Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Problem is that it can be fashionable in Chinese to use English to show you are educated. I imagine they want to avoid this kind of thing happening in the mainland:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cantonesebillboard.jpg

Here is the original announcement in Chinese:

http://www.gapp.gov.cn/cms/html/21/508/201012/708310.html

and a rough Google translated version:

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&h...




Personally, I liked the sign that got translated as "Translation Server Error"

But there's a ton of misuse on both sides. God help you if you believe that there's a "Chinese alphabet" that things like initials can be translated into (http://hanzismatter.blogspot.com/ has a long list of tattoo victims of that gibberish "Asian font"), but there's plenty of the reverse, too. I still haven't tried "Pocari Sweat" (a common sports drink that doesn't sound very appetizing; there should be pictures of it on engrish.com among other places).




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: