Lost in Translation

The only comfort that comes in struggling with the Chinese language is knowing that the Chinese also struggle with English.  It is almost a game to look for bad translations when you go out - like playing "Where's Waldo" or "Padiddle".  There are gems all around just waiting to be found.  And if you're not in China, then Google the word "Chinglish" and you will be provided with hundreds of examples.

Now, don't get me wrong.   I'm not making fun of or faulting the Chinese for this.  It is their country and the fact that they provide any information in English is a huge courtesy.  And I'm sure that if the State of Indiana suddenly required Chinese translations then our visitors would be laughing at our mistakes.  Heck, some of our English signage is almost unreadable.

But social commentary aside, the translations can be pretty funny.

The best one I've seen was on a menu in Hainan.  The item was translated as "Pork in Nausea Sauce".  Unfortunately, I have no photographic evidence.  But if you don't believe me, then click on THIS LINK.

In Europe, you can find some pretty stunning examples of bad translation too.  But not so many as in China.   I think it has less to do with history or commerce with the English, and has everything to do with the fact that Chinese is just sooooo different at the most fundamental levels.   Thanks to the Romans, the languages of Europe all work in pretty much the same way.  The words may be different, but they can all be traced to some common Latin (or Germanic) root word.  The syntax...or the way you express a thought...is also pretty similar.  If you want to translate from French to Spanish, then you just follow a formula.  Replace this word with that one an this expression with another...and you are good to go. 

Chinese, on the other hand, tends to defy easy formulas for translation.   For example, there is no such thing as verb conjugation....no singular, plural, first-person, third-person, past, present, subjunctive, imperative or any of that stuff is built into the word.  There is just the concept of the action.  For example, the word "Qu" means "go".  Who goes, how they went, when they go, how many have gone....all of that information is provided in other ways and by other stuff in the sentence.  So it is no surprise that many of the "Chinglish" examples show difficulty with expressing action....like "Be Closed" instead of "Closed"....or "Stop Climbing" instead of "Do not Climb".

Longer signs often seem to confuse the order in which ideas should be expressed...such as "the parking please locks up the windows and the doors".  This is because the Chinese put their sentences together in a different way to English or Romantic languages.   So no surprise that when translated the pieces come out in seemingly random order.

Then there are the precious translations such as "Pork in Nausea Sauce".   I'm guessing (just guessing) that these happen because Chinese words are much less precise and much more conceptual than English words.  There are something like 10,000 Chinese characters and about 150,000 English words.  So just looking at those numbers, it is no surprise that a Chinese word is going to be a little more broad in it's meaning.  In English, you add precision by choosing the right word.  In Chinese, you add precision by putting together words that conceptually paint the right picture.  When translated, the conceptual complexity gets stripped away - sometimes with unfortunate results. 

This doesn't just happen in Chinese.  The French, for example, often use the word "bordelle".  In a business meeting, it is common and perfectly acceptable for them to say "quelle bordelle !" as an expression of disgust.  To them, the word "bordelle" means this concept of disorganization, mess, and things being done for the wrong reasons.  But when you translate "bordelle" literally into English you get our word  "bordello"....which implies a much more precise and completely different thing.  The Spanish have a common saying that translates into English literally as "scratching one's testicles".   These expressions are normal in French and Spanish business conversations.  The literal translations would get you fired in the U.S.  So in comparison, a litte "pork with nausea sauce" is not such a bad thing.