Language Log

Bruce Balden sent in this photograph of a sign on a restaurant in the Vancouver area:

Michael Robinson recently went to an interesting Toronto restaurant called Ten Mile Aroma, whose menu can be found online here.  Micheal's attention was drawn to these two menu items:

137. Fried Spicy Chicken Framework (làchǎo jījià 辣炒鸡架)
138. Chicken Racks with Soya Sauce (jiàng jījià 酱鸡架)

According to Michael, a reviewer who visited the restaurant commented that he asked about the Chicken Framework and got the reply "Just bones, no meat".  Michael says he's sure that he saw someone order one of these, and they brought a plate of chicken bones over to him.

Neither from the Chinese term itself nor from the English translations (both on the menu and online) is it very self-evident just what is at issue here.  Why would anyone want to order a plateful of chicken bones?

Arnold Zwicky kindly called the following choice Chinglish label to my attention:

Bob Ramsey sent in the following photograph of a portion of a Chinese restaurant menu (source; originally from engrish.com):

Together with his "greetings from small-town Japan", Chris Pickel sent in this photograph of a sign, which was put up in his neighborhood for the aki-matsuri 秋祭り ("autumn festival").

Coming off our "Dynamic stew" high, it is a bit of a letdown to encounter "buckwheat noodles enema" on the menu of a Shanxi restaurant in Beijing.

Fuchsia Dunlop introduces us to this and other exotic delicacies in her "Fancy a buckwheat noodle enema?"