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Beijing Gears Up For 2008 Olympics
Topic Started: Dec 23 2006, 03:42 AM (171 Views)
JeffLynnesBeard
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Taken from The New Zealand Herald

BEIJING - "Complicated Cake", "Pee Soup", "Five Sliced Things", "Dumpling stuffed with the Ovary and Digestive Glands of a Crab" and, hopefully, "Crap in the Grass" will be banished from Beijing's menus as part of a new plan to improve English spelling and standardise food and drink names for the 2008 Olympics.

One of the many joys of eating in a Chinese restaurant is the linguistic richness of the English language menus - the misspelling of carp will always raise a giggle.

The standard of English has improved dramatically in recent years, which means fewer howlers like those listed above, but chefs still favour direct translations from Chinese or rather prosaic descriptions of the grub on offer.

There are wonderful examples of garbled English all around the capital. Among this correspondent's personal favourites are "F**k the certain price of goods" instead of "Sale Now On", while "Children is not recommended" has a certain elegance. "Enter the mouth", a mistranslation of the Chinese characters for "Entrance", is also very common on signposts.

The messages can range from the linguistically marvellous to the plain baffling. The spa in my apartment building promises a "babble bath", and in Starbucks not too long ago you could buy a "Fresh Fruit Howl" instead of a fruit bowl.

There are good intentions behind trying to put road signs in English as well as Chinese, for which the Government is to be applauded, and generally the road signs are very accurate.

However, some safety signs can be truly magnificent. Among the best are: "No blowing of horn. Keep silence!" and "Notice the rockslide, please is run about by cliff".

Eager to avoid red faces ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Chinese Government has set up a major drive to standardise the use of English in public, called the "Beijing Speaks to the World Committee", which scours the capital seeking out menus or road signs lost in mistranslation.

The committee has finished translating more 1000 dishes and drinks so far. "We welcome public participation," the committee said.

Could this mean an end to gems such as the sign saying "Irretrievable Rubbish" on a bin in a city centre park. Olympic organisers hope so.

^_^
...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
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theonlyfab4fan
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I AM THE BIGGEST JOHN FAN!
In my humble opinion, westerners who go there for the olympics would appreciate an upgrade in restroom facilities as much or more than correcting menus.

I don`t know many people outside of Asia that are fond of squatting over a trench in the floor.
You say you want to save humanity but it`s people that you just can`t stand
John came to me in a dream and this is what he said. "I had a vision of a man on a flaming pie, and he told me that Betsy with a B not Lisa with a L is the biggest fan of mine". John trumps 'the boss' !

I WAS ROBBED BY THAT DEVIL WOMAN

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Deleted User
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Progress I suppose ... although some of these things just totally amused the carp out of me. Granted I lost appetite completely, but how incredibly charming in a weird and wacky way.
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fab4fan
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theonlyfab4fan
Dec 22 2006, 10:00 PM
I don`t know many people outside of Asia that are fond of squatting over a trench in the floor.

First time I went to my mom's village in Greece was for Christmas break 1967. I was 8 years old. Still remember the shack about 30 meters behind the house with a plank missing in the floor. Snowed for the 1st time in 35 years that year. Those were some cold carps. :P
Mnisthiti mou Kurie!
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Deleted User
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What the carp are you all going on about?
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theonlyfab4fan
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I AM THE BIGGEST JOHN FAN!
Perhaps my discomfort was maginified by the fact that I am female and all of my bodily functions in that particular vein require sitting. I will never be able to write my name in the snow if you catch my drift(whoops what a pun). I spent more time during the month I was there trying to figure out ways on how to prolong my visits to the restroom than I ever did worrying about the language barrier.

I remember being in the city of Xi`an and asking my translator what the vegetable choices were on the menu and she looked at me with a stunned expression and then quickley recovered and said green or red.
You say you want to save humanity but it`s people that you just can`t stand
John came to me in a dream and this is what he said. "I had a vision of a man on a flaming pie, and he told me that Betsy with a B not Lisa with a L is the biggest fan of mine". John trumps 'the boss' !

I WAS ROBBED BY THAT DEVIL WOMAN

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maccascruff
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I'm old enough to remember my relatives having no indoor plumbing and I hated it. We did have indoor plumbing, but we would go for weekends and have to make the trip in the cold and snow or heat to the outhouse. One aunt used to have a bucket by the door during the night. I hated that, too.

My boyfriend has encountered the squatting over a hole on the floor in some of his travels and he's never been to China.
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Hound Dog
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I think they should make love-making an Olymipic sport.
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JanaW
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I had to laugh when I read this thread. I have a very dear friend who is editor of a Chinese newspaper. I am assuming her Chinese if flawless (I don't speak Chinese, only some Japanese), her spoken English is excellent, her written English is horrendous! About three or four times a week I will get an email from her that says.."Please correct and return to me! You know how bad I am!" I will correct and edit her English copy and return it to her. It is a huge joke between us. I think the Chinese will do just fine for the Olympics. I'm looking forward to it!
If slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian.
Linda McCartney
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Reverend Dave
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That's a shame. One of the best things about reading "English" in a Chinese speaking country is the unique use of verbs and tenses.

About a year ago I was offered a job in Beijing helping to clean up their public English signs. I turned it down because I don't want to live in Beijing and I already have a job. I agree that a higher priority should be the public toilets. Menus and signs can be disorienting for visitors, but Asian toilets and their often complete disregard for cleanliness is probably much harder for the average tourist. The Asian style toilet takes some getting used to, but changing them all would be fruitless since most locals prefer them to Western style. What they easily could add is a basic degree of cleanliness and maybe some toilet paper here and there. Locals know to bring their own or use the nearby hose, but most people visiting for the Olympics might not be too excited about that.

As for Chinese English, here are some of my favorites:

Please do not grow a hand in the fence.

This cute mild spices uses 100% Japanese powder and cheerful hamster.

Please help being particular about the every surroundings.

I hope to play along with the heartiest gadgetry manifesting my sensibility.

No getting fire presumptuously at the scenic place. No haunting in the scenic place to protecting ecospecies. No making the feudal and superstitious activity on the scenic place. Don't smoking in the scenic place from everyone.

When old person's child go upward of the stair temporary need the family to accompany.

Position reserved for the maimed persons only.

Toilet have located backward to your behind.

No long time stay on place.

Beware of safety.

Take a pause. Make a rest. Then look back yourself and reconsider your life.

Much nutrition is heartily contained.

Please touch yourself in your original way.
With great power comes great responsibility. With great age....
What was I going to say?
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JeffLynnesBeard
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There's some really wonderful ones there, Dave! ^_^
...and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.
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BeatleBarb
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Those are great, Dave!
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Bill
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Curiously enough, all the police know how to say to foreign journalists, "That question is not about the Olympic Games."
Put a puppet on it.
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