Day 731 Oh, the Chinglish

Chinglish is a REAL THING here in China....some things just do not make the translation.  I have posted about this before as I continue to find the humor in it- almost daily!

Like the bumper sticker that says, "Baby on Road"

or the sign at the fish market that says, "Fresh Crap"

And I have yet to figure out on the menu what is a "Fried Slightly Squeak".  I simply am not brave enough to order it.

This last week, I have been to the Alley Market several times, to help newbies make purchases for their homes, to get electronics taken care of (thanks, Joy! aka 'Radio Shack Guy') and to show the ladies where to buy a hair dryer that fits the outlets here, or where to get a pedi for $12.00.  

While I attended to their needs, I milled about some of the clothing stalls, and before I knew it, I had a whole slew of photos of Chinglish on Tshirts  :)

I. Can't. Even.

What?!  No really, WHAT???

Sometimes there are just random words
thrown together...so very randomly :-)

Chinese fashion includes sparkles and
sequins...lots of sparkles and sequins.

Hmmmm.....Existence as heart chose.
Again, I. Can't. Even.

This one took me back to my elementary days
and passing notes to Ricky Conrad...
Do you like me? Check Yes or Ne.
I mean, check Yes or No!

This one had a lot going on...only one word
is an actual word, but the whole front of the
shirt was covered in plastic, to contain the
red velvet lips.  I. Still. Can't. Even.

Coincidentally, while I was catching up on some local reading from my subscriptions in WeChat, I came across an article in That's BJ from July 24, 2016.  It was titled, "Why Chinese Designers Pick English Words for Tshirts." They had me at "Why"; I was captivated.

It begins, "Ah, English Tshirts in China.  Their baffling, humorous and sometimes completely inappropriate messages can make for viral gold." A Mr. Bakgwei was interviewed, and he explained that his wife is a clothing designer and wholesaler in southern China.  The reason there are English words on the shirts is because "English is cool".  As for the random words, though, he reports that "the vast majority of the people in the business are uneducated.  He knows of a 32 year old woman who quit school after 9th grade and she cannot speak a word of English, but "...she now makes 10s of millions of RMB a year on making bullshit shirts with random English words."  How does she choose the words?  Well, it seems that certain letters are considered 'more attractive' than others, such as the letters J, P, B, Y and O. On the other hand, the I and U are less 'good looking'  So this woman goes online, types a few letters to find a word or phrase she likes (how it looks), but then she changes letters to make it "look better".  Sometimes, though, it comes back to bite her in the a$$.  Thousands of shirts were returned to her that said "I'M NOT GAY"

So there you have it...Chinglish explained.

Now here's a shirt I would buy :)

And here are bathing suits I would not be caught dead in!
Chinese bathing suit fashion also leaves something to be desired.

What's even more funny than the suits themselves is that
the Chinese would not be caught in the water without a swim toy.

Whether it is fashionable, or they have a fear
of drowning, I simply do not know....
I took this when I visited Sanya Beach in South China.

While this guy was thrilled to get his photo with a laowai,
I was thrilled to get my photo with a grown a$$ man in water wings!

Oh, China, you keep me smiling most days :-)



G'nite, y'all!