BLOOMING

Captured this picture some time during CNY when everyone was hurrying to do their CNY shopping.

"What's blooming in the west" - probably an attempt to promote West Coast Plaza, a rather new shopping centre.

But to me, "blooming" here doesn't really fit very well. I use blooming mostly only to refer to flowers or a thriving business. So if i were to rephrase it to "What's thriving in the west" it sounds as though bacteria is taking over the other side of singapore!!

longman dictionary
Bloom

1 if a plant or a flower blooms, its flowers appear or open

2 to become happier, healthier, or more successful in a way that is very noticeable:

She was blooming the last time I saw her.

Longman even shows that blooming/bloom is usually associated with gardening and plants:

merriam-webster
Bloom
1 a : to produce or yield flowers b : to support abundant plant life
2 a (1) : to mature into achievement of one's potential (2) : to flourish in youthful beauty, freshness, or excellence b : to shine out : glow
3 : to appear or occur unexpectedly or in remarkable quantity or degree
4 : to become densely populated with microorganisms and especially plankton —used of bodies of water

transitive verb
1 obsolete : to cause to bloom
2 : to give bloom to

Blooming

Etymology: probably euphemism for bloody

Date: 1879

chiefly British —used as a generalized intensive (blooming fool)

dictionary.com

–adjective

1. in bloom; flowering; blossoming.

2. glowing, as with youthful vigor and freshness: blooming cheeks.

3. flourishing; prospering: a blooming business.

4.Chiefly British Slang. (used as an intensifier): He's got his blooming nerve.

–adverb

5.Chiefly British Slang. (used as an intensifier): not blooming likely.

Hmm.. But maybe the people who came up with the advertisement thought that the starting of a new year is like a bud blooming into a flower? Somewhat like moving into a new stage of life.

!!! I suddenly thought of the phrase "Blooming prosperity" and i did a google search and it appears that people do use it that way! So, maybe that is the intended meaning of the advert! Prosperity is blooming in the west so people might want to go there and rub off on some of that prosperity!


But still, "blooming prosperity" seems quite weird, definitely not a commonly used phrase by native EL speakers. I think it's a translation of the Chinese saying, 花开富贵.