Chinglish

This article is about Chinese English. For the play, seeChinglish (play).

Chinglishis slang for spoken or writtenEnglish languagethat is either influenced by aChinese language,or is poorly translated.InHong Kong,Macau,GuangdongandGuangxi,the term "Chinglish" refers mainly toCantonese-influencedEnglish.This term is commonly applied toungrammaticalornonsensicalEnglish in Chinese contexts, and may havepejorativeordeprecatingconnotations.Other terms used to describe the phenomenon include "Chinese English", "China English", "Engrish"and" Sinicized English ".The degree to which a Chinesevarietyof English exists or can be considered legitimate is still up for debate.

Chinglish
Chinese English, China English, Engrish, Sinicized English
A 2007 warning sign inGuilinstates in Chinese: "(When there are) thunderstorms / Please do not climb the mountain."
Native to	PRCandROC
Region	East Asia
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Anglo–Frisian Anglic English Chinglish
Early forms	Old English Middle English Early Modern English
Writing system	Latin(English Alpha bet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Map ofChina.Territory controlled by the People's Republic of China shown in dark green; territoryclaimed but not controlledis shown in light green.

Chinglish
Traditional Chinese	Kiểu Trung Quốc tiếng Anh
Simplified Chinese	Kiểu Trung Quốc tiếng Anh
Literal meaning	Chinese Style English
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin zhōng shì yīngwén

Terminology

A 2010 sign on the wall surrounding theTiger Hill Pagodawarning tourists not to climb up.lit. 'Protect cultural heritages / climbing [is] dangerous.'

The English wordChinglishis aportmanteauofChineseandEnglish.The Chinese equivalent isZhōngshì Yīngyǔ(simplified Chinese:Kiểu Trung Quốc tiếng Anh;traditional Chinese:Kiểu Trung Quốc tiếng Anh;lit.'Chinese-style English').

Chinglish can be compared with otherinterlanguagevarieties of English, such asBritalian(from Italian),Czenglish(from Czech),Denglisch(German),Dunglish(Dutch),Franglais(French), Greeklish(Greek),Manglish(Malaysia),Runglish(Russian), Spanglish(Spanish),Swenglish(Swedish),Hunglish(Hungarian),Hebrish(Hebrew),Engrish(Japanese),Hinglish(Hindi),Konglish(Korean),Taglish(Tagalog),Bislish(Visayan),Singlish(in Singapore),Ponglish(Polish) andTinglish(Thai).

TheOxford English Dictionarydefines thenounandadjective.

Chinglish,n. and a. colloq.(freq.depreciative). Brit. /ˈtʃɪŋglɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈtʃɪŋ(g)lɪʃ/. Forms: 19–Chinglish,19–Chenglish[rare]. [Blend of Chinesen.and Englishn.Compare earlier Japlishn., Spanglishn.Compare also Hinglishn.2,Singlishn.2]

A.n.A mixture of Chinese and English; esp. a variety of English used by speakers of Chinese or in a bilingual Chinese and English context, typically incorporating some Chinese vocabulary or constructions, or English terms specific to a Chinese context. Also: the vocabulary of, or an individual word from, such a variety. Cf. Singlish n.2

Badj.Of or relating to Chinglish; expressed in Chinglish.

This dictionary cites the earliest recorded usage ofChinglish(noted as ajocularterm) in 1957 and ofChinese Englishin 1857.However,Chinglishhas been found to date from as early as 1936, making it one of the earliest portmanteau words for a hybrid variety of English.Other colloquial portmanteau words for Chinese English include:Chenglish(recorded from 1979),Chinlish(1996),Chinenglish(1997),Changlish(2000) andChinelish(2006).

A 2007 sign from Beijing'sSilk Street,giving translations of common English phrases vendors may use when serving English speaking customers, as well as phrases advised against.

Chinglish commonly refers to a mixture of English withModern Standard Mandarin,but it occasionally refers to mixtures withCantonese,ShanghaineseandTaiwanese Hokkien.

