Perhaps you've heard of "Engrish", the term for the often hilariously ludicrous malapropisms committed by Japanese when translating into English? Here's something I ran across awhile back that, coming from China, could be called "Chingrish."
If anyone knows what's going on here, please share.
I am so fascinated by this stuff I am tempted to learn Chinese just so I can determine what they originally meant to say. Then I'd go around to these places and offer to re-translate their tragedies.
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm just guessing here, the "candy" is spicy, hence the reason "stick can be used by friends to blow." Just guessing. I do know one thing for sure, it makes me want to "toot horn melodiously" (as if there were any other way to toot a horn).
ReplyDeleteI emailed this to a Chinese coworker. He said it's actually a very good translation but that the original Chinese makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Parvenu. I would have expected guffaws from your Chinese friend. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I interpret it to mean that it's some kind of red-hot candy around a bubblegum center (aren't they called "Charm Pops" here in the US?), so after you've eaten the candy you can blow bubbles with the gum. Does that make sense?
A colleague of mine (who is chinese) translated it for me:
ReplyDeleteIt says it is a lolly pop shapen like a devil with some kind of filling in it.
Also you can use the stick as a whistle (your friends too!) after you have eaten the lolly pop.
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@Parvenu74
Perhaps the person who wrotre this note was NOT versatile in both english and chinese alike :P
"Interesting, Parvenu. I would have expected guffaws from your Chinese friend."
ReplyDeleteNo guffaws, just a series of confused looks as he read and re-read the Chinese text trying to decide if there was any sense to it. My guess is that this description had been translated through a couple languages before it was rendered into Chinese.
sounds like cocaine
ReplyDelete