Who's talking about Chinglish

Chinglish

2008-01-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

I noticed that engrish.com has a Chinglish section now. For those who don’t know these are English translations in non-English speaking countries and Chinglish is specifically for the ones in China. I thought I’d share some with you. I will try my best to provide you with the correct translation for each.

For each plastic bag wasted, please pay two dollars.

Please ask for assistance.

To keep the restroom clean, please put trash in the trash can.

(This one is actually from Japan but it’s a classic.)

Temporary parking for unloading.

Handicapped.

Main entrance. (No sure how that came about.)

(No idea about this one.)

No cycling or skating. No soccer.

Eight Treasures.

(I guess at least it’s short and to the point.)

Self serving terminal.

(Really “Thunder” will be a good enough translation for this firework.)

Warm milk. (In Chinese the word for “Milk” and “Breast” is the same.)

Automatic flush.

Do not feed the fish with your own food.

Original post>>>

Lost in Translation: The Wild, Wacky & Bizarre World of Chinglish Signs

2008-01-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

What is Chinglish?

Chinglish is Chinese poorly translated into English, and makes jokes of everyday matters. These signs are places in Tourist attractions where great amounts of English-Speaking Tourist go to, and they have great laughs at these signs.

Here are many examples that will crack you up.

Read full article>>>

The Etiology and Elaboration of a Flagrant Mistranslation

2008-01-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

A series of earlier Language Log posts have discussed the curious phenomenon seen in the grocery-store sign on the left: absurdly crude English mistranslations in bizarrely inappropriate contexts.

In "Gan: whodunnit, and how, and why?" (5/31/2006), I explained one of the sources of this phenomenon: several Chinese characters pronounced GAN1 or GAN4 -- and meaning such widely disparate things as "dry," "calendrical sign," "to do," and much else beside -- all got collapsed into one simplified character: 干. This has led to enormous confusion, especially when people who know next to no English rely on machine translation software to convert Chinese into English. The chaos caused by this combination of circumstances is vastly exacerbated by the fact that this little, three-stroke symbol also has a vulgar meaning when pronounced in the fourth tone, GAN4, namely "fuck," which is probably an extension of the regular sense of "do." Because GAN4 ("do") and GAN1 ("dry") are now both written with that little, three-stroke character, the damage is compounded by the enormous range of intended senses of GAN1/4 ("dry," "do," "act," "work," "undertake," "shield," "have to do with; be concerned with," "edge of a body of water," "be rude, impolite, blunt," "embarrass or annoy," "give the cold-shoulder to," "empty, hollow," measure word for a group of people, "trunk, stem, main part," "cadre," "competent, capable, able, talented," "go bad," "be a disaster," etc.), all of which are capable of coming out of the translation software as "fuck." Read full article>>>

Lost in translation

2008-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Chinglish — poorly translated English — is rampant in China. It’s so prevalent that the government has dispatched teams of bloggers and linguists to clean up signs all over Beijing in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games. The f-word has mysteriously cropped up in many signs, and until now, government officials have been baffled and expats amused. Read full article>>>

Chinese + English = Chinglish

2008-01-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

You might like it. This is hilarious ... Even an Englishman could not construct sentences using numeric, which is exclusive only to Malaysians and Singaporeans.

Ah Lek was asked to make a sentence using 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Not only did he do it 1 to 10, he did it again from 10 back to 1. This is what he came up with...

1 day I go 2 climb a 3 outside a house to peep. But the couple saw me, so I panic and 4 down. The man rushed out and wanted to 5 with me.. I ran until I fell 6 and threw up. So I go into 7 -eleven and grabbed some 8 to throw at him. Then I took a 9 and try to stab at him. 10 God he run away.

10 I put the 9 back and pay for the 8 and left 7-eleven. Next day I called my boss and told him I was 6 . He said 5 , tomorrow also no need to come back 4 work. He also asked me to go climb a 3 and jump down. I don't understand. I am so nice 2 him but I don't know what he 1.

Chinglish-Driving Tips From Taiwan

2007-12-02T10:19:00.000-08:00

This video shows some driving tips posted up by the Taiwan government with Chinglish.

