等候女皇發落

Chinese

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to wait for; to await empress; queen; the Empress to handle; to deal with; to punish
trad. (等候女皇發落) 等候 女皇 發落
simp. (等候女皇发落) 等候 女皇 发落
alternative forms 等候英女皇發落等候英女皇发落
Literally: “To be dealt by the Queen”.
 
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Pronunciation

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Phrase

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等候女皇發落

  1. (Hong Kong, historical) at Her Majesty's pleasure (indefinite imprisonment)

Usage notes

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Term changed to 等候行政長官的酌情決定等候行政长官的酌情决定 (“at the Chief Executive's discretion”) after handover until the mechanism was quashed by the High Court for being inconsistent with the Hong Kong Basic Law (Yau Kwong Man v Secretary for Security [2002] 3 HKC 457).