Signs in the Far East often make the English tourist laugh. Mostly because they get it completely wrong. (Of course, sometimes that also happens in the lingual motherland). Well in China, AFP reports that some of these signs will have to be cleared up by the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Let’s hope so.
Fixing English a sign of the Olympics
Monday November 14, 08:55 AMBEIJING, (AFP) – Call it a sign of the times, but China wants to fix the embarrassing English on Beijing’s bilingual signs as part of an image make-over before it hosts the 2008 Olympics.
The China Daily reported that a “Use Accurate English to Welcome the Olympics” campaign has drawn more than 300 contributions from people pointing out garbles and giggles from signs across the city.
The Park of Ethnic Minorities is identified as “Racist Park.” Emergency exits at Beijing international airport read “No entry on peacetime.”
And drivers are warned about the hazards of a wet road with a sign that reads: “The slippery are very crafty.”
All signs are to be corrected by 2007, the paper said.
From: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/14112005/323/fixing-english-sign-olympics.html
For those dying for more humour, there’s a great site called Engrish.com. Enjoy!