Chinglish! Hilarious examples of signs lost in translation

2007-11-30T19:13:00.000-08:00

With so many English-speaking tourists and businessmen now traveling to China, the Chinese are having to translate their signs to help visitors. Sometimes, though, the message gets lost, and the results can be amusing, and often utterly baffling. Now a new book has collected pictures of some of the best examples and here we present a selection...

Scroll down for more...

Source: Daily Mail

Chinglish: Rubbish will never be homeless

2007-11-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

According to Flickr, the above sign is located somewhere in the Great Wall. The meaning of the Chinese slogan is that "if you join us to protect the environment, there will be no rubbish at all". Homeless is the direct translation from the Chinese of "wu-jia-ke-gui"(无家可归)，but here it means the rubbish should go where it should go. In another word, you must keep your rubbish to a right place (that is waste bin, the home of rubbish).

Who knows China - Fox News

2007-11-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Hint: The President of China is Hu, Jingtao, and the Premier is Wen, Jiabao. Hu sounds like "Who", and Wen like "When".

When Chinese people answer phones, they typically say: Wei(喂)?, the same as "hello" in English.

Hilarious Chinglish signs

2007-11-20T17:38:00.000-08:00

Chinglish.com launches world`s first webmail proofreading and translation solution

2007-11-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Chinglish.com recently launches a brand new release that provides the world's first webmail-integrated proofreading and translation service for speakers and learners of Chinese or English.

Chinglish was already providing the only webmail solution that allows users to switch and translate between simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and English at the click of a mouse. The new Chinglish release supplements this high-tech infrastructure with a one of its kind human proofreading and translation service.

High-tech framework with Chinese and English proofreading and translation Because Chinese is becoming an increasingly important language in the realms of international business, study, and tourism, Chinglish.com integrated a user-friendly proofreading and translation service to its portal.

With this innovative feature, Chinglish.com continues to narrow the communication gap between China and the rest of the world. The service works by simply clicking the button "Proofread" after composing an email in Chinese or English. A proofread version of the message is delivered to the user within 24 hours. The new Chinglish release also comes with a human translation service.

Requests can be submitted to the system without forms to fill out. Translations are promptly delivered to the user's email account. This saves the trouble of communicating through a consultant or translation agency.

All Chinglish proofreaders and translators are native speakers of Chinese or English. To utilize these services, users simply open a jade account. Credits are automatically deducted from this account upon completion of each proofreading or translation request.

Unique set of Chinese-English communication tools

Chinglish.com is a Chinese-English communication website built around a proprietary bilingual email system. Besides the new professional proofreading and translation service, the unique features include free machine translations and bilingual email accounts, email addresses with names in Chinese characters, single sign-on forums, and a web-based input method editor. The latter allows users to write emails in Chinese outside of China.

The Chinglish mission is to make Chinese-English communication easy by providing a broad range of user-friendly online communication tools. (http://www.chinglish.com)

Chinglish signs: The slippery are very crafty

2007-11-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet warns that it takes at least 15 years of fluent Chinese use and a 1 week crash course in English to write proper Chinglish. [Source]

Gtalk voicemail can be used to practise your language

2007-11-18T00:21:00.000-08:00

Gmail is very popular today, but as far as I know, not so many people use Gtalk, an IM product from Google, associated with Gmail.

Gtalk doesn't have video function so far, and not as popular as MSN, so many people enjoy Gmail, but still use MSN to contact with friends. However I do think Gtalk is better than MSN, at least its Voicemail function is super, which actually was released in August 2006, see More ways to connect and share with Google Talk.

Recently one of my friends told me people can use this function to practise their language. I think that is a good idea. You can send your friends voicemail instead of writing. There will be extensive practices. You also can send voicemail to yourself by registering another Gmail account.

Regarding Gmail, the following article is good to read :5 little-known Gmail features you may not yet know about.

For Chinese readers, you may click here to see a latest news about Gmail.

To use Gtalk voicemail, you have to register with Gmail first and then download Gtalk, both are for free. Click the following logos to do it respectively.

Wonderful Chinglish Signs

2007-11-17T20:56:00.000-08:00

Do I need to say more? That's fun found in a language.

Thanks to Sign Language.

Global Language Monitor (GLM) and Paul JJ Payack

2007-11-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

About the Global Language Monitor

The Global Language Monitor (GLM) documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language the world over, with a particular emphasis upon Global English. GLM is based in San Diego, California.

Worldwide print and electronic media have come to rely on The Global Language Monitor for its expert analysis on language trends and their subsequent impact on politics, culture and business, including the PQ Index/Indicator, analysis of media coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics, the Republican National Convention, Workplace lingo, HollyWords, Telewords, the English Language Wordclock, among many others.

Cited by Worldwide Media

The GLM has been cited by CNN, MSNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Associated Press, United Press International, Knight-Ridder, USAToday, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Charlotte Observer, Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Jose Mercury, New York Post, NPR, FoxNews, ABC, NBC, CBS, ChinaNews, The National Post, The Sydney Morning Herald, The BBC, the Australian Braodcasting Company, The Canadian Broadcasting Company, The Cape Town Argus, El Pais (Madrid), The Daily Mail (Scotland), The Hindustan Times, The Gulf News (Qatar), and various electronic and print media on six continents.

The GLM is supported by a worldwide assemblage of linguists, professional wordsmiths, and bibliophiles to help monitor the latest trends in the evolution (and demise) of language, word usage and word choices, and their impact on the various aspects of culture.

GLM Core Staff

The Global Language Monitor is supported by a global assemblage of linguists, professional wordsmiths, and bibliophiles to help monitor the latest trends in the evolution (and demise) of languages, word usage and word choices, and their impact on the various aspects of culture.

These are some of the people who help put it all together.

Paul JJ Payack -- Founder, President & The WordMan, based in Southern California -- and The Desert. For Curriculum Vitae, click Here.

Millie Lorenzo Payack -- Founding Member of the Board, Producer, former Marketing Director, yourDictionary.com.

[Source: http://www.languagemonitor.com]

Chinglish: Chinese Menu

2007-11-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Be careful, "Fuck" is not a new method to cook Chinese food. Basically it means "dry"(干, gan) in Chinese.

[Picture source: http://listen2unclejay.com/]

Translate your webpage instantly with Google Language tools

2007-11-17T17:03:00.000-08:00

Many online translation providers, such as Yahoo! Babel Fish, Babylon, etc., provide javascript codes for webmasters, which enable readers to read a webpage in other languages other than the default one in the webpage.

Now Google's translate gadget is avaible. Adding the Translate gadget to your webpage offers your readers instant access to automatic translations of that page. It's quick and easy. First you select the language of your webpage, then copy and past the HTML code generated by Google on your webpage(website).

If you are interested, please visit Google's official page to take your code: http://translate.google.com/translate_tools?hl=en

Additional information: Speaking in more languages

Chinglish: Chinese Pen

2007-11-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Professor Michael from America is teaching in Xiamen University. He bought a pen in a convenient store in the campus. He found something interesting on the pen and shared in his blog.

If you have what problem
I answer this hard nut to crack for you
The thought which uses me answers your question

Of course, this is typical Chinglish, a way that Chinese people translate something from Chinese to English by Chinese grammer. For non-Chinese speaking people, it is difficult to understand. However, the professor likes it very much when he finally understood what those words stand for.

I put it in a more English way as below:

If you have any problems
I answer those tough questions [hard nut to crack] for you
The thought which comes from me answers your question

Maybe it's still Chinglish, but better to understand now. It's full of wisdom, isn't it? That's why the professor is happy with it and would like to buy one for those who also find the wisdom and humor here.

Thanks to Professor Michael: Our Year in Xiamen, China

S.H.E - 中国话

2007-11-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

Babylon 7 - Any language, Anywhere

2007-11-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

Babylon 7 is the world's leading dictionary and language translation software. Babylon offers you the most intuitive tool for all your translation needs. With Babylon you can quickly translate emails, web pages, documents, instant messages, and more. All you have to do is click on the word or text that you want to translate and a small window instantly appears with the desired results from Babylon's extensive database of language dictionaries, glossaries and conversion tools.

Babylon Translation Software

Babylon offers its users a wide range of titles from the world's premier publishing houses including Oxford University Press, Britannica, Merriam-Webster, Larousse, Vox, Langenscheidt, Pons, and Taishukan. New version Babylon six offers text translation in 17 languages in addition to single word and phrase translations - all in a single click, results from Wikipedia encyclopedia in nine languages, automatic spelling feature, and accurate results in a single-click from a wide range of authoritative sources.

