又中又英——Mouth scraped by peanuts. Michael Chugani 褚簡寧

                
                
I scraped the inside of my mouth near my throat while eating peanuts recently. A small bubble filled with blood formed over the injured area. Then the bubble got bigger and bigger until it nearly blocked my throat. I panicked and was on the verge of dialing 999 when the bubble suddenly burst. I felt a bit better but a very painful white spot known as a mouth ulcer (sometimes called a canker sore) soon formed. The pain was excruciating and lasted a week. The pain made it impossible for me to eat anything except congee and soup for a week.
        Friends told me I had "yeet hei". There is no word or expression in English for "yeet hei". The exact translation is "hot air" but that is not what "yeet hei" means. "Yeet hei" is a Chinese expression that roughly means heat element inside your body. Foods such as potato chips, lychees, mangoes and peanuts are supposed to cause "yeet hei", which will give people mouth ulcers, pimples and sore throats. Herbal tea and foods such as winter melon are supposed to give a cooling element that will get rid of "yeet hei".
        The word scrape has different meanings but scraping the inside of your mouth means injuring it with something sharp such as chewed up peanuts. To panic means to suddenly feel very afraid. If you are on the verge of doing something it means you are going to do it very soon. For example, you can say: "I was on the verge of marrying a fat, ugly, bald but very rich man but changed my mind when I found out he already had a wife and a mistress." Excruciating pain means very painful. The pain inside my mouth is no longer excruciating but I often get mouth ulcers. My friends say I should see a Chinese medicine doctor to get rid of my "yeet hei" but I am worried he'll ask me to stop drinking red wine! Do you have any suggestions of what I should do to get rid of my "yeet hei"?
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        我最近吃花生時，刮傷（scraped）了口腔接近喉嚨的位置。傷口起了一個小血泡，然後那血泡變得愈來愈大，差點要塞着喉嚨了。我很驚慌（panicked），差點要（on the verge of）打九九九之際，那血泡突然爆破。我感到好一點，但很快便有粒很痛的白點浮現，就是口腔潰瘍（mouth ulcer，有時被叫作口瘡，canker sore）。那實在痛不欲生（excruciating），還維持了一個星期。那痛楚令我一整個星期只能吃粥和喝湯水。
        朋友說我「熱氣」。英文沒有「熱氣」的說法，直譯只能寫成"hot air"，但又不是「熱氣」的意思。「熱氣」是中文用語。薯片、荔枝、芒果和花生這些食物都會引起熱氣，令人長痱滋、暗瘡和喉嚨痛。涼茶和冬瓜一類的食物就可以解暑清熱。
        Scrape有幾種意思，但在口腔內的scraping則是被利物刮傷，例如嚼花生。To panic解作突然感到很驚恐。若你正on the verge of doing something即是說你在做某事的邊緣，很快便會去做。例如你可以說：「我行將（on the verge of）嫁給一個又肥又醜又禿頭的有錢人，但當我發現他已經有老婆和情婦時，我便改變主意了。」Excruciating pain是非常痛苦。我口內的痛楚不再那麼疼痛，但我還是不時有口瘡（mouth ulcers）。我的朋友說我應該看中醫清熱氣，但我擔心他會叫我戒紅酒！你又可有甚麼好提議，讓我可以去「熱氣」？
        mickchug@gmail.com
        中譯:七刻
        Michael Chugani 褚簡寧