Published by Swiss James on 27 Jun 2008 at 01:24 pm
Harder than a Chinese crossword
Is this a menu item or a frigging cryptic crossword clue?
Good food in this place though.
I forget the exact address but it’s a Chinese restaurant in Beijing, shouldn’t be hard to track down.
Woaizhongguo on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
If this is the clue, what’s the answer?
tinaraia on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
my favourite was always “thinly sliced chicken flesh”
i though the Olympics police was supposed to deal with this..
G.B. on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
The restaraunt across from my apartment has a large sign over the door that reads: Beef Patty Explode the Stomach. I’ve never eaten there.
Swiss James on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
Wo-Ai I think it’s “Lamb Shank”
tinaria- that sounds delicious, but yeah I know the story you’re talking about
http://olympics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/chinese-food-translations-sweet-sour-and-downright-odd/
G.B- hmm, a new face, welcome! You should give it a go, what’s the worse that can happen? (Oh right yeah- exploding stomach, I forgot)
T. on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
This explains a lot
http://www.danwei.org/computing/where_chinglish_comes_from.php
Swiss James on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
I’ve seen that link before T- and I find it really takes the fun out of things.
Go and stand in the corner.
andy_best on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
zi ran is a kind of spice. Although the online bilingual dictionaries don’t seem to have it.
I prefer the English there.
Clue: unwearied effort however mutton
Answer: ’sheep’ shape.
andy_best on 27 Jun 2008 at pm #
Oh - it’s Cumin (fennel flower)
But how to get to unwearied effort?
shanghai Ninja on 28 Jun 2008 at am #
at least the translation for the dish below that one is not as half assed.
When I was in Shanghai a few years ago, my family and I were eating at this very posh restaurant. Everything seemed to go well until I scanned the menu and saw “Duck with Semen sauce”. I showed it to everyone and we went hysterical. The waiters gave us strange looks and thought we were crazy. Then I waved to one of them and asked if the duck dish was coated with duck or human semen.
Lots of memories in that particular restaurant.
dingle on 28 Jun 2008 at pm #
ninja, James will probably need the address for that restaurant, he’s into that kind of thing! have a look at a post in november 2007 called Hairy Crabs!
Colin on 29 Jun 2008 at am #
Maybe the meat is tough?
CaN no one write good English in this country? Just saw some interesting labels on the snacks at the airport lounge
http://download.yousendit.com/460D8AF95CCFF9C0
Woaizhongguo on 29 Jun 2008 at pm #
Colin I think it’s mostly restaurant staff that struggle with English. Certainly the bar girls on Tong Ren Lu in Shanghai don’t have the same language issues!
T on 29 Jun 2008 at pm #
Swiss - can I have a bowl of fuck noodles while I’m in the corner?
Swiss James on 30 Jun 2008 at am #
T- you may
Colin- I’m in this country and I can write real proper like good english!
WoAi- that’s true actually, their customer service training must be excellent on that strip of bars.
shanghai Ninja- yeah as dingle says, I think you’re making a big assumption that the translation was inaccurate there. Still have nightmares about that crab last year.
andy- you’ve got me, and I didn’t order it so can’t give any clues there either.
MD on 01 Aug 2008 at am #
I just had that for dinner last night. Pity.