Language Log

source:  Taobao 淘寶

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]

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".

It's been a while.

From Qingchen Li:

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

From Nick Tursi in Qatar:

Todd Wilbur shared this menu item on Facebook:

Seen by François Lang at the meat counter at The Great Wall in Rockville, MD:

On the inside (N.B.) doors of a lift in Wuhan (yes that [in]famous Wuhan):

The following photo is from Guanghzhou and was taken recently by David Lobina's partner who’s there now. 

When I entered the Airbnb where I'm now staying, one of the first things that caught my attention was the following utensil:

From John Rohsenow, via Mabel Menard, comes this bit of Japanglish:

(source)

Notice in a men's room at Dunhuang, far western Gansu Province: