我记得上海曾经有过一个活动，发动中小学生走上街头，在商店、公告、指示牌上找中文中的“白字”和“错字”。这真是一个非常有意义的活动。
我在多次的讲座中也经常拿出在中国找到的错误的英文指示，犯的显然是“Chinglish”（中文式英语）的错误。比如“小心台阶”被翻成“pay attention to the steps”而非正确的“mind the steps”。也有不少的外国友人告诉过我他们许多次中式英语的告示让他们难以理解，不知所云。
最近，在BBC的网站，有这个一则小新闻，就是关于中式英语“chinglish”，大家不妨看看，从native speaker的角度，我们那些自以为是正确的翻译会有怎样的喜剧效果。
China has launched a fresh drive to clamp down on bad English in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Previous attempts to wipe out Chinglish - the mistranslated phrases often seen on Chinese street signs and product labels - have met with little success.
Emergency exits at Beijing airport read "No entry on peacetime" and the Ethnic Minorities Park is named "Racist Park".
Beijing city authorities will issue new translation guides by the end of the year, Xinhua news agency said.
Running joke
The booklets would be handed out to hotels and shopping malls, on public transport and at tourist attractions.
Chinglish has become a running joke among many foreigners in China, and several websites have been set up listing humorous examples of mistranslation.
A road sign on Beijing's Avenue of Eternal Peace warns of a dangerous pavement with the words: "To Take Notice of Safe; The Slippery are Very Crafty".
Menus frequently list items such as "Corrugated iron beef", "Government abuse chicken" and "Chop the strange fish".
The mistranslations arise because many Chinese words express concepts obliquely and can be interpreted in multiple ways, making translation a minefield for non-English speakers.
The municipal government in Beijing first tried to stamp out the problem just a month after being awarded the 2008 Olympics back in 2001.
A year later the Beijing Tourism Bureau set up a hotline for visitors and residents to tip off examples of bad English, and said results would be reviewed by a panel of English professors and expatriates.
再看看这则新闻之后，不少曾在中国旅行的老外所跟的帖：
Mark Quan, Toronto, Ontario
I have two favourites from spending many years working in China. At the Terracotta Warriors Museum in Xi'an a sign said "Cherishing Flowers and Trees" which meant "keep off the grass". The other on a cruise on the Yangtse River, "Don't Bother" instead of "Do not Disturb" on the cabin doors. There were many others but these always made me smile.
Lee Tomkow, Santa Barbara, California
Whilst living in Beijing about a year ago, I came across a park in a residential area in the Shunyi district which (although intended for use as a 'dog park') was translated to 'Dog-Bark Park'. Not to mention an apartment building which, for some bizarre reason beyond my knowledge was named "An Australian Lady and Her Lifestyle".
James, Spring, TX, USA
At the Simatai section of the Great Wall of China there is a sign that reads: People and flowers, plants help each other in breath, if you pick the flowers they will die, and you will reduce your life too. A lovely message somehow gone somewhat wrong.
Ollie Boothroyd, Windsor, UK
"Site of jumping umbrella" (paragliding site)
Michael Pye, Cambridge, UK
"No striding". On a menu: "The oil explodes the shrimp". "Pleasant aftertaste". On a sign: "Keep fire in safe hands, we live in a safe world."
posted on 2006-10-18 11:11
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