Language Log

Packaging for a box of sweets that a friend brought to me from China a few days ago:

Medical apparatus and preparation from Taiwan:

Source:  "Atomic Enema Gwoyeu Romatzyh", Pinyin News (8/17/22)

[This is a guest post by Nathan Hopson]

Today I bring you this cringey translation from the social networking app Line (developed in South Korea, very popular in Japan):

Package on a grocery store shelf:

[This is a guest post by Bob Ramsey]

Eileen Gu is the face of at least 23 brands in China
She Made $31.4 Million in Endorsement Deals Last Year

Pictured here is a zhèn lóu shénqì 震楼神器 ("magical floor shaker"):

From Mark Swofford:

The back of a restaurant stand going up in front of the Banqiao train station as part of a temporary market for the Christmas season.

Café de Coral Advertisement with Hong Kong Cantonese Lexical Items:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cafe de Coral (@cafedecoralhk)

(source: from their Instagram account)

Image and query from Hans Oddvar Vannes:

This Chinese article is about a man who has made a living by painting slogans and ads on village walls for thirty years. Some of the slogans are rather bizarre, as may be seen by looking at the many photographs in the article.

The article says it is such a well-paying job that the man was able to buy 6 apartments in his hometown with his earnings. Painting on walls is one of the major ways to advertise or propagate goods and ideas in the countryside.

There are many examples of such signs in the article, but I couldn't understand all of them upon first glance, so I wondered if the country folk would be able to read the signs. I asked a number of my graduate students from China, and they all said, yes, the country folk not only would be able to read them, but would enjoy them and would be motivated to buy the products and services promoted by the signs.

From Guy Freeman:

From Frank Clements:

(source)

Can you read it?

Sign at a shop in Changzhou, Jiangsu, specifically at the Computer City mall: