Chinglish

~For almost as long as this blog has been running, I've been periodically supplying you with Japanglish, screwed-up English used in Japan. This phenomenon is not strictly limited to Japan, however, and thanks to the efforts of several alert readers, I now bring you Chinglish.

As you might guess, Chinglish is the incorrect usage of English in China. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Chinese authorities have been trying to correct the more egregrious examples of Chinglish in the capital. Here are some examples I was able to locate on the internet:

^ I'm guessing that a computer was used to translate this menu, creating a selection so disturbing that English speakers will likely flee in terror. That is, unless you fancy some "Black mushrooms rape" or "The soil beans burns the beef". Click on the picture for a larger view of the menu.

^ The mouth of what? A tunnel? A river? A door? Or something worse?

^ I really don't want to know.

^ Is this some sort of comment on China's artificial devaluing of the yen to increase the trade gap between America anc China? Those damn communists!

^ Speaking of communists, this milk candy subtly insults decadent Western capitalist nations by declaring that it is the "commonaim of us".

^ Oh my god, they killed Rick and turned him into a snack! Or perhaps these snacks are only for people named Rick, like "Scooby Snacks". I suppose they taste good with "Potatp snack".

^ Wait...is this sign encouraging people to break the law?

Aside from Chinglish and Japanglish, there are other variations of English in other Asian nations. An example is "Singlish", the English dialect used in Singapore. Because Singapore was a British colony for many years (and remains a member of the British Commonwealth), English is one of the official languages spoken there. However, the "Singlish" dialect contains many words and expressions in Malay and Chinese that render it virtually unintelligible to a native English speaker. One of the teachers at my school grew up speaking Singlish in Singapore, although today her English is extremely good.

If you go to the 2008 Olympics, look around at any English you see and try to determine if Chinese efforts to correct Chinglish have succeeded. It will be interesting to see if their efforts have any impact in a city the size of Beijing. ~Oyasumi!