Star what?
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Unlike the clever fake Apple stores discussed in my last post, this sign seems intended to amuse potential customers rather than to fool them:
This sign was reported to have appeared last year on a construction site in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, south China. It apparently did not signal the opening of a planned Starbucks knock-off, but rather was meant to drum up rental interest in a site under construction.
The comments on the original blog post, especially by those who are residents of Liuzhou, are informative. Thus "Expatriate Games" wrote:
Yeah you beat me to! I was going to post this too, the place is in the same complex as our new rental. All those signs are there as "examples" of businesses to come. You probably saw the ones for Haagen Daz and 7-11 too. With this one though, I'm sure some graphic designer/architect is had a good laugh.
I actually spoke to the property management company about the sign and the meanings of both Star Fucks and Porn Queen. The response from the big boss, after my literal translation, was "I don't think so….". I asked if he thought I had nothing better to do than to make it up. Blank stares… I shrugged my shoulders and left.
And "Craftylass" wrote:
As an editor, I run into people all the time who provide "editing" services and deliberately sabotage translations for unsuspecting companies. A favorite is to edit a menu to say "fried crap" instead of "fried carp." It's people like that who make sure that I have lots of business!
I ran into a child's tee shirt that had a rhinestone word on the front: "BITCH" Nothing I could say would convince the salesgirl that this was a bad idea. I should have bought it just to make sure no one else did! But then again, maybe ten-year-olds are wearing these types of shirts in the US!
The location of the sign was on Wenchang Road (文昌路) opposite the new Peoples' Hospital (市人民医院) — No. 3, Wenchang Rd. Nan Ya Ming Di (南 亚名邸). A search on Google Maps for nearby coffee shops turns up the "C.straits Cafe" right across the street from the hospital, but there may well be no connection.
According to one commenter, there was a second such sign in Liuzhou. If there are any Language Log readers in Liuzhou now, perhaps they could tell us what these storefronts turned out to be in the end.
As in the case of the fake Apple "STOER", there's one small spelling error: it should be "Coffee", not "Coffe". But the name change, and the two revisions to the Starbucks logo, were clearly done on purpose:
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Was this a one-of-a-kind jape, by a roguish real-estate developer or a subversive graphic design service? Or can we look forward to under-construction malls in China anchored by empty Wallfart stores, and so on?
Sili said,
July 24, 2011 @ 5:47 pm
Given the siren on the logo with the parted tails, I guess I can see where the porn queen idea comes from.
Ray Girvan said,
July 24, 2011 @ 7:09 pm
I'm very much reminded of Idiocracy, in whose dystopian future Starbucks has become a chain of brothels; and latte, hot latte and full body latte are euphemistic names for various services on offer.
Tian said,
July 25, 2011 @ 12:37 am
Would I be the "star fucker" or "star fuckee" if I visited this place?
e said,
July 25, 2011 @ 2:37 am
1. This sign is obviously a parody, or in Chinese, 炒作or恶搞.
2. Many Chinese manufacturers do indeed use brand names or shop names like "ADADIS" or "NIKI" or "KCF" with two possible purposes:
a. to mislead customers
b. to avoid Adidas or Nike or KFC sueing them.
I have a pair of NIKI myself. This is from China.
Ray Dillinger said,
July 25, 2011 @ 11:28 am
it's worth a note that in the original Starbucks logo, the mermaid had nipples. But that was a bit too blatantly sexual for some areas, so they got rid of them somewhere in the process of opening a bazillion franchises.
And now we come to an area (or maybe just an individual) where it's seen as being not sexual enough, and "corrected" in the other direction. There's just no pleasing people.
Ginger Yellow said,
July 25, 2011 @ 11:36 am
"I ran into a child's tee shirt that had a rhinestone word on the front: "BITCH" Nothing I could say would convince the salesgirl that this was a bad idea. I should have bought it just to make sure no one else did! But then again, maybe ten-year-olds are wearing these types of shirts in the US!"
I don't know about the US, but there are plenty of similar children's t-shirts sold and worn in the UK.
Faldone said,
July 25, 2011 @ 3:58 pm
Please enlighten a poor illiterate gringo. What does the hanzi before "Coffe" say?
zashibis said,
July 25, 2011 @ 4:50 pm
The hanzi is ka1fei1, the correct Chinese word for "coffee."
Faldone said,
July 25, 2011 @ 7:04 pm
Thanks, zashibis.
Keith M Ellis said,
July 25, 2011 @ 9:27 pm
I'm curious about Craftylass's claim that (she?) "run[s] into people all the time who provide 'editing' services and deliberately sabotage translations for unsuspecting companies."
"Curious" meaning "very skeptical", of course.
mary said,
July 30, 2011 @ 10:19 am
Though I am slightly reluctant to share Chinglish, my favorite menu item on a recent trip was "spicy aborigine". Didn't try it, probably my loss.