Lost in Translation

Qingdao, the coastal city I dwell in, is becoming more and more friendly towards foreigners. When you go to an ATM or several of the local restaurants it's not uncommon to find English available to help you navigate. This is quite a convenience for those of use whose Chinese is not quite on native level yet...or might never be on par with the natives (let's be real here).

Translation, even at its best, is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. There are just some words and expressions that aren't found in every language. That being said, some simple translations (menus for example) shouldn't be that difficult get right. Hey, I'm not saying I'm capable of that translation on my own. But, if someone who spoke basic English could tell me what a menu item was then I'm fairly confident I could assist them so that some of the translation errors I recently found could have been avoided.

What errors am I referring to? Well, I went to a Chinese restaurant a week ago with an old student of mine. (Side note: when I say "old" I mean a student I no longer teach...she's 15.) While we were there we enjoyed some delicious dumplings and the best fish soup I have yet to taste (I'm not a big fish person, and she kind of forced me to try the broth and the fish. Both made me want to take her food away and claim it for myself. I guess you could say my American roots were showing...). However, aside from the exquisite cuisine, this establishment is also memorable for the amount of "Chinglish" found on its menus. Enjoy.

1. "Baby food mix sting skin"

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly what this meant. I seriously doubt this meal was constructed with infants in mind, and I'm hoping the "skin" they are referring to belongs to some sort of vegetable.

2. "Spicy hyper to tear food"

My first thought was, "so this food is so spicy it'll make you cry?" However, the word "hyper" was throwing me off. My only guess is they were looking for a different adjective to describe the level of spiciness...but hey, I wasn't about to order it and find out.









3. "Taste the flank"

This was certainly bossy and presumptuous of the restaurant. I think not ordering this made me kind of rebellious.











4. "Whose balls"

This was my favorite for obvious childish reasons. A very strong part of me wanted to add a question mark at the end of this menu item. However, I think this might have been one of those times I really didn't want to know...










This doesn't happen at every place you go to eat or every time your eyes are captivated by some familiar English message. However, it's not exactly as rare as finding a unicorn or a taxi when you need one on a Friday night. That being said, I hoped you enjoyed these lovely little gems I recently stumbled across. When I see more (cause there will be more) I will happily write a follow up post ("Lost in Translation pt. 2!).