There is a point to this story and it relates to the bus trip to work this morning. Be patient. I figured you had enough Chinese stories and it was time to work on the Aussie side of things....
Image your Great Uncle (if you don't have one, make one up). Ever since your Great Aunt died, he has lived with you. He is as deaf as a post but very sensitive about it. The best way to talk to him is to say his name loudly (then he will look at you) and then speak quietly (he can lip read). That way, you get to talk to him but he doesn't keep saying: "Don't shout, I'm not deaf you know."
By the way, your great uncle is named 'Sid' (just change his name if necessary to keep this story rolling - he has to be called Sid). And I nearly forgot, he is very absent-minded. Oh, and he has a really bad knee - arthritis. It isn't too bad except that the combination of forgetfulness and the knee mean that he keeps banging into things when he stands up, sits down or goes through doorways.
Everyone in the family knows this and they do their level best to help him out by reminding him. They call his name and just say 'knee' to help him think of it before he bangs it into something. From morning to night you can here them call: "SID - knee".
And that (for all the Americans out there" is exactly how you pronounce the name of the city I live in. It is not Sid-eh-ney (ala the Olympic committee) and the emphasis os on the first syllable. When you go to the football you can here the long drawn out call of the Swans supporters: "Siiiiiiiiid Kneeeeeeeeee".
What was with the bus? Some (English?) tourist this morning was trying to catch a bus to the Sid-le-ne Airport.
P.S. That rule about stress on the first word would save most Americans a lot of grief when they come here. The Eastern (mainland) capitals are SYDney, MELbourne, BRISbane (or as an Aussie would say SIDknee, MELbin, BRISbin).
