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Beijing stamps out poor English
BBC ^ | 10/15/06 | BBC

Posted on 10/15/2006 10:16:32 AM PDT by kenavi

Beijing stamps out poor English Chinese street signs
Occasionally, a sign makes sense


China has launched a fresh drive to clamp down on bad English in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Previous attempts to wipe out Chinglish - the mistranslated phrases often seen on Chinese street signs and product labels - have met with little success.

Emergency exits at Beijing airport read "No entry on peacetime" and the Ethnic Minorities Park is named "Racist Park".

Beijing city authorities will issue new translation guides by the end of the year, Xinhua news agency said.

Running joke

The booklets would be handed out to hotels and shopping malls, on public transport and at tourist attractions.

Chinglish has become a running joke among many foreigners in China, and several websites have been set up listing humorous examples of mistranslation.

A road sign on Beijing's Avenue of Eternal Peace warns of a dangerous pavement with the words: "To Take Notice of Safe; The Slippery are Very Crafty".

Menus frequently list items such as "Corrugated iron beef", "Government abuse chicken" and "Chop the strange fish".

The mistranslations arise because many Chinese words express concepts obliquely and can be interpreted in multiple ways, making translation a minefield for non-English speakers.

The municipal government in Beijing first tried to stamp out the problem just a month after being awarded the 2008 Olympics back in 2001.

A year later the Beijing Tourism Bureau set up a hotline for visitors and residents to tip off examples of bad English, and said results would be reviewed by a panel of English professors and expatriates.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Political Humor/Cartoons; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: china; chinglish; runningdog
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Could Freepers help them out? I am sure we can come up with much better terms than "urinal", "toilets", "first aid station".
1 posted on 10/15/2006 10:16:33 AM PDT by kenavi
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To: kenavi

Title is my own. Original title: "Beijing Stamps Out Bad English".


2 posted on 10/15/2006 10:20:40 AM PDT by kenavi (Save romance. Stop teen sex.)
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To: kenavi

This happens between every language, but as someone who is studying Chinese, I find it is especially difficult to translate Chinese and English into each other. A literal translation rarely makes sense in the other language. These signs are probably literal translations, or software translations of the appropriate Chinese characters.


3 posted on 10/15/2006 10:26:02 AM PDT by Vince Ferrer
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To: kenavi

4 posted on 10/15/2006 10:27:41 AM PDT by Kirkwood
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To: kenavi

5 posted on 10/15/2006 10:32:09 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (Meep Meep)
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To: kenavi

It's always best here to keep the original title. It helps avoid duplicate threads. I don't see that your title is any better than the original, so why change it?


6 posted on 10/15/2006 10:32:49 AM PDT by MineralMan (Non-evangelical Atheist)
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To: kenavi

To prevent duplication, please do not alter the heading. Thanks.


7 posted on 10/15/2006 10:33:06 AM PDT by Lead Moderator
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To: Kirkwood

http://tanuki.org.uk/chinglish.html


8 posted on 10/15/2006 10:34:28 AM PDT by ErnBatavia (Meep Meep)
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To: ErnBatavia

9 posted on 10/15/2006 10:35:03 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: kenavi

> Chinglish has become a running joke among many foreigners in China, and several websites have been set up listing humorous examples of mistranslation. <

How about somebody's giving us a URL or two? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd much enjoy seeing same!


10 posted on 10/15/2006 10:36:34 AM PDT by Hawthorn
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To: Vince Ferrer
"This happens between every language..."

Right! - Like those that translate "Islam" to mean "PEACE"

Now that's funnier than any example of Chinglish !

11 posted on 10/15/2006 10:36:50 AM PDT by Wil H
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To: kenavi

http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?imagename=swell-manually.jpg&category=Signs/Posters&date=2006-07-06


12 posted on 10/15/2006 10:43:23 AM PDT by nuconvert ([there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business] (...but his head is so tiny...))
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To: Hawthorn

google is your friend.

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=Chinglish&btnG=Search


13 posted on 10/15/2006 10:43:44 AM PDT by postaldave (borrow and spend is no better then tax and spend. republicans need to be controlled or replaced.)
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To: 1rudeboy

LMAO!


14 posted on 10/15/2006 10:45:27 AM PDT by MARKUSPRIME
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To: Hawthorn

Chinglisf Files:

http://www.silverladder.com/literature/chinglish/chinglish.htm

More URLs at the BBC site.


15 posted on 10/15/2006 10:46:05 AM PDT by BunnySlippers (Never Forget)
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To: MARKUSPRIME

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US! MAKE YOUR TIME!


16 posted on 10/15/2006 10:46:24 AM PDT by MARKUSPRIME
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To: Hawthorn

For some Chinese signs:
http://www.engrish.com/category_index.php?category=Engrish%20from%20Other%20Countries
They have 186 entries.

For Japanese:
http://www.engrish.com
This is a hugh site. Caution, prease! Riquids are not in mouth while picture rooking by typingboard of compute machine.


17 posted on 10/15/2006 10:48:51 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault ("..this administration is planning a 'Right Wing Assault' on values and ideals.." - John Kerry)
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To: Kirkwood

18 posted on 10/15/2006 10:51:41 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: Paleo Conservative; Kirkwood

19 posted on 10/15/2006 10:53:12 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative
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To: kenavi

20 posted on 10/15/2006 10:56:00 AM PDT by SkyPilot
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