Huh?
Posted on 04/13/2007 8:28:09 AM PDT by Froufrou
Beijing has corrected over 6,500 traffic signs and will next target public toilets, museums and menus as it erases bad English translations before the 2008 Olympics, a city official said Wednesday.
The host city is taking aim at sloppy and often hilarious translations that dot the city to avoid Olympic-sized embarrassment over menu items such as "fried crap" and attractions like the "Racist Park" -- a venue dedicated to ethnic minorities.
"So far I think we have achieved good progress in standardising English translations of signs," Liu Yang, a Beijing municipal official involved in the effort, told a press conference on the results of the campaign so far.
Launched last year, the campaign resulted in 6,530 transport-related signs in Beijing being revised or replaced by the end of 2006. More than 1,000 others were dealt with at tourist spots around the city.
"We are targeting public places that are closely related to the life, work study and travel of our foreign friends," Liu said.
Inspectors have fanned out looking for the offending language in an unprecedented effort affecting transport, medical, sanitation, tourist and other facilities that could be frequented by visitors from around the world for the August 2008 Games.
Besides the progress with road signs, Liu said 20,000 signs had been inspected in medical facilities.
"The error rate is relatively small and efforts are now under way to replace those wrong translations," he said.
Among the next moves will be a campaign to inspect 129 museums in the city for bad translations, including those in the explanatory notes in various exhibits, and the many howlers seen on restaurant menus, such as "cow bowel in sauce", "corrugated iron beef" and "acid food".
Maybe Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton can make an appearance at ‘Racist Park’?
I like the Racist park.
I've got a fever! And the only prescription ... is more cow bowel!
And be sure to invite all the rappers, too! ;o)
GMTA!
Man-oh-Man ! My laugh of the week! Did you read the note under that? “This is not an official endorsement of Obama ...”
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click
and look at the note under the “Black Boss” can.
This is right up there with the “fried crap” and “racist park”.
I keep the following chopstick wrapper at work:
Tuk under tnurnb
and hcld firmly
Learn how to use your chopsticks
Add second chcostick
hold it as you hold a pencil
Hold tirst chopstick in originai position
move the second one up and down
Now you can pick up anything:
PRODUCTOF CHINA
(Reverse)
Welcome to Chinese Resaurant.
Please try your Nice Chinese Food With Chopsticks
the traditional and typical of Chinese glonous history
and cultual.
Good One!
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