Not equal to a pig or a dog

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It's been quite a while since I made a post in this genre:

The above photograph comes a series of shots showing scenes from the back alleys of Shanghai. The sign says:

zài cǐ dàxiǎo biàn 在此大小便 (whoever urinates or defecates here)

jiārén sǐ guāngguāng 家人死光光 (your entire family will die)

zhū gǒu bùrú 猪狗不如 (you are not equal to a pig or a dog)

For another colorful sign of this sort on the side of a building, see "Urination is inhuman", which has a list of earlier "lesser convenience" posts at the end.



6 Comments

  1. J.W. Brewer said,

    February 25, 2013 @ 2:04 pm

    It sounds as if Professor Singer's notorious formulation of his animal-rights-etc. theories ("A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy") has not yet found favor in the philosophical discourse of the back alleys of Shanghai.

  2. Antariksh Bothale said,

    February 26, 2013 @ 1:47 am

    Out here in India, we encounter similar signs in some places. They don't wish death upon the whole family, but I have come across signs reading "देखो गधा मूत रहा है!" (Dekho gadhaa moot raha hai!) which translates to "Look! A donkey is peeing here!"

  3. richardelguru said,

    February 26, 2013 @ 7:07 am

    Of course if the urinator had, say, cholera it could just be a plain statement of a likely outcome…

  4. joanne salton said,

    February 27, 2013 @ 4:17 am

    I don't recall seeing the version of 在 before (the first one in the sign) – it looks more like the character for vehicle. Is that a common abbreviation?

  5. Victor Mair said,

    February 27, 2013 @ 7:49 am

    @joanne salton

    You're right that the first character does sort of look like the character for vehicle (chē 车), but it is actually zài 在 miswritten (one stroke missing and formed rather poorly).

  6. Michael Rank said,

    February 27, 2013 @ 5:14 pm

    I would say that way of writing 在 is fairly common in handwriting/informal signs.

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