Archive for Signs
October 2, 2022 @ 12:33 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Borrowing, Contests, Signs, Style and register, Syntax, Writing systems
In sending along the photograph below, Geoff Dawson writes:
I find it hard to believe it takes nine characters. Curious as to what they really say.
From a furniture shop in South Melbourne Australia.
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September 24, 2022 @ 2:00 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Lost in translation, Signs
From Francis Miller:
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September 2, 2022 @ 10:11 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Lost in translation, Signs
With apologies for the glare from the plastic covering, this sign comes from the canteen at Lingnan University in Hong Kong:
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September 2, 2022 @ 9:33 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Lost in translation, Signs
Tim Frost found this sign last (southern hemisphere) summer at a lakeside in Argentina, near San Martin de los Andes.
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August 31, 2022 @ 10:59 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Lost in translation, Pronouns, Signs
Still more fun (see parts 1 and 2 on Chinglish examples from WeChat).
(source)
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July 27, 2022 @ 11:05 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Alphabets, Language and ethnicity, Multilingualism, Phonetics and phonology, Signs, Spelling
Photographs by Mark Swofford from Fuxing District of Taoyuan City:
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July 17, 2022 @ 8:32 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Alphabets, Romanization, Signs
Diana Zhang was in Lima, Peru last week, and this is what she saw:
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July 1, 2022 @ 9:04 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Alphabets, Orthography, Signs, Writing systems
Video from Douyin:
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June 25, 2022 @ 5:18 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Orthography, Puns, Signs, Translation
Xiaowan Cai received this picture from a friend of hers who is on exchange from Oxford University at Kyoto University. Everything in all four languages on the sign looks pretty normal, except that there is a not easily detectable, extraordinary gaffe — or ingenious tour de force — in the Chinese.
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December 18, 2021 @ 11:40 am· Filed by Victor Mair under Bilingualism, Diglossia and digraphia, Language play, Multilingualism, Puns, Signs, Tones, Topolects, Writing systems
Mark Swofford sent in this photograph of a clever, curious sign at an automobile repair shop in Taiwan:
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December 13, 2021 @ 11:22 pm· Filed by Victor Mair under Bilingualism, Multilingualism, Signs, Topolects, Writing systems
Outside a hotel near Sanyi, Miaoli County, Taiwan:
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December 11, 2021 @ 7:36 am· Filed by Victor Mair under Language and tourism, Lost in translation, Signs
It's been a while since we have posted on this sub-genre of Chinglish:
My parents are touring China and spotted this very thoughtful sign… from funny
(reddit)
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