On Vacation

Dear Readers,

Starting on Dec. 17th, I will be traveling through Oregon and California for three weeks.

Thanks to the great folks at Gmail for hooking me up with Gmail Mobile, so if anyone has any tips about interesting places to visit, please feel free to email me.

In the meantime, please entertain yourselves with this Japanese etiquette guide about how to properly order and consume sushi.

Happy Holidays


-tian

"Ding Dong"

When I saw this photo, the first two questions popped into my mind are:

1. Is the witch dead?

2. Are the fries done?

The four-character phrase (circled in red) on this young man's left forearm is the literal translation that means "the sound of ding-dong".

Arbor Snowboard - "Push"

http://www.arborsports.com/06/snowboards/html/push_06.html

In the promotional pamphlet for "Push" from Arbor Snowboards, the characters circled in red are mirrored. It could be an "artistic" thing.



http://www.arborsports.com/06/snowboards/html/push_06_lrg.html

If the phrase on the snowboard is translated back into English one character per word, 女表達 would mean "female expression", but it is contextually incorrect and sounds terrible.

Since this snowboard caters to female riders, why not just call it "female expression" instead of "Push"? Or use jumbled "Americanese" that translates to "female expression"?


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Bewitch Hero Energy

http://flickr.com/photos/shadowbox/25270163/

Many tattoo shops prohibit any photographs to be taken in their shops. I never really asked why but have always assumed it has something to do with copyrights. It always makes me cringe whenever I see template displays in tattoo shops with incorrect translation and wrongly written characters.

Thanks to Flickr user “Shadowbox”, I found the photo shown above.

The character 化 with caption “to bewitch” is not necessarily correct. The Japanese 化かