Language Log

Richard W sent in this photograph of the packaging for a keyboard / case that he recently bought to go with his iPad:

Dan Levin has a nice article, "Adidos and Hotwind? In China, Brands Adopt Names to Project Foreign Flair" (NYT, 12/27/14).

Be sure to watch the slide show.  Here's one of my favorites:

This signpost is from a building near the subway station closest to Nathan Hopson's apartment in Nagoya:

Nathan Hopson bought this "rain suit" the other day:

Neil Dolinger sent in the following banner ad that popped up on his computer screen one day:

Nathan Hopson sent in this photo (from Nagoya, Japan, but there are similar stores all over Japan):

When the first headline arrived stating that China was going to ban punning, I thought that it must be something from The Onion.  But when more and more reports came pouring in, I said to myself, "No, this is China.  They're really going to do it."

Indeed, the latest directive from the Ministry of Truth (State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television [SAPPRFT]) shows that they are dead serious.

That's another Japanese word that you'll be learning. Here's why:

Something very interesting is going on in this panel (as usual, click to embiggen):

Bruce Rusk shared with me this photograph from a store in Vancouver’s Chinatown:

When Tom Mazanec came home from Fudan University in Shanghai a few nights ago, he found this leaflet in a baggie hanging on his door:

Tom Mazanec sent in the following ad that he saw in a Guangzhou (China) apartment complex:

Advertisement at a train stop in Oslo:

Photograph courtesy of Alexy Khudyakov