Chinglish and more
June 5th 2009 22:46
While I was in the middle of the week when we did the performances of the play, When We Are Married, I bought a book called More Chinglish. It consists of page after page of photographs of weird and wonderful signs in various Asian languages with the English 'translation' underneath. Some of them are hilarious, some of them just plain peculiar.
I was reminded of this book when I came across Discounted Air Beds, which is an American Company, and therefore might be expected to be able to produce a website that's in English. Or at least in American English (!) But one of the opening statements is: Buy Better Number Bed & Save More Than $1700. Okay....but what's a number bed? As if to answer my
question, I'm then invited to click on sleep number bed, which seems almost as Chinglish as many of the signs in the book.
Things become a bit clearer when I do click on that link, but not before I notice that the next paragraph begins: “Discounted Airbeds your like a dream come true! the price for this quality of is excellent! So I'm like a dream come true - hmm....there could be some subtle hint to my wife there, but somehow I don't think so!
Apparently these beds are ergonomically designed for me personally. At the touch of a button I can find the best shape in the bed and sleep in it. With over 50 possibilities, there must be something there for me.
Well, I'd never come across such beds before, so this is all a bit of a revelation. And like the Chinglish book, if you put your mind to it, you can usually figure out what the writer is trying to say (though 'No Oyossihg' still has me stumped).
PS. Just found the Chinglish site
I was reminded of this book when I came across Discounted Air Beds, which is an American Company, and therefore might be expected to be able to produce a website that's in English. Or at least in American English (!) But one of the opening statements is: Buy Better Number Bed & Save More Than $1700. Okay....but what's a number bed? As if to answer my
Things become a bit clearer when I do click on that link, but not before I notice that the next paragraph begins: “Discounted Airbeds your like a dream come true! the price for this quality of is excellent! So I'm like a dream come true - hmm....there could be some subtle hint to my wife there, but somehow I don't think so!
Apparently these beds are ergonomically designed for me personally. At the touch of a button I can find the best shape in the bed and sleep in it. With over 50 possibilities, there must be something there for me.
Well, I'd never come across such beds before, so this is all a bit of a revelation. And like the Chinglish book, if you put your mind to it, you can usually figure out what the writer is trying to say (though 'No Oyossihg' still has me stumped).
PS. Just found the Chinglish site
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