Babylon 7 - an easy and intuitive translation and dictionary software in over 75 languages. With Babylon 7, text translation has never been easier, no more "copy/paste" or unnecessary browser windows. Just click on any text in Word, Excel, emails, instant messaging, web pages and other desktop applications. All you need is a single click away.

Babylon 7 features:

Dictionary and translation results delivered in a Single click

Babylon is a powerful and innovative translation and reference tool that is easy to use.
Just click on any text in any desktop application - Excel, Word, PowerPoint Email, Internet Browser, Instant Messenger, etc. and get immediate online and off line access to dictionaries and encyclopedias covering a wide range of topics and themes.

Dictionary and translation results in over 75 languages

Babylon software delivers results from 1,300 dictionary and translation sources in more than 75 languages. Babylon includes 33 up-to-date professional dictionaries in 17 languages developed by its own linguistic team: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Hebrew, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, Russian, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Greek and Swedish.

Full text translation in a single click

Babylon provides full text translation to and from 17 languages, all in a single click. Text translation has never been easier. There's no need to open another window or copy/paste. Just "Babylon click" on any word in the text you don't understand and Babylon automatically identifies the entire passage and translates it. While no machine translation is 100% accurate or equal to human translation, this feature is powered by the most advanced text translation technology and helps you comprehend texts in languages you do not fully understand.
Babylon's text translation is available in the following languages:
English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Hebrew, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, Russian, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, Farsi, Polish and Ukrainian.

Spell check for Hotmail, Gmail, Blogs, Online forms and more

Now you can spell correctly in over 15 languages. Babylon 7 instantly checks and corrects text whenever you type on the Internet - web email, blogs, forms and more. The Spell check delivers spelling suggestions along with translation and dictionary results.

Auto completion

Can't remember the word you need or how to spell it? Now it's easy. Just start typing.
Babylon 7 predicts the word or phrase you want, and automatically suggests choices to let you complete the word.

Smart Dictionary

Get translations to and from any language. Babylon 7 automatically recognizes the languages you use and need, and gives you results for all those languages. Translate Chinese to German, Swedish to Italian, Japanese to Turkish, and many more.

Customization

Experience Babylon the way you want to see and use it. Babylon 7 lets you personalize the interface according to your preferences. Change the skin and background color, font size, transparency, the order of results, etc.

Babylon Toolbar

Get quick search and translation results using the Babylon toolbar in your browser.

World time zones, currencies and units conversion

Babylon helps you convert currencies, measurements and world time zones. Just click on any value in any desktop application to get instant conversions. Currency exchange rates are updated daily.

Additional content for your Babylon

Wikipedia content in a single click
Babylon delivers results in 13 languages from Wikipedia, the biggest multilingual free encyclopedia on the Internet, covering over 4.4 million articles and definitions that are constantly updated to cover current events and recent innovations.

Babylon Premium Content - results from Oxford, Britannica, and other leading publishers in a single click
Babylon offers its users a wide range of titles from the world's premier publishing houses for a small additional fee: Britannica, Oxford, Merriam Webster, Pons, Larousse, Langenscheidt and many more. [Source: Babylon.com]

The Funniest Joke in the World[Youtube/Wikipedia]

2007-11-16T21:04:00.000-08:00

The Funniest Joke in the World" is the most frequent title used to refer to a Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy sketch, also known by two other phrases that appear within it, "joke warfare" and "killer joke". The premise of the sketch is fatal hilarity: the joke is simply so funny that anyone who reads or hears it promptly dies laughing. [See more on Wikipedia: The Funniest Joke in the World]

18 Funniest English Sentences

2007-11-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

1. Money is not everything. There‘s Mastercard & Visa.

2. One should love animals. They are so tasty.

3. Love the neighbor. But don‘t get caught.

4. Behind every successful man, there is a woman. And behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.

5. Every man should marry. After all, happiness is not the only thing in life.

6. The wise never marry, And when they marry they become otherwise.

7. Success is a relative term. It brings so many relatives.

8. Never put off the work till tomorrow what you can put off today.

9. Love is photogenic. It needs darkness to develop.

10. Children in backseats cause accidents. Accidents in backseats cause children.

11. "Your future depends on your dreams." So go to sleep.

