Archive for Lost in translation

Jumbled pinyin

I spotted this not-too-old post on Stephen Jones: a blog, "Interpreting pinyin" (10/9/17).

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Handsome court — translation / transcription hybrid

Schematic map of bus stops in the vicinity of Lingnan University, Tuen Mun (below Castle Peak), Hong Kong.  Note the tenth stop outbound, which is "Handsome Court" (to be explained below):

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Mental health prevention

Shared by Tuomas in Shaanxi, China:

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The future is dangerous: Anglo-Nipponica

Sign at a hotel in Japan:

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Pelvic floor wrench

Victor Steinbok said that he found this on Wish:

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Reincarnation machine

From the Engrish in Japan Facebook page, posted by Yukie Masumoto:

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My foci cup

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Chinese buzzwords for 2023

The Shanghai language and linguistics journal (some say it's a literary journal — I think it's none of these three "l's", but more of a sociopolitical magazine), Yaowen Jiaozi*, announced China's hottest words of the year.  

Leading the list is the amazing term "xīnzhì shēngchǎnlì 新质生产力" ("new quality productivity").  Naturally, it was coined by President Xi Jinping.

[It] captures a key shift in the nation's economic characters. This concept represents not just a leap in production methods, but a transformation toward technology-driven, high-quality growth. It's a language reflecting China's stride into an era of digital innovation.

[quoting "World's top words define essence of 2023", by Yang Jian, Shine (12/6/23), which is also the source of the other quotations in this post]

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Come The Felicity The Door

From Charles Belov:

Sending along a photo from a videodisc cover I encountered in a little free library.

The Chinese title 幸福来敲门 is translated into English as "Come The Felicity The Door".

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Chinglish trifecta

It's been a while.

From Qingchen Li:

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Flip over when you finish

From shaing tai, via a group on Facebook, photograph taken at the New Otani Inn in Tokyo:

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Men's Treaming

From Nick Tursi in Qatar:

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The car hit cheese bacon mushroom face, part 2

Todd Wilbur shared this menu item on Facebook:

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