp），但今時今日因為氣候變化，沒有人可以說得準。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻

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