Chinglish contrasts with some related terms.Chinese Pidgin Englishwas alingua francathat originated in the 17th century.Zhonglish,a term for Chinese influenced by English, is a portmanteau ofZhōngwén(Tiếng Trung;'Chinese language') and "English".

Some peculiar Chinese English cannot be labeled Chinglish because it is grammatically correct, andVictor Maircalls this emerging dialect "Xinhua English or New China News English", based on theXinhua News Agency.Take for instance, this headline: "China lodges solemn representation over Japan's permission forRebiya Kadeer's visit ". This unusual English phrase literally translates the original Chinesetíchū yánzhèng jiāoshè(Đưa ra nghiêm chỉnh giao thiệp;'lodge solemn representation'), combiningtíchū"put forward; raise; pose bring up",yánzhèng"serious; stern; unyielding; solemn", andjiāoshè"mutual relations; negotiation; representation"."Pure Chinese" is an odd English locution in a Web advertisement: "Khổng Tử học viện/ CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE/ Teach you pure Chinese. "ThisKǒngzǐ Xuéyuàn(Khổng Tử học viện) is Chinese for theConfucius Institute,but Mair notes that "pure Chinese" curiously implies "impure Chinese".

One author divides Chinglish into "instrumental" and "ornamental" categories. "Instrumental Chinglish is actually intended to convey information to English speakers. Ornamental Chinglish is born of the fact that English is thelingua francaofcoolness.Meaning aside, any combination of roman letters elevates a commodity – khaki pants, toilet paper, potato chips – to a higher plane of chic by suggesting that the product is geared toward an international audience. "

History

A 2013 sign on a lady's changing room, writing "Wom's Bathing Box".

English first arrived in China in 1637, when British traders reachedHong Kong,MacauandGuangzhou(Canton).In the 17th century,Chinese Pidgin Englishoriginated as alingua francafor trade betweenBritish peopleand mostlyCantonese-speakingChinese people.This proto-Chinglish term "pidgin"originated as a Chinese mispronunciation of the English word"business".Following theFirstandSecond Opium Warbetween 1839–1842, Pidgin English spread north to Shanghai and othertreaty ports.Pidgin usage began to decline in the late 19th century when Chinese and missionary schools began teachingStandard English.In 1982, the People's Republic of China made English the main foreign language in education.The spelling of words in Chinese education follows British English standards, while the pronunciation in the tape recording adheres to American English.Current estimates for the number of English learners in China range from 300 to 500 million.

Chinglish may have influenced some English expressions that are "calques"or" loan translations "fromChinese Pidgin English,for instance, "lose face"derives fromdiūliǎnMất mặt;'lose face', 'be humiliated' Some sources claim "long time no see"is a Chinglish calque fromhǎojiǔbújiànĐã lâu không thấy;'long time no see'.More reliable references note this jocularAmerican Englishphrase "used as a greeting after prolonged separation" was first recorded in 1900 for aNative American's speech, and thus more likely derives fromAmerican Indian Pidgin English.

Chinese officials carried out campaigns to reduce Chinglish in preparation for the2008 Summer Olympicsin Beijing and theExpo 2010in Shanghai.

A 2013 warning sign inShenzhen,Guangdongin Chinese: "Danger, deep water / no swimming."

Soon after Beijing was awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics in 2001, the Beijing Tourism Bureau established a tipsterhotlinefor Chinglish errors on signs, such as emergency exits at theBeijing Capital International Airportreading "No entry on peacetime".In 2007, the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program (BSFLP) reported they had, "worked out 4,624 pieces of standard English translations to substitute the Chinglish ones on signs around the city", for instance, "Be careful, road slippery" instead of "To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty." BSFLP chairperson Chen Lin said, "We want everything to be correct. Grammar, words, culture, everything. Beijing will have thousands of visitors coming. We don't want anyone laughing at us."Reporting from Beijing,Ben Macintyrelamented the loss of signs like "Show Mercy to the Slender Grass" because, "many of the best examples of Chinglish are delightful, reflecting the inventiveness that results when two such different languages collide".TheGlobal Language Monitordoubted that Beijing's attempt to eradicate Chinglish could succeed, noting that "attempting to map a precise ideogram to any particular word in the million-word English lexicon is a nearly impossible task", and pointing out that the Games' official website contained the phrase "we share the charm and joy of the Olympic Games" (using "charm" as atransitive verb).

