To all aspiring pet phoneticians out there

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Jeroen van de Weijer sent in the following photograph of a veterinary hospital in Shanghai:

The sign says:

xīnyuàn chǒngwù yīyuàn

心愿宠物医院

wish / aspiration / cherished desire pet hospital

It is expected that your pet will breathe much better after treatment here.



6 Comments

  1. David L said,

    March 13, 2015 @ 8:44 am

    What sense of aspiration is meant? There are plenty of hospitals (human and animal) with the word 'hope' in their names. Not to mention Chicago Hope.

  2. DWalker said,

    March 13, 2015 @ 10:19 am

    Maybe the sign referred to the "breathing" meaning of aspiration….

  3. Daniel said,

    March 13, 2015 @ 10:27 am

    There's an error in the transcription and pinyin of the sign. It should read

    心愿动物医院
    xīnyuàn dòngwù yīyuàn

    wish / aspiration / cherished desire animal hospital

    Animal hospital, not pet hospital.

  4. Victor Mair said,

    March 13, 2015 @ 11:27 am

    @Daniel

    That's very interesting. I was looking at the Chinese wording on their van parked out front and information about them on the web.

    "心愿宠物医院" 7,970 ghits

    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%E5%BF%83%E6%84%BF%E5%AE%A0%E7%89%A9%E5%8C%BB%E9%99%A2

    "心愿动物医院" 2 ghits (in both cases they appear to be typos)

    https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=%22%E5%BF%83%E6%84%BF%E5%8A%A8%E7%89%A9%E5%8C%BB%E9%99%A2%22&nfpr=1

    It seems as though the sign maker may have committed an error.

    Ironically, though, note the English wording on the van, on the window at the bottom right, and on the main sign. They all say "Aspiration Animal Hospital".

  5. cameron said,

    March 13, 2015 @ 11:48 am

    Note also that the heart-shaped logo with the pet silhouettes includes the single word "Aspiration".

    Should have been lung-shaped . . .

  6. Bathrobe said,

    March 18, 2015 @ 8:26 pm

    Luckily it wasn't 'expiration'.

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