Foreigners share hilarious examples of mangled English in China and show its lighter side
By sophia on 2016-07-06

Frankie Bromage, 23, could not help but laugh when she read some of the sentences in the pamphlet the Hangzhou government compiled for its residents ahead of the G20 summit in September in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Titled To Quickly Memorize 100 English Sentences, the pamphlet teaches residents how to say some common English expressions by using pinyin that sounds similar. "'Welcome to Hangzhou" was 'wai kan mu tu Hangzhou," said Bromage. "It was amusing."

One of the growing number of expats who are attracted and amazed by Chinglish, Bromage, an English teacher based in Beijing, appreciates the vitality and creativity of Chinglish.

Chinglish refers to spoken or written English that is influenced by the Chinese language. It is usually applied to ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and it can present itself phonetically, grammatically, lexically and logically.

The language style of Chinglish has attracted a cult-like following, with a number of articles dedicated to the phenomenon, as well as Facebook groups and Flickr pages, posting pictures of menus and road signs in Chinglish. There is even a book, Chinglish: Found in Translation, which offers a humorous and insightful look into the language phenomenon. 

While Chinese governmental bodies and language organizations constantly attempt to eradicate Chinglish by taming the English translations of signs, it seems that Chinglish will persist, and even thrive. Expats in Beijing are also stepping forward to defend Chinglish. 

Logic & language

Bromage thinks a lot of Chinglish expressions stem from the Chinese way of thinking, which is quite different from the Western way of thinking.

"I see signs with 'Save water, you are the best' on them many times when I go to the toilet in Beijing, but in my home country, Britain, we would never say that. Instead, we would just say 'Please save water, thank you,'" Bromage said. "I love the seemingly Chinglish expression more. How wonderful life is when someone tells me I am the best every time I go to the toilet. I even have the urge to say, 'Thanks sign. I am the best. Yay!'"

Bromage is not only happy about some English expressions with Chinese characteristics but also attracted to some Chinglish concepts, which, initially, only make sense to people familiar with Chinese. Bromage recalled the first time she heard the term "sunshine boy." I had absolutely no idea what that's supposed to mean," she said. 

Images of a guy from the 1990s, wearing shorts and a T-shirt sprung to her mind. In her imagination, sunshine boys were also gay. Later, she found out that it refers to a boy who is energetic, positive and able to make other people happy. "It's interesting to think about how people came up with those translations," she said. "It makes life in China more interesting."

Interesting Chinglish does not only appear because of differences in logic but also due to awkward lexical choices and grammatical errors.

The word "play" is a good example. Bromage said, for many Chinese people, it means "to hang out and have fun," but in English, it is not quite the same and can lead to embarrassment. "I often hear my adult friends reply, 'I will play with my friends' after being asked what would they do on the weekend," Bromage said. "One friend once said, 'I played with myself' in response to the question, which means to masturbate in English."

Growing influence 

Other Chinglish expressions derive from grammatical errors.

"'Long time no see' is a classic example," said Nicola Smith, a 30-year-old Canadian crew member based at the Beijing Capital International Airport. 

"It is based on the Chinese sentence structure, rather than English," he said.

The recently popular expression "you can you up" (if you can do it, you should go up and do it) is another typical example, Smith said.

"If English grammar is the standard, there is one unmissable verb like "go" missing in this sentence, and even if it does have that crucial verb, the sentence would still be grammatically wrong since there is no logical linking word," Smith said. "But even though the expression is grammatically incorrect, my love for it never wanes, since it's so rhythmical."

As Chinese influence increases, Chinese-English hybrid phrases and sentences are also making their way overseas. 

Among the expressions gaining popularity abroad, "You can you up," "No zuo no die" (if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back and bite you in the ass), and "diaosi" (a loser), have been incorporated in Urban Dictionary, an American online dictionary for slangs. 

Chinese words have also been adopted into the English language. About 120 Chinese words have been included in the Oxford Dictionary, among them kung fu, tofu, goji (a berry) have been accepted in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. Wuxia, another popular word which refers to a genre of fiction about martial arts, is in The Oxford English Dictionary.

Although most of them are nouns and specialist terms, more Chinglish words that depict recent trends and phenomena are also influencing the English lexicon. For example, the words "tuhao" (nouveau riche) and "dama" (elderly ladies) have been shortlisted to be included in The Oxford English Dictionary because they encapsulate and describe social phenomena in a way that bridges the language divide, the Xinhua News Agency reported in 2015.

Chinglish and Engnese 

While many English-language learners in China might have mixed feelings regarding such Chinglish-derived humor, expats like Bromage defend the phenomenon. She thinks Chinglish is a natural error that occurs during language learning. She also said foreign language learners would usually form their own pidgin versions, so the phenomenon is not limited to native Chinese speakers. 

"In my opinion, if someone speaks English and others can understand, then there is no reason to say they are wrong," Bromage said.

Foreigners like Bromage also have their language mash-ups as well. It's called "Engnese" and refers to taking slang-like English practices and applying them to Chinese words. "When I speak English, I would often naturally blurt out some Chinese words," Bromage said. "I would use the word 'suibian' (casual, indifferent). [For example, I would use] 'everything is so suibian' to replace a sentence like "everything is fine with me, and I do not care," which would be much longer if I use pure English." 

She sometimes uses Chinese words because it feels more convenient, but sometimes it's just force of habit. 

"I would say 'so mafan rather than 'it's so troublesome,'" she said. "I usually need around two weeks to wipe out Chinese from my English expression. Sometimes, when I'm in my home country, I would blurt out Chinese right in the middle of a sentence and other people would stare at me."

According to Bromage, language mixing is an unstoppable trend as more and more people, speaking different languages, mingle in China.  

A unique collision

German writer Oliver Lutz Radtke, the author of Chinglish: Found in Translation and More Chinglish: Speaking in Tongues, has been researching the phenomenon for more than a decade. 

Studying Chinese in China in 2000, Radtke said he learned the language by trying to decipher virtually everything, including T-shirt labels, food packaging, and park signs. He noticed that many items featured some form of English translation and started to wonder about the purpose behind it.

"In the absolute middle of nowhere, why do you need a bilingual menu? In a remote rural area why is there a 'deformed man toilet' (toilet for disabled people)?" Radtke said.

Soon he began his own collection, posting images on his website chinglish.de, writing about his fascination with the collision of two languages. 

He believes his posts help persons living outside of China understand the country more. "[Western readers] are either a little bit less afraid of China or that they are impressed by Chinese creativity."

According to Radtke, when the books came out, some Chinese readers thought he was mocking China. That preconception has changed completely. Nowadays both Chinese and Westerners read and regularly contribute to his collection and encourage him to go on.

Witnessing many Chinese governmental bodies and language organizations trying to eradicate Chinglish, Radtke said he thinks it's because China wants its opinions to be heard and its culture to be recognized globally.

"I, nevertheless, still believe that by preserving some of the more creative translations, Chinglish can continue to serve as a humorous introduction to some elements of Chinese thinking or the Chinese mind in general," Radtke said. "I also think that China could be more confident in introducing some of its Chinglish to the English language. Since around the world there are way more English learners than native speakers, the academic debate on who actually sets the global standard on 'correct' English is still going on."

Nonetheless, Chinglish is still thriving, especially in second-, third- and fourth-tier cities. The language brochure for G20 summit is a good example of how Chinglish is still very much alive, according to Radtke. 

"Although it relies on a fake phonetic English spelling instead of investing in real language courses, it is good thinking that the city's government encourages its citizens to interact with English-speaking foreigners in a Chinglish way," he said.