In Shanghai, for Expo 2010, a similar effort was made to replace Chinglish signs. ANew York Timesarticle byAndrew Jacobsreported on accomplishments by the Shanghai Commission for the Management of Language Use. "Fortified by an army of 600 volunteers and a politburo of adroit English speakers, the commission has fixed more than 10,000 public signs (farewell" Teliot "and" urine district "), rewritten English-language historical placards and helped hundreds of restaurants recast offerings."James Fallowsattributed many Shanghai Chinglish errors to "rote reliance on dictionaries or translation software", citing a bilingual sign reading "Nhà ănTranslate server error "(cāntīng;Nhà ănmeans "dining room; restaurant" ). While conceding that "there's something undeniablyColonel Blimp-ish in making fun of the locals for their flawed command of your own mother tongue ", Fallows observed a Shanghai museum with" Three Georges Exhibit "banners advertising aThree Gorges Damexhibit, and wrote, "it truly is bizarre that so manyorganizationsin China are willing to chisel English translations into stone, paint them on signs, print them on business cards, and expose them permanently to the world without making any effort to check whether they are right. "On a Chinese airplane, Fallows was given awet wipelabeled "Wet turban needless wash", translatingmiǎn xǐ shī jīn(Miễn tẩy khăn ướt;'wash-free moist towel').Shanghai'sLuwan Districtpublished a controversial "Bilingual Instruction of Luwan District for Expo" phrasebook with English terms and Chinese characters approximating pronunciation: "Good morning! (Cổ đến miêu ninh) "[pronouncedgǔ dé māo níng] (which could be literally translated as "ancient cat tranquility" ) and "I'm sorry (Ái sao tao thụy) "[ài me saō ruì] (which is nonsensical).

Chinglish is pervasive in present-day China "on public notices in parks and at tourist sites, on shop names and in their slogans, in product advertisements and on packages, in hotel names and literature, in restaurant names and on menus, at airports, railway stations and in taxis, on street and highway signs – even in official tourist literature."

A 2014 sign in a Chinese hospital uses the term "cunt examination" for "vulvar examination".

The Global Language Monitor predicts Chinglish will thrive, and estimates that roughly 20 percent of new English words derive from Chinglish, for instance,shanzhai(Sơn trại;'mountain stronghold', 'mountain village') meaning "counterfeit consumer goods; things done in parody"— Huang Youyi, president of theChina Internet Information Center,predicts thatlinguistic purismcould be damaged by popularChinese words of English origin(such asOKandLOL). "If we do not pay attention and we do not take measures to stop Chinese mingling with English, Chinese will no longer be a pure language in a couple of years."

Specifying Chinglish to mean "Chinese wordsliterally translatedinto English ", an experiment in linguistic clarity conducted by Han and Ginsberg (2001) found that mathematical terms are more readily understandable in Chinglish than English.English words for mathematics typically haveGreek and Latin roots,while corresponding Chinese words are usuallytranslations of neologismsfrom Western languages; thusquadrilateral(from Latinquadri-"four" andlatus"sided" ) is generally less informative than ChinesesìbiānxíngTứ giác;'four-side-shape'). For example, compare the semantic clarity of Englishaxiom,ChinesegōnglǐCông lý,and Chinglish (literal translation) "universal-principle";median,zhōngshùTrung số,and "centre-number"; ortrapezoid,tīxíngHình thang,and "ladder-figure". The study involved three groups of mathematics teachers who rated the clarity of 71 common mathematical terms. Group 1 with native speakers of Chinese judged 61% of the Chinese terms as clear; Group 2 with native speakers of English judged 45% of the English terms as clear. Group 3 with English-speaking teachers (both native and nonnative speakers) judged the comparative clarity of English and Chinglish word pairs: more clear for 42.3% of the Chinglish and 5.6% of the English, equally clear for 25.4% of the Chinglish-English pairs, and neither clear for 19.7%.

