Chinglish............. Steamed Crap??????
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Here is a piece from the AP that I got last summer. The next time you are in Kimo Coffee ckeck out their menu.
Beijing to fix menus that are lost in translation
Officials to change names of dishes like 'steamed crap' and 'virgin chicken'
The Associated Press
Updated: 4:35 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2007
BEIJING - Hungry visitors to next summer’s Beijing Olympics won’t have to choose between “steamed crap” and “virgin chicken” if Chinese authorities succeed in ridding restaurant menus of mangled English translations.
The Beijing Tourism Bureau has released a list with 2,753 proposed names for dishes and drinks, designed to replace bizarre and sometimes ridiculous translations on menus, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.
Foreigners are often stumped by dish names such as “virgin chicken” (a young chicken dish) or “burnt lion’s head” (Chinese-style pork meatballs). Other garbled names include “The temple explodes the chicken cube” (kung pao chicken) or “steamed crap” (steamed carp).
“These translations either scare or embarrass foreign customers and may cause misunderstanding on China’s diet habits,” Xinhua said.
It’s the latest effort by Beijing Olympics organizers to clean up the city and ensure that the best image is presented to the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected next summer.
Etiquette campaigns are afoot to stamp out bad manners such as jumping ahead in line, spitting, littering and reckless driving. The revised menu names are part of an effort to ban unintelligible English, known as “Chinglish,” that abounds on signs everywhere.
A team set up by the Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and Beijing Tourism Bureau has been working on the menu names for more than a year, Xinhua said. Translators developed names for dishes based on one of four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste, or the name of a person or place.
For example, a dish with mushrooms and ducks’ feet will be listed as simply “Mushroom-Duck’s Foot.” Others proposed names include “Fish Filets in Hot Chili Oil” and “Crispy Chicken.”
The tourism bureau is soliciting public opinion on the translations. Once a final decision is made on the list of names, they will be used in restaurants across China, Xinhua said.
Obviously it was a dyslexic
Obviously it was a dyslexic carp. How does dyslexia affect a Chinese person by the way. I guess when they wrote vertically it wouldn't have been a problem.
How are we going to amuse ourselves without Chinglish? I like the restuarant in Gongbei that has a sign that means "Mind the step" but asks you "not to fall off the mountain" or something similar.
I suppose someone is going to teach them about such foreign delicasies as Toad in the Hole! Still the do sell Blood Sausage rather than Black Pudding. I think there is a quaintness to local names and the same applies to Chinglish to me.
First time we went over we
First time we went over we went to the 'Steak Restaurant' in Ghombei.
Fasinated by the "Fish Juice" and the "Ham and Intestine Sandwich" options.
HAHAHAHA omg it's so
HAHAHAHA omg it's so hilarious. I came across "crap" for carp somewhere.
It seems westerners define
It seems westerners define food literally, but easterners by the sensations of the meal. Could be that our language is crap.
Please don't take away the
Please don't take away the chinrish menus & signs!!!!
So many hours of enjoyment; gone in flash!
可怕的不是进步速度慢，而是止步不前
Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still
Watching the fisherman in
Watching the fisherman in Zhuhai is quite a sight at the local parks and beaches, most of what they take home would barely be big enough for bait in the west. Eating them is a crappy experience, more bones to the gram than one cares for ..... but I just love the entertainment of the names. Today saw 2 push bikes with good names, one was "Pucker" the other was "Thrush". I am sure there are many better ones. Let's here them ....
On the window of a up-scale
On the window of a up-scale linen shop they tried to translate their Chinese name to English to improve their snob appeal. The Chinese name literally mean POETRY (Shi) TING (Pavilion). So what did they put up? You guess it, in bold banners, this is what they prominently put across the length of their window.
SHITTING!
On the ferry to Shekou there
On the ferry to Shekou there are signs in the boat "No Chewing Cum" some guests from USA looked at it 3-4 times before they figured out what I was taking a picture of and get them in the photo too.
There's another funny sign
There's another funny sign on the Shekou ferry, but it escapes me after playing drinking games all night with the PLA. Orlog, do you remember? (Hell, it my be the same one for all I know...)
Yeah, it was the "No Chewing
Yeah, it was the "No Chewing Cum" sign. Always a classic.
AHAHAHAHAHA aRE U SERIOUS..
AHAHAHAHAHA aRE U SERIOUS.. NO CHEWING CUM! HILARIOUS XD i need to take a pic of that
Yep...it's right there.
Yep...it's right there. Really. A classic.
Take a look at the newest
Take a look at the newest photo in the Zhuhai Architecture page. :P
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You can get more with a kind word....and a gun....than you can with only a kind word!
I submitted a photo of the
I submitted a photo of the infamous sign...HAHA
Someone must have told them
Someone must have told them as they put new ones up about four months ago although they may have been 'doctored" again.
As it has been said before;
As it has been said before; you simply can't make up stuff like this.
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSPEK1888520080225?feed...
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"I've got more problems in my life than a cub scout at the Neverland Ranch."
Larry The Cable Guy From the film "Delta Farce"
Chinlish for " Need a face
Chinlish for " Need a face lift"
CHIN TOO FAT.
@orrin The story I was told,
@orrin
The story I was told, in the Huhehaote Goubuli baozi restaurant was this:
the original owner used to make these baozi and his restaurant became very popular. Now Chinese people at this time like to converse with the owner/chef but he was a bit like that soup cook in Seinfeld, so much so the people started to say that the guy didn't have time (or a word) for even a dog. Hence the nickname goubuli.
regards,
T. Tempest. DCA
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"I'd love a thousand words in a foreign language." Tang Yuchuan
Tsc Tempest Photography at http://www.kong-xi.com/doc.html