又中又英 | Dry January | 褚簡寧

　　Hong Kong normally has a dry January. I arrived in Hong Kong about three weeks ago and it was a dry January with comfortable temperatures except for two days with a little rain. Hong Kong winters are mostly dry, but the summers are wet and humid with typhoons. But the phrase “Dry January” also has another, completely different meaning. It means not drinking alcohol every January. A New York resident invented the phrase in 2008, but the UK charity Alcohol Change UK registered the Dry January phrase as a trademark in 2013.

　　The aim is to encourage people to avoid drinking at least during January for health reasons. January was chosen because binge drinking is common in the West during the Christmas and New Year holidays in December. Many people in the West now keep Dry January. It encourages people who celebrate the holidays by binge drinking to dry out. Binge drinking means drinking four or five alcoholic drinks within just a few hours. To “dry out” used this way means to stop drinking alcohol, especially by getting expert help to stop the addiction.

　　People who are unable to completely stop drinking during Dry January choose to have far fewer alcoholic drinks in January. This is called Damp January. There are also dry countries. These are countries that do not allow the sale and consumption of alcohol. Dry countries are mostly Middle East countries with a Muslim population, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. These countries impose harsh penalties for people who drink. I don’t do Dry January because I don’t like binge-drinking. People who observe Dry January must be relieved that it is now February. Cheers!

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　　香港通常有乾燥的1月（dry January）。我大約三星期前抵港，確是乾燥的1月（dry January），有舒適的氣溫，只得兩天有微雨。香港冬季普遍乾燥，夏季則多雨而潮濕，還有颱風。然而，Dry January這個短語還有另一個迥然不同的意思。它是說在每年1月都不喝酒。一位紐約居民於2008年發明這個短語，但英國戒酒慈善組織Alcohol Change UK於2013年將這個短語註冊成商標。

　　它的目標是去鼓勵人為了健康，至少在1月期間不碰酒精。他們選了1月，因為在西方12月聖誕和新年假期期間，狂飲酒（binge drinking）是很常見的。西方許多人現在都會遵行無酒精1月（Dry January）。它鼓勵那些以狂歡豪飲（binge drinking）慶祝節日的人去dry out。Binge drinking是指在數小時內暴飲4至5杯酒精類飲品。To“dry out”在這裏是指戒酒，尤其是找專業人士幫忙戒掉成癮的行為。

　　那些在無酒精1月（Dry January）中未能完全不碰酒的人，會選擇在1月喝較少酒，這就叫Damp January減酒1月。世上也有 dry countries，就是完全不容許售酒與喝酒的國家。禁酒國（dry countries）通常是穆斯林人口的中東國家，例如沙特阿拉伯、科威特和阿富汗。這些國家會向喝酒的人實施嚴厲的罰則。我不會守無酒1月（Dry January），因為我不喜歡狂飲酒（binge-drinking）。現在到2月了，那些守無酒1月（Dry January）的人應該能鬆一口氣了吧。乾杯！

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