In 2017, the Government of the People's Republic of China introduced the national standard for its English translations to replace Chinglish. This took effect on 1 December of that year.

Features

A 2007 sign inFu gianadvicing people not to step on the grassland: "Together let's protect the greenery."

Chinglish is the combination of the Chinese culture and the English language. China English has linguistic characteristics that are different from the normative English in all linguistic levels, includingphonology,lexicon,syntax,anddiscourse.

At the phonological level, Chinglish does not differentiate between various vowel qualities because they don't exist in Chinese. As a result, there is no contrast between the two sounds for Chinglish speakers. For example,cheapandchipwould be the same pronunciation. Another phonological feature is that speakers are unaware of the "graduation"of words which are said in different tones depending on the context. The wordforis stressed and said differently in the phrases "what is it for?" and "this is for you." To a Chinglish speaker, the two are the same. Chinglish speakers use Chinese phonological units to speak English, and retain thesyllable timingof Chinese in place of thestress timingof English which together gives them a notable accent.

At the lexical level, China English manifests itself through many ways such astransliterationandloan translations.Transliteration has brought many interesting words and expressions from the Chinese language into English. Speakers are able to merge the two because of pinyin, a Latin Alpha bet used to write Chinese. In loan translations, Chinese words have been translated directly into English. This phenomenon can be found in a lot of compound words like red bean, bean curd, and teacup. The other way that loan translations are made is when speakers translate Chinese terms into English. These words come from the Chinese culture and are ideas, thoughts, or expressions that do not exist in English. For example,spring rollswould otherwise not have meaning in English if not for Chinglish speakers making it a loan translation to describe the food. In addition, speakers use subordinate conjunctions differently and also exhibitcopulaabsence in their speech. Examples include "Because I am ill, so I can't go to school" and "The dress beautiful."

As Chinese grammar does not distinguish between definite and indefinite articles, Chinese speakers struggle with when to use or not use the English definite articlethe.

At the syntactic level, Chinese thinking has influenced Chinglish speakers to utilize a different sequence and structure to make sentences. For English speakers, a common sequence issubject→predicate→object→adverbial("John entered the room quietly").On the other hand, the Chinese sequence is subject → adverbial → predicate → object ("Lijing quiet enter room"). Chinese speakers tend to leave the most important information (thetopic) at the end of the sentence, while English speakers present it at the start.

Linguists and language teachers employerror analysisto fathom Chinglish. Liu et al. list four characteristic features of Chinglish mistranslations,

• Cultural meanings. The Englishidiom"work like a horse" means "work hard", but in China horses are rarely used as draft animals and the equivalent Chinese expression usesniúNgưu"cattle".
• Problems of direct translation. Some Chinglish menus translatedòufuĐậu hủas "bean curd", which "sounds very unappetizing" to English speakers, instead of "tofu".
• Wordiness. Unnecessary words and convoluted sentences are hallmarks of Chinglish translation. For example, theCivil Aviation Administration of Chinaannounced, "CAAC has decided to start the business of advance booking and ticketing", which could simply say "CAAC now accepts advance booking and ticketing."
• Wrong word order. A host in Shenyang toasted a group of foreign investors with "Up your bottoms!" instead of "Bottoms up!"

Chinglish reflects the influence of Chinese syntax and grammar.For instance, Chinese verbs are not necessarilyconjugatedand there is no equivalentarticlefor English "the", both of which can create awkward translations.

