Letting it all hang out

If Shanghai is the most populous city in the world (by some measures it is, although Mumbai and Tokyo might say otherwise), it's probably one of the worst energy hogs in the world. But think twice before you blame the Chinese for wasting energy on clothes dryers! A five minute walk in downtown Shanghai tells this story . . .

But what does "let it all hang out" mean? Have you ever thought about the splitting headaches English speakers give the rest of the world with that damned word "hang"? There may be more verb phrases with "hang" in them than there is Shanghai laundry . . . hang about, hang around, hang a left, hang a right, hang back, hang fire, hang five, hang in, hang in the balance, hang it up, hang loose, hang on, hang out, hang tough, hang up. Yep, please hang in here with me and be patient if you want to know . . . what the past tense of "hang" is.

  By the way, those energy-saving folks in Shanghai can't outdo my neighbors in Beibei . . . or anywhere else in China. Laundry dries in the sun everywhere.