I included some funny English signs in the post about the journey to Longquan; I saw a lot all in on the same day, mostly in the same place. But I saw and took photos of others in various other places. Rather than put them in posts about those places, I’ve collected the rest of the strange English signs here. Enjoy!
Tag: signs
I tend to notice mistakes on signs. Sometimes the mistakes make me feel frustrated, but usually they fall somewhere on the spectrum between interesting and hilarious.
To Longquan
For quite a while, I’ve been wanting to go to Longquan, a city of 252,000 people located about 4.5 hours southeast of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Why Longquan? They’re famous for kilns that make Longquan celadon porcelain:
Longquan celadons were an important part of China’s export economy for over five hundred years, and were widely imitated in other countries, especially Korea and Japan. Their demise came after they were overtaken in their markets by blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen. (Wikipedia)
I’ve seen celadon all over Asia (in shops and museums in Singapore, Japan, and Korea), and it’s pretty stuff. I wanted to see where it came from. So that was the first destination on our family road trip.
See below for 21 photos taken on the road to Longquan.
Weird English
Signs, product packaging, clothing… sometimes I notice weird English here in Hangzhou. Sometimes the cause is a typo, sometimes it’s negligent copy/paste, and sometimes it appears to have been a complete shot in the dark. Sometimes the result is close-but-no-cigar, sometimes it’s hilarious, and sometimes it’s mystifying.
Suzhou Signs
In a world where I can’t read most text, my eye is drawn to all the English. I see lots of funny mistakes. Here are 7 signs you’d never see in the US, spotted on a trip to Suzhou.
Faulty premises
I’m not sure what the distorted red circle adds to the message, but in any case, “premises” is plural, so the sign should say “these premises” and not “this premises”.
More on this error below.
FINAL EXIT
Jang Won’s new sign
Previously, I posted about an “all day available a la carte buffet” at Jang Won. They have a new sign now, and it’s better!
Please push your bicycle across the underpass
This is a grammar post. I think the sign should say:
Please push your bicycle through the underpass.
I would use “through” because an underpass is basically a tunnel.
Not that prepositions necessarily make any sense, but in my experience, we say you go across things that you are on and we say you go through things you are in.
Thus, if the sign were talking about a bridge, then it could say:
Please push your bicycle across the bridge.
Bras Basah Complex: Art, Dance, Explore, Sports, Book
If you are looking to buy books in Singapore, this is a good place to go. It has several book shops selling new or used books. It also has print shops, art supply shops, stationery shops, and shops selling musical instruments and antiques.
Within the last couple of years, these colorful square signs were added to convey the complex’s status as a cultural hub of sorts.
Bras Basah Complex
* Art * Dance * Explore * Sport * Book
One of my pet peeves is lists of things that aren’t all the same part of speech. “Art, Dance, Explore, Sports, Book” is a fantastic example. See below for why.
Continue reading Bras Basah Complex: Art, Dance, Explore, Sports, Book
Soup Spoon Novena: Cutleries Station is now Cutlery Corner
Last June, I posted a photo of a sign that said “Cutleries Station”. They have improved the sign tremendously since then.
- In particular, the non-word “cutleries” has been replaced with “cutlery”.
- The sign has an icon showing cutlery, for additional clarity.
- The sign is in better shape.
- It uses cheesy alliteration (of which I am a fan).
I didn’t mention it before, but if you say “cutleries station” aloud, it runs together because of the “s” in the middle and sounds like “cutlery station”. Maybe the similarity in the pronunciation of the two phrases helps explain why the previous sign was written the way it was. The inaudibility of that double s also helps explain “Today Special“.