Causes

A 2007 sign on a trash bin for non-recyclable waste at theXi'an Xianyang International Airport.

Chinglish has various causes, most commonly erroneousChinese dictionaries,translation software, and incorrectEnglish as a foreign languagetextbooks. Other causes include misspelling, mediocre English-language teaching, sloppy translation, and reliance on outdated translation technology. Liu, Feather and Qian warn that

today's English-language publishers and teachers in China are passing on obsolete translations and incorrectrules of languageto students. In turn, Chinglish gets duplicated across society, particularly now during today's period of rapid opening to the outside world and the widespread use of English. The resultant flood of Chinglish will perpetuate unless it is corrected now.

Common causes include:

• Lack of inclusion of native English speakers in the translation or editing process
• Word-for-worddictionary translation: rigidly substituting Chinese words with English ones from dictionaries, without considering the impact ofpolysemy
• Use ofmachine translationwithout post-editing
• Competently translated text which has been subsequently edited by non-native speakers
• Linguistic differences andmother tongueinterference
• Different thinking patterns and culture
• Outdated Chinese-English dictionaries and textbook-style English
• Mediocre English-language teaching and lack of English-language environment

Vocabulary

A 2015 sign inNamtso,Xizangpromoting environmental awareness and conservation.lit. 'Together let's protect the blue sky and clear water wholeheartedly / Hand in hand together [and] we'll create a beautiful home.'

Some similar words are generally confused by most Chinglish speakers, for example "emergent" instead of "emergency" or "urgent", because of incorrect entries in dictionaries.

In Chinglish, "I know"Ta biếtis generally used instead of the term "I see", when used to tell others that you understand what they said.

"See", "watch", "read", and "look" all refer toXem(kàn) in Chinese. For example,XemĐiện ảnh(XemĐiện ảnh) means "to see a film" or "to watch a movie",XemThư(XemThư) means "to read a book",XemTa(XemTa) means "to look at me". Because of that, Chinglish speakers use "look" instead of "see", "watch", or "read". The same phenomena can be found in the use of "speak", "say", and "talk"Nói(Nói;shuō). The expression "Can you say Chinese?" (Ngươi sẽ nói tiếng Trung sao?;Ngươi sẽ nói tiếng Trung sao) would mean "Do you speak Chinese?"

Another misuse of vocabulary is "to turn on/off" and "open/close". Chinese speakers useQuan(Quan;guān) to refer to turning off things like electrical appliances or to close a door or window. Accordingly, a Chinglish speaker might say "close the light" rather than "turn off the light". In the same way,Khai(Khai;kāi) refers to turning those things on, or to open a door or window. As a result, they would say "open the TV" instead of "turn on the TV".

Examples

A 2008 sign over a sink inXichengadvising "No soliciting and whoring prostitutes."

Collections of Chinglish are found on numerous websites (see below) and books.Owing to the ubiquity of Chinglish mistakes throughout theSinophone world,the following examples will exclude commonmisspellings(e.g., "energetically Englsih-friendly environment" )andtypographical errors(a bilingual bus sign reading "Hướng không biếtTo unknow ";wǎngHướngmeans "to; toward" andbùzhīdàoKhôngBiết"don't know" )that can occur anywhere in theEnglish-speaking world.

A 2006 multilingual sign on a door inTaipeiuses the unusualScottish Englishwordsteek( "shut" ) instead ofclose.

