Shanghai Seeks to Stamp Out 'Chinglish' Signs

By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 25, 2009 6:06 AM CDT
Shanghai Seeks to Stamp Out 'Chinglish' Signs
A sign at the entrance of a bathroom in a public building warns "Careful Landslip Attention Security" in Beijing on Aug. 8, 2006.   (AP Photo/Elizabeth Dalziel)

Foreign tourists in Shanghai may soon have to go without the amusement of photographing signs in mangled English: City authorities, long embarrassed by the signs, are launching a campaign to root out "Chinglish" ahead of hosting the 2010 World Expo, the BBC reports. Student volunteers will check the city's signs, on the lookout for warnings to "keep valuables snugly" or "bump your head carefully". 

Chinglish on display in Shanghai ranges from the awkward-but-decipherable ("beware the people press close to you designedly") to the woefully mistranslated ("please leave your values at the front desk") to the downright surreal: "If you are stolen, call the police at once." The city hopes it can induce those responsible for the errors to correct them. 
(More China stories.)

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