Posted on 01/18/2006 12:22:09 PM PST by Dr. Marten
All Things Considered, January 11, 2006 · Robert Siegel talks with Tian Tang, author of a Web site dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture. Tang posts photos of Chinese character tattoos that either contain errors or carry no meaning.
Tang says as a Chinese American, he felt it was his "duty and honor to educate the public about the misusage of Chinese characters."
A reader e-mailed Tang this photo of a friend's tattoo. It's supposed to read "bad boy" in Chinese, except the order of last two characters has been reversed. Courtesy Tian Tang
I saw a woman in the US with the name:
"Piao Ke"
(I.e. A John, someone that visits prostitutes) :-)
I saw one that said "A John", i.e. someone that visits prostitutes ("Piao Ke") on a woman no less :) She asked me what it meant, and I told her and she turned white. She thought I was joking -- I was at a Chinese restaurant, so i just asked someone else to tell her, same thing. Poor girl.
Actually the whole name is not "pretty country". it's America, The "Me" sound translated to that character. It's a short name for something that would have required 4 Chinese characters to translate.
One Chinese American tatooist got into major trouble for doing just this in Texas last year (he got sent to prison because it is actually FRAUD to give to customer something they didn't want :-))
He'd put on the skin:
"Dumbass Laowai"
"Cheap whore"
"Pig"
"Faggot"
"Fat pig"
He used the article (ein); if he had said "Ich bin Berliner," it would have been correct. However, everybody knew perfectly well what he meant, and Germans (particularly Berliners) loved it, error and all.
Meiguo is a short pronounciation for America ("me" in america in English pronounciation = Mei in Chinese). It's actually Ah- Mei- Li - Ka in the official name. If you were to translated United States of America, that's what it'd be. But for short, they used Meiguo because it does have the "beautiful" meaning, but it's based on pronounciation of America. In other words, it's a short name for USA.
Wearing an insult for life on your skin
Priceless!
Also, France is "Fa-guo" (Phonetic). It doesnt' mean LAWFUL country (the word for Fa means law, but it's a phonetic translation).
England, same thing. It doesnt' mean "heroic country". It's just the phonetic translation for "Eng".
Germany is "De Guo", in otherwords, it is not a "moral" country as the translation shows. It's because DEUTCHLAND is the name. DEU roughly translates to Deguo.
Spain - (Si Ban Ya) Phonetic based.
I am not sure if any country in Chinese translation would not be phonetic based.
Canada - "Ja na da" No real meaning here.
In other words, they're all phonetic based.
I don't speak the language well enough to be in judgement, but I suggest that you google the phrase and review what folks who apparently know say......that's where I got my information...
Actually even Zhong guo (to use the Communist pronounciation) isn't just "middle kingdom".
Ever heard of Zhong hua?
Or Hua-Ren?
Zhong is actually short for Zhong Hua. In fact, People's Republic of China is actually Zhong HUA Ren-Min...... not "Zhong ren-min".
Zhong guo is a short name for "China", just as Mei guo is a short name for USA. The first time I have ever heard of "China" being referred to as a the "Middle Kingdom" was when we moved to the US from Taiwan :)
The Jelly doughnut refered to is called a berliner pfannkuchen, shortened to berliner, but no one would have mistaken him for saying "I am a jelly doughnut", except a novice in German, or someone with an agenda. But there was no mistake in his wordage. The more common usage would have been "Ich bin Berliner" but "Ich bin ein Berliner" is also correct, just not used as much.
LOL ping!
Actually even Zhong guo (to use the Communist pronounciation) isn't just "middle kingdom".
Ever heard of Zhong hua?
Or Hua-Ren?
"Zhong is actually short for Zhong Hua. In fact, People's Republic of China is actually Zhong HUA Ren-Min...... not "Zhong ren-min".
Zhong guo is a short name for "China", just as Mei guo is a short name for USA. The first time I have ever heard of "China" being referred to as a the "Middle Kingdom" was when we moved to the US from Taiwan :)"
Now some of your other comments finally make sense. Awhile back you tried to have the lot of us believe that you were from China, but now you admit that you are actually from Taiwan (just as I suspected).
That would explain why you were so adamant about cold beer being readily available in "China", when in fact it's not (though it is growing more common on the Mainland. Believe me, I know. Aside from living there, I've also been from one end of the country to the other.
As for having ever heard of Zhong Hua...yes, of course I have. My residence permit for China is written as "ÖлªÈËÃñ¹²ºÍ¹ú(Zhonghua renmin gong he guo".
It's interesting that you come from Taiwan and yet you are a shill for the CCP.
You're such a f$%ktard!
Criticizing someone or a group of people does not make one a racist. I criticize Americans just as much and in the same manner.
Not that it's any business of yours, but all I'm waiting for is for the consulate to issue my wife her visa - the paperwork is done.
You didn't prove squat. Nearly every foreign name has a phonetic replication in Chinese - including peoples names. All I was saying is that it's not used. Ever look at a map of the world in Chinese? It's not written phonetically, it's written as Meiguo. Same with references in the media.
Actually, I have asked you many many times where you were from, but you never answered me. All you would ever say is that you were from "southern China".
As for the beer. You go with that jack. It's a small detail, but it just goes to show that you don't know as much as you claim.
It's not that you can't get cold beer, it's that it's not readily available.
Now crawl back under your rock.
If you want to say "I am a jelly roll," you say, "Ich bin ein Berliner."
Since German doesn't have an INdefinite article, use or omission of the definite article has a . . . definite . . . effect.
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