• Add oil.A commonly used Chinglish expression forCố lên,an encouragement and supporting expression.
• Slip carefully(sometimes:Carefully slip and fall down). A common mistranslation ofTiểu tâm mà hoạt"Caution. Wet floor."Màmeans "floor" when pronounced asdìbut is a suffix to an adverb when pronounced asde,respectively. The phraseTiểu tâm mà hoạtcan be transliterated as "caution, the floor (is) wet" or "(to) carefully slip".
• To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty.A comparable sign in a Beijing garage readszhùyì ānquán pōdào lù huá(Chú ý an toàn sườn núi con đường hoạt;'Exercise caution. The slope is slippery').
• Workshop for concrete agitationappears on a sign in a Sichuan factory.jiǎobàn fáng(Quấy phòng), which combinesjiǎobànmeaning "stir; mix; agitate" andfáng"house; room", translates as "mi xing room".
• Spread to fuck the fruitis a Chinese supermarket sign mistranslation ofsǎn gānguǒ(Tán quả khô;Tán càn quả;'loose dried fruits').Victor Mairnoted thefucktranslation ofgān(Làm) was "fairly ubiquitous in China",and discovered this complicated Chinglish error resulted frommachine translationsoftware misinterpretinggānguǒ(Quả khô;Càn quả;'dried fruits/nuts') asgàn guǒ(Quả khô;Quả khô;'do/fuck fruits').Inwritten Chinese,sometimes a single simplified Chinese character is used for multiple traditional Chinese characters:gān(Làm;Làm;'trunk', 'stem', 'intervene') is the simplified form of two wordsgān(Càn;'dry', 'dried up', 'in vain') andgàn(Làm;'trunk', 'main body', 'do', 'work', '(vulgar) fuck'). Mair's research revealed that the popular Chinese-EnglishJinshan Cibadictionary (2002 edition) andJinshan Kuaiyitranslation software systematically rendered every occurrence ofLàmas "fuck" (later editions corrected this error). Two comparable Chinglish mistranslations ofgān"dry" asgàn"do; fuck" are:The shrimp fucks the cabbageforXiāgān chǎo báicài(Tôm làm xào cải trắng;Tôm càn xào cải trắng;'stir-frieddried shrimp withChinese cabbage'),andfuck the empressmistakesgàn hòu(Làm sau;Làm sau;'do/fuck the empress') forgānhòu(Làm sau;Càn sau;'after drying'), withhòu(Sau;Sau;'queen', 'empress') as the Simplified form ofhòu(Sau;'after').

A 2012 sign at the bus station inShaowu,Fu gian.