12. There should be a better way to start a day than waking up every morning.

13. "Hard work never kills anybody." But why take the risk?

14. "Work fascinates me." I can look at it for hours!

15. God made relatives; Thank God we can choose our friends.

16. When two‘s company, three‘s the result!

17. A dress is like a barbed fence. It protects the premises without restricting the view.

18.The more you learn, the more you know, The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. So why bother to learn.

Online tool lets Arabic typists type in English

2007-11-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

An online tool has tipped up that allows Arabic speakers to write Arabic using the English alphabet.

Language Analytics LLC, said its Yamli.com enables Arabic speakers to more easily access the Interweb.

The outfit has initially delivered two web-based tools. Both allow users to type phonetic Arabic using the English-language keyboard. Yamli Search enables Arabic searching with Google. Yamli Editor allows users to write Arabic text that can be copied into any electronic document.

It seems that although Arabic keyboards are available, most Arabic-speaking surfers use an English keyboard. They often resort to spelling Arabic words out phonetically using English characters. Yamli converts these transliterations into into Arabic words.

Language Analytics' Habib Haddad said, like millions of users, "I could easily express my Arabic words using English letters, but I had difficulty typing them in Arabic. "

Co-founder Imad Jureidini reckons, "the Arabic web will truly take off when people can do two things easily: find and write Arabic content. While there are many applications for our technology, we sought to address these two fundamental needs immediately." [Source: INQUIRER]

Go to Yamli.com

New MLA Language Survey shows Arabic up 127% and Chinese 51%

2007-11-14T14:38:00.000-08:00

Interest in language study at American colleges and universities has increased broadly and significantly since 2002, according to a comprehensive new survey, Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2006, released today by the Modern Language Association of America (MLA) and funded by the United States Department of Education. The survey found significant increases in enrollments in nearly all of the most popular languages studied on American college campuses. Language enrollments on United States campuses are at their highest since the 1960 MLA survey.

Interest in language study has been increasing steadily since 1998. While the study of the most popular languages, Spanish, French, and German, continues to grow and together represents more than 70% of language enrollments, their dominance is slowly decreasing in the face of growing interest in languages such as Arabic (up 127%), Chinese (up 51%), and Korean (up 37%). Enrollments in American Sign Language increased nearly 30% from 2002, making it the fourth most studied language on college campuses, slightly ahead of Italian.

The more than doubling of Arabic enrollments moved the Middle Eastern language onto the top 10 most studied list for the first time. The number of institutions of higher learning offering Arabic has nearly doubled since the last survey, from 264 in 2002 to 466 Arabic programs offered in 2006.

“This significant growth in language study, and the diversity of languages being studied, is very good news for education in the United States,” said Rosemary G. Feal, executive director of the MLA. “Students increasingly see their futures taking place in a multilingual world, and they want language preparation to help them function in that world. Students recognize that having the ability to function across cultures and languages is an enormous advantage.”

The new MLA survey includes data from 2,795 colleges and universities measuring enrollments in the study of 219 languages other than English, from the most popular, including Spanish, French and German, to less commonly studied languages such as Navajo, Farsi, and Welsh.

If you are interested, see the full report: Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2006

Modern Language Association-MLA

2007-11-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Founded in 1883, the Modern Language Association of America provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy. MLA members host an annual convention and other meetings, work with related organizations, and sustain one of the finest publishing programs in the humanities. For over a hundred years, members have worked to strengthen the study and teaching of language and literature.

The MLA at a Glance

Over 30,000 members in 100 countries
Programs serving English and foreign language teachers
An annual convention, with meetings on a wide variety of subjects, and smaller seminars across the country
The MLA International Bibliography, the only comprehensive bibliography in language and literature, available in print, online, and on CD-ROM
A book publication program issuing about 12 new books each year and maintaining a backlist of over 200 titles
4 major periodicals, including the ADE Bulletin; the ADFL Bulletin; Profession; and PMLA, one of the most distinguished journals in the humanities
A quarterly newsletter providing association news, lists of deadlines, and items of interest to members
130 discussion groups and divisions for specialized scholarly and teaching interests of members
45 membership committees overseeing association activities and publications
Leadership in the national education community

Membership Involvement in Association Activities

Nearly 300 members are elected to govern the association through its Executive Council, Delegate Assembly, and other governance committees.
Over 600 members serve on the executive committees of the 84 divisions and 46 discussion groups that represent the scholarly and teaching interests of various constituencies within the profession and that help determine much of the program at the annual convention.
Over 2,000 members give papers and readings each year at the convention.
Hundreds of readers join the 40 members of the PMLA Editorial Board and Advisory Committee in reviewing essays submitted for publication.
More than 120 specialists index articles and journals for the MLA International Bibliography.
Over 70 members are involved in selecting the winners of the 18 prizes the MLA awards for outstanding scholarly books and articles on language and literature.

