A shout out to my friend Yolanda, who sent these incredible postcards from the Shanghai Expo 2010. It appears the Shanghai Expo is kind of like a World's Fair, with pavilions and activities from countries all over the world.
These postcards are attempts at effecting public behavior, with the blue one above reading "Law & Order is the top priority. It is the foundation of all wonderful things," and the green one saying "With passionate and orderly participation, let's support Shanghai Expo to make history". One has to wonder, is it the translation that makes the phrase sound so stilted and formal or is it just a cultural thing?
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That's Chinglish :o) On the one hand, I'd love to take a giant red pen to most of the English language signs -- the translations are horrible. On the otherhand, the mistakes to make for good laughs: e.g. Caution -- wet floor, slip carefully
ReplyDeleteThe Expo is a world's fair. The name "fair" was replaced with "Expo" I believe in the 60s.
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