• Please steek gentlyappears on a Taipei government building door. This form of Chinglish uses obscure English terms, namely,Scottish Englishsteek"enclose; close; shut" instead of the common word.
• Bumf Boxforshǒuzhǐ xiāng(Giấy vệ sinh rương;'toilet paper box/case'), employs theBritish Englishwordbumf,originally a shortened form ofbumfoddermeaning "toilet paper", now used to mean "useless documents".
• Braised enterovirus in Clay Potappears on a Chinese menu forgānguō féicháng(Làm nồi ruột già;'dry pot fatty intestine'), which is a stuffed sausage popular inSichuanese-Hunanesecuisine. This example occurred following theEnterovirus 71 epidemicin China, and mistranslatesféicháng(Ruột già;'pig's large intestines [used as food]') ascháng[dào] bìngdú(Tràng [ nói ] virus;'intestinal virus').
• Fried enemaon a menu mistranslateszhá guàn cháng(Tạc súc ruột;'fried sausage [with flour stuffed into hog casings]'). TheJinshan Cibadictionary confused the cooking and medical meanings ofguanchang"(make) a sausage; (give) an enema".
• A weak 'pyridaben carbazole' soundis found on translated instructions for a photographic light, "Install the battery into the battery jar, when heard a weak 'pyridaben carbazole' sound the installation is completed." The original Chinese has an onomatopoetic termdādā kǎzuò(Lộc cộc ca tọa;'click or tick') rendered intodāmǎnlíng(Đát 蟎 linh;'pyridaben') andkǎzuò(Ca tọa;'carbazole').
• 4 Uygur theateris printed on the bilingual instructions for a Chinese4-D filmabout dinosaurs. The Chinese termsìwéi(Tứ duy;'4 dimensions') useswéi"tie up; maintain, uphold; estimate" that commonlytranscribesforeign names such aswéiwú'ěr(Duy ngô ngươi;'Uyghur').
• Exterminate Capitalism Lobster Packagewas the Chinglish rendering oftāotiè lóngxiā cān(Thao Thiết tôm hùm cơm;'gourmand lobster meal') on a menu mentioned byThe New York Times.Victor Mair analyzed the linguistic impossibility of renderingTaotie(Thao Thiết) "a mythical beast; glutton; greedy person" as "exterminate capitalism" and concluded somebody "mischievously provided an absurd translation, perhaps with the intention of poking fun at the Chinese Communist system which has given rise to such luxurious and fancy dining practices as reflected in pretentious menus of this sort."
• Do not wantis a mistranslation, albeit a substantially intelligible one (e.g.,"[I] do not want [what is happening to happen]" ) of "Nooooo-!" exclaimed byDarth Vaderin a bootleg version ofStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,a phrase which has since become aninternet meme.A bootleg copy of the film entitled"Star War – The third gathers: Backstroke of the West"was bought in China, and featured erroneous English subtitles that were machine translated back from a Chinese translation of the original English, i.e. a re-translation, which was posted online due to its humorous use of poor English.Having gone viral, the phrase has spread as a meme used on messageboards online.The mistranslation is an example of translation decay following an English translation to Chinese, which is then re-translated back into English; the exclamation "no" would be correctly translated asKhông cần;bùyàoin Chinese, however sinceMuốn;yàocan also mean "want", andKhông;bùis used as a negation particle,Không cầncan also be translated as "do not want". As an example, the phraseTa không cần đicorrectly translates to "I (do not) want to go", however the discussion“Ngươi có muốn ăn hay không cơm?” ／ “Không cần.”translates to "Do you want to eat?" / "No." as well. Other humorous mistranslations from this movie include "They're all over me" as "He is in my behind", "The Jedi Council" as "The Presbyterian Church", and the notorious phrase "May the force be with you" as "The wish power are together with you".

A 2013 sign of "Mind the gap"in Chinglish on aShanghai Ferrydock.

• Go straight on publicis a mistranslation of "Public washroom outside on the second floor."
• Note that the level of gap,which is asentence fragment,is how signs on Shanghai's ferry docks render "Mind the gap",the phrase that spread from theLondon Undergroundto worldwide use.

A 2005 misspelled label on clothing label from a pair of shorts purchased inHuwei,Taiwan.

• Don't stampedeis featured on signs in lavatories to inform users that using a sitting toilet like asquatting toiletis prohibited.
• Mustard Silkis a mistranslation of "shredded pickled vegetables", (literally, "pickled mustard shred." ) The product was employed by China Eastern Airlines.
• Civilization touris found on signs on boats on the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhe gian g as a mistranslation forwénmíng lǚyóu( "tour civilizedly" )

See also

• Hong Kong English
• Code-switching in Hong Kong
• Non-native pronunciations of English
• Mute English
• English as she is spoke
• Westernised Chinese language
• Hinglish

Further reading

• Henry, Eric Steven (November 2010). "Interpretations of" Chinglish ": Native Speakers, Language Learners and the Enregisterment of a Stigmatized Code".Language in Society.39(5): 669–688.doi:10.1017/S0047404510000655.JSTOR40925816.S2CID146480049.

External links

• AsiaObscura 's collection of Chinglish
• The Chinese-English, Chinglish ArchivesChineseEnglish
• Chinglish Chinese-English dictionaryatarchive.today(archived 6 December 2012)
• The Chinglish Files
• Engrish Chinglish Collection
• Chinglish Collection and more
• LanguageMonitor Top Chinglish of the Year
• A Sampling of Chinglish The New York Times 2010/05/03
• Strange Signs From Abroad The New York Times 2010/05/11
• Chinglish: an illustrated lecture, William Griffinat theWayback Machine(archived 16 July 2011)