Source and read more abouth MLA: http://www.mla.org

Chinglish: Unrecycle

2007-11-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Chinglish: Sweet and Sour Soup

2007-11-13T16:01:00.000-08:00

Notes from the author of this video:

Please pay attention to the first and second menu, why do "f" words appear on the menu? On the first menu, the Chinese wordings should be "dry ginger water". For the first Chinese word, they should use this word- "gone", means "dry,clean,withered,dryness", but the mainland Chinese instead of using the traditional Chinese word "dry ", they used this word - "a dash has a + underneath it", meaning "interfere,weapon, war, or so" (also sounds as "gone"), the reason to use this word is, it has less strokes, faster and easier in handwriting, the traditional one has more strokes.(Most of the Chinese restaurants also use this less stroke "gone" for dry-ribs or gone chaw ngau hor - stir fry beef with broad rice noodle). Both words sound the same - but they don't mean the same and not of the same characters. There are lots of these cases... one word replaces other words that carry the same or similar sound to them,that means one word can be used in different fields but the word itself's meaning does not fit into the sentence or the phrase,only the sound fits into the word of which it replaced. Hey, you still have not tell us where is the "f" word coming from. Actually there is another word that carries the same sound,sounds as "gorn" this one is the trophy, the meanings of this word are: "ability, capable, trunk of a tree, make a living, what can I DO for you, what are you DOing", there is a saying in the northern part of china - gorn(do, "f"), nee(your), neong(mother, mama ). Now you know the answer!! Next time, if you need a hair cut and shampoo in China, the hair stylist asks you "do you want your hair to be blown "f. the" , you'll know what they mean. or when you go to a dry-clean , you can say I want to "f. the" clean my pants, Or you can order your cocktail this way - one "f. the" martini, stir not shake, or you walk into the clinic, ask your doctor for some eye-drops for your "f. the" eyes. Or in a simplified way to say - "f. the what".....the song is call "sweet and sour soup" in Mandarin.....Did the French invented French fries???? what is chop suey???

Chinglish: Solely Made in China

2007-11-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

The author of this video put a note here:

Before you plan to visit China, take a look at these signs (first I have to say thank you to those who shot these photos, they let the world knows what is going on in China, especially those who cannot afford to travel into China - like me)...don't laugh at these signs...when I was in the states, I saw some fast food restaurants' signs are like this "drive- thru"...do they mean to tell people to drive their cars directly thru the entrance into the restaurant????

Chinglish: To Male Service

2007-11-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

In Chinese, "公"(pinyin-Gong) has different meanings, e.g. 公司(gongsi-business)，公众(gongzhong-public) and 公母(gongmu-male and female). When compared with "Individual Service"(个人业务) above, it's easier to understand the "To Male Service" should be "To Business Service" instead.

It's more funny to translate the English translation back to Chinese: 对男人的服务(Service only for men). This makes people think about some special things between men and women.

Chinglish: Slutted buns

2007-11-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

A Philippine couple visited Beijing recently and found Chinglish anywhere. One place they visited is Ming Dynasty Tombs, where an explanatory sign in bilingual made him to scratch his head.

The Chinese is so simple and meaningful, but the translation is unreadable.

A funny thing was happened at their hotel. They were served a delicious Chinese traditional food "小笼包", but the label of the food is not clear enough to read.

The husband said: Honestly, I first thought the label read “slutted buns”!

In fact, these buns are traditionally steamed in bamboo baskets, hence the name.

Read the full article: Chinglish as she is spoke

Introduction to AltaVista Babel Fish

2007-11-13T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today most people are using Google to search on the Internet, but still some people would like to use AltaVista as their preferred search engine. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., AltaVista has a rich history of innovation embodied in 61 search-related patents.

