Chinglish

***UPDATED PIX***

I've seen a few girls around the city wearing a shirt that says“Suicide Impact" in great big scary letters. Blondie told me about a previously popular shirt that read “I Eat Your Skin". The other day we finally asked our students to read the English paragraphs on their t-shirts and even the students agreed that the English makes no sense. Who knows how these phrases translate, but one thing is clear: wearing the English language is definitely cool.

The Chinese also attempt to translate many of their signs and this is a source of never ending amusement for me. I shouldn't be so snotty, as I'm very grateful for any English translations they offer! But the mixture of Chinese and English, the literal translations of Chinese into English, and just English signs in general are often pretty funny. (Especially to a nerdy English major.) Like, was this one necessary?

This is a good example of Chinglish, I think. Notice the many places where the carved letters were whited out and edited, not always for the better. Also, the Chinese like to tell you the exact measurements of whatever you're viewing, as if you know the length, width, and depth of, say, the Grand Canyon and the Eiffel Tower and you want to compare.

Our visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda also afforded these treasures:

And they don't have to be eloquent to be funny.

The best signs are the most informative. It's nutritious too!

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