Bad english in england?

mani · 16-10-2006, 04:28

at least the english isnt as bad as it is in china....

article was about the chinese authorities trying to stamp out bad english signs

some examples are...

Emergency exits at Beijing airport read "No entry on peacetime" and the Ethnic Minorities Park is named "Racist Park".

At the Simatai section of the Great Wall of China there is a sign that reads: People and flowers, plants help each other in breath, if you pick the flowers they will die, and you will reduce your life too

http://www.silverladder.com/literatu.../chinglish.htm

WillowTheWhisp · 16-10-2006, 07:00

I love that second one - pick a flower, kill yourself!

I had a lovely recipe from a friend in Germany once. It said "fling the ingredients in a bowl and beat them up."

SPUGGIE J · 16-10-2006, 09:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by mani

At the Simatai section of the Great Wall of China there is a sign that reads: People and flowers, plants help each other in breath, if you pick the flowers they will die, and you will reduce your life too

http://www.silverladder.com/literatu.../chinglish.htm

Cant beat the chinese for a good honest saying. You pick one and its only one but if thousands do then there will be none. Besides would they shoot you if you did pick one?

At least with the signs they are making an effort.

AccyJay · 16-10-2006, 10:50

The last 2 were my favourites.

WillowTheWhisp · 16-10-2006, 11:05

Bad English - in Accy:

Thre's a shop not a million miles from Accy Market where they have a clarinet for sale in one window for £79.99 and a clarOnet for sale in the other window for £199.99. Obviously the claronet is a far suprior instrument to the more commonly known clarinet.

mani · 16-10-2006, 15:43

there's quite a few of these asian shops i go to that have self made signs and hte spellin is just awful

lettie · 16-10-2006, 16:14

Hehehe.......Had a laugh at that website Mani. I have to agree that English is a difficult language to translate but nevertheless, some of those translations made me giggle.

I'll certainly be on the lookout for more examples of Chinglish when I hit Hong Kong in January..

WillowTheWhisp · 16-10-2006, 17:25

My main grumble about shop signs is the misplaced apostrophe - and it's not only on the home-made signs either. Look at the number of greengrocers selling "pea's and carrot's". - Pea's and carrot's what?

I love the instructions which have obviously been translated from another language and although the words may be English the sentences definitely aren't.

West Ender · 16-10-2006, 20:29

You and I are on the same wavelength, Willow. The ubiquitous apostrophe drives me mad too. We have a local paper, the Warrington Guardian, and every week I sit fuming, while reading it, when the journalists have stuck in the odd apostrophe and also mispunctuated so the sentence doesn't make sense or have misspelled words. How do they get to be journalists when they have such a tenuous grasp of English grammar?

I think the funniest misuse of English has got to be on audio tapes we bought in Saudi Arabia. The tapes were very cheap, about 50p each, and there's nothing wrong with the recording quality but a lot of them have the song lyrics printed out on the inside of the covers, obviously translated by someone who doesn't speak English very well. Just an example, Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little 16"

Sweet little 16, she got a teenage booze
Tie dresses and lipstick an she know the news.
But tomorrow morning, she goes a change her train
She are sweet 16 and back in school again.

Wynonie Harris · 16-10-2006, 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by mani

and hte spellin is just awful

...oh, the irony of it!

mani · 17-10-2006, 00:44

just a fine example of how asians get it wrong

it was deliberate

*cough cough*

WillowTheWhisp · 17-10-2006, 22:54

There's a great one here on eBay. Just read the description.