Getting Rid of Chinglish

Shanghai is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish is the title found on the New York Times article about Shanghai's latest movement to correct the entertaining Chinglish signs throughout the city. What I thought would be just an entertaining article, presented some really interesting view points about this latest push for reform. Before the 2008 Olympics Beijing pushed for a similar "clean-up" of Chinglish signs. The government does have a point in redoing these funny signs because many of them don't convey their actual meaning, leaving tourists guessing at the rules. At the same time, however, these signs have created a little culture of their own and give English speakers a glimpse of how Chinese portrays ideas with different phrases.

The article points out that even some of this Chinglish has slipped into every day phrases for English speakers. For example it illustrates that the phrase "long time no see" is a word for word translation of a Chinese saying. Even more interesting, however, was the fact that it is possible to get a degree in Chinglish. That is exactly what Oliver Radtke is doing at the University of Heidelburg and on his blog he tries to collect these Chinglish sayings before they disappear. I think he makes a valid point that these phrases allow others a glimpse into a mindset that is different because of the language difference. Many of these translations were brought about by faulty online translations but they try to convey word for word thoughts in Chinese that don't always transfer correctly to English. While they provide entertainment for tourists, they also should provoke certain analytical thoughts about the origin of the mangles phrase. Honestly the best solution would probably be to fix only the most confusing signs that contain important information. Or, since owners will already have to get new signs, they could leave the Chinglish to provide a different interpretation.

However, in case Chinglish is eliminated here is a funny article that has many pictures and translations of Chinglish signs. Enjoy.