Chinglish

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24 September 2008By Zhu 29 Comments

Commit No Nuisance

Forbid To Beam On

I spotted the first sign on the Great Wall. The sign in Chinese says: 保护文物 – 请勿便溺。 This can be translated as “Protect the heritage – don’t soil“. Was the original meaning of the sign too harsh for foreigners? We are here just encouraged to “commit no nuisance“!

I found the other one on the subway door. In Chinese, it says: 禁止倚靠。 This means “don’t rest/ lean on (the door)“. Which is understand much better than “beam on“!

Luxuriant Grassland, Please Don't Trample

Please, Don't Bomb Into The Ash Here!

I found that one when visiting the Ming Tombs, nearby the Great Wall. In Chinese, this is:芳草萋萋，踏之何忍。 A better translation would be “don’t step on the luxuriant grass“. Now, let’s look at the picture again: does it look like a patch of luxuriant grass to you? I thought so.

This one was my last Chinglish sign in Beijing: it was at the airport, in the smoking room. To be honest, when I first read it in English, I didn’t have a clue of what it meant. Now, the Chinese is: 请不要把烟灰弹入此外。 Literally, “don’t throw your ashes in there” (“there” was the air conditioning’s grille). Why “bomb“? I think this is just common airport paranoia…

Please Don't Climb The Rockeries

Protecting The Wild Animals Is Protecting Mankind Ourselves

I found that sign at the Summer Palace. I’m being picky here, because “rockery” is a real word(just British). Still, it made me laugh.

This one was found on the Great Wall as well, nearby the Bear Park. In Chinese, it says: 保护野生动物，就是保护人类自已。 Basically, “Wildlife protection is also the protection of mankind“.

Take Care Of Head

Be Care Of The Distance

This one was taken nearby the Silk Market. In Chinese, this is: 小心碰头. This can be literally translated as “don’t bump your head“, or better, “watch your head“.

The last one is perhaps the most mysterious of all. I found it in the middle of a street and it says: 注意距离。The translation is almost accurate: it would say it’s more like “watch the distance“. But what did they mean? Could that be “maintain an appropriate distance” and thus refer to people rather than, as I had assume, to traffic? Was this sign encouraging the “个人区域” (“personal space“)? This is a mystery to me!

In all fairness, I must admit there are less “Chinglish” signs than let’s say ten years ago! Yet, they also make me laugh…

29 Comments »

宝茹 said:

Funny how Chinglish is associated with weird English.

# 14 October 2008 at 8:06 am

Shantanu said:

Haha! We have our share of equally funny (and no-so-funny)ones in India too.

# 29 September 2008 at 2:13 am

Zhu (author) said:

@sir jorge of culver – I haven’t seen to many Spanglish in Mexico… but my English wasn’t that good then.

@Linguist-in-Waiting – Thanks for the link, I had a few good laughs!

@Bluefish – I just can’t read non-simplified but I see what you mean… In Hong Kong, it was hard for me to decipher anything!

@shionge – I’d love to see some examples! I sometimes speak and write Franglish as well

@Annie – I’d love to see that! Most Indians I have met abroad spoke great English.

@beaverboosh – Bet they should have!

@Seraphine – Butter is cute, that should be your new username! In Spanish, Feng would say “yo quiero nuevo” instead of “huevos” (“I want new” instead of “I want eggs”).

@Liz – Sometimes, I have no clue. Some are just dictionary-translated, like we get the meaning but we wouldn’t say that. Or they are direct translation of Chinese idiomatic expressions, like the “mankind ourselves”, it’s the way you would say it in Chinese.

@Aiglee – It was fun

@expatraveler – To be fair, most signs are actually pretty well translated. And at least, they are translated… it’s easier for foreigners, even if there is some Chinglish!

@Keshi – Long time no see, I gotta visit!

@kevin – Ooops… see, I speak Franese (French/ Chinese) sometimes too!

@David Yang – No Chinglish here, your comment was perfect… and thanks for visiting! I went to Beijing a few times and to be honest, I found the city is making great progress. 说英语的中国人越来越多，他们的英语也越来越好！我去北京的上次，上出租汽车，点菜，买东西等等的时候，大部分的人连一个句子也不会说。对不起，我的汉语也不那么好。。。

@Priyank – Oh fortune cookies.. these are hilarious!

@nhuong – It is much better than it used to be. I had to look hard for them

@Ulquiorra – Chinglish is always fun!

@RennyBA – Makes me laugh in every language

@DianeCA – Good girl, you’re ready to go travel in China!

@kristin – Yeah… and we get lost too!

@Shantanu – I need to check out “Inglish” now then.

@kyh – Ah, thanks for the explanation! I forgot about this “tan/ dan”! I was wondering as well…

@saraht43 – Thank you!

@daria369 – Thank you for the praise and also for sharing your experience! My French is weird now too, after living in Canada for so many years… when I speak to my parents I sometimes translate English expression in French and it doesn’t mean anything.

@SilverNeurotic – It’s a fun activity trust me

@cchiovitti – Nah, only works for Chinese people

# 28 September 2008 at 1:53 am