The Chinese simply will not rest. They want to take away everything I love. First they go after Google and the Internet, and now, they’re taking the war effort to stamp out Engrish (or Chinglish). The city of Shanghai, in preparation for Expo 2010, empowered a group of 600 fluent English-speaking Chinese to travel the city and stamp out funny mistranslations like “Dongda Anus Hospital” and “Racist Park.” Must they destroy everything I love?
Defenders of Chinglish like Oliver Lutz Radtke, the author of two picture books of Chinglish signage called Chinglish: Found In Translation and More Chinglish: Speaking In Tongues, say that the funny signs actually help non-Chinese understand how the Chinese language works and, to an extent, how Chinese people think linguistically. “If you standardize all these signs, you not only take away the little giggle you get while strolling in the park but you lose a window into the Chinese mind,” Radtke says.
I can understand the need for clear signage, but there’s no need to force all the signs to be bland and boring. In an example provided by Jeffrey Yao, professor of translation at Shanghai International Studies University, the English phrase “keep off the grass” can be translated into Chinese as “The Little Grass Is Sleeping. Please Don’t Disturb It,” or “Don’t Hurt Me. I Am Afraid of Pain.”
Surely there can be a place for clarity, beauty, and yes, even comedy in our Chinglish.
Tags: Engrish, Chinglish, Chinese English translations, bad translation, funny signs, Shanghai, China, translation software failures, Shanghai Commission for the Management of Language Use, Chinese agency attempts to stamp out bad English translations, Oliver Lutz Radtke, Jeffrey Yao
