Notes » November 2007

14K Drama

In Hong Kong it's illegal to possess or display triad-related symbols, so when a local retail chain noted for marketing goods with tasteless puns began selling t-shirts emblazoned with the name of a triad gang, police swooped in.

Instead of numerals, "14K" was written in traditional Chinese, which invokes the triad society more than gold. Yet everyone except the police seems to understand it's just another lousy joke.

To a genuine gangster a t-shirt is something to yank off in anger when he wants to intimidate someone with his tattoos.

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