According to AltaVista, they are the first-ever multi-lingual search capability on the Internet and the first search technology to support Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. "We are proud of Babel Fish, the Web's first Internet machine translation service that can translate words, phrases or entire Web sites to and from English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Russian."

In February 2003, AltaVista was bought by Overture Services, Inc. In October 2003, Overture itself was taken over by Yahoo!. In Aug. 2004, shortly after Yahoo!’s acquisition, the AltaVista site started using the Yahoo! Search technology. [Source: Wikipedia-AltaVista]

They also provide easy-to-use js codes for webmasters to add translation capability on their own websites.

To take Babel Fish embedded codes, click here.

To try Babel Fish, click on the picture below.

A machine translation tool: AltaVista Babel Fish

Chinglish signs collected by an Irish guy

2007-11-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

More and more people go to China for study or business. Here are some Chinglish signs collected by an Irish guy in Hangzhou.

小心摔倒=Fall down carefully?
(Attention! Wet and slippery floor, Mind your step.)

It may be better to say "Make the Special Olympics Successful, Build Jing'an international" or "Make a successful Special Olympics, Build an international Jing'an".

The Chinese here(外温) indicates the temperature outside, but not Ext.

Please go upstaires and continue your visit.

This is a security notice in a hotel, a typical Chinglish, difficult to read.

More interesting photos about Hangzhou, Shanghai or other places, please visit Niall's Space. This is a funny guy, who knows Chinese and the name of his space is 一个强悍爱尔兰人在杭州[A strong and brave Irish man in Hangzhou],
his opening statement is 强悍的人生不需要解释 [No need to say more for a strong and brave life]. That's so cool.

Chinglish in Shanghai subway(CBC)

2007-11-13T07:33:00.000-08:00

Source and full screen: Shanghai Subway Chinglish by Anthony Germain

Everywhere with Chinglish

2007-11-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Chinglish: Lost in translation(CBC)

2007-11-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

Colleen Ross was covering the Women's World Cup of soccer for CBC Radio in China. She just published her new article "Lost in translation- colourful Chinglish words enter global English " on CBC website.

She defined Chinglish as this way: Yes, Chinglish is the weird and wonderful result of an English dictionary colliding with Chinese ideograms that often have multiple meanings.

Some examples of Chinglish are illustrated in this article. A massage therapist advertises: "Relex your tired of bady"; a toilet for a disabled person is labelled "Deformed man toilet"; a slippery road is marked "Beware, the slippery are very crafty" (but they are!). "Drinktea" is hung on a shop door to mean it's closed (it also means "resting" in Mandarin).

Chinglish examples

She interviewed Hua Lin, a linguistics professor from University of Victoria. Lin says "if Mandarin Chinese ever becomes the first choice of a second language to learn, as English has been, there is … less of a chance for these Chinglish expressions to survive or make significant impact." A lot of useful stuffs are mentioned in this article, like Global Language Monitor(GLM), the influence of rising China to the world, etc.

Read the full article, click here.

Chinglish Signs

2007-11-11T21:06:00.000-08:00

I Like Chinese

The world today seems absolutely crackers,
With nuclear bombs to blow us all sky high.
There's fools and idiots sitting on the trigger.
It's depressing and it's senseless, and that's why...
I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They only come up to your knees,
Yet they're always friendly, and they're ready to please.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
There's nine hundred million of them in the world today.
You'd better learn to like them; that's what I say.

I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They come from a long way overseas,
But they're cute and they're cuddly, and they're ready to please.

I like Chinese food.
The waiters never are rude.
Think of the many things they've done to impress.
There's Maoism, Taoism, I Ching, and Chess.

So I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
I like their tiny little trees,
Their Zen, their ping-pong, their yin, and yang-ese.

I like Chinese thought,
The wisdom that Confucious taught.
If Darwin is anything to shout about,
The Chinese will survive us all without any doubt.

So, I like Chinese.
I like Chinese.
They only come up to your knees,
Yet they're wise and they're witty, and they're ready to please.

All together.

Chinglish-可汉可英

2007-11-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

Sexy Beijing - Lost in Translation - Danwei TV

2007-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

Chinglish - Lost In Translation (CNN)

2007-11-11T14:43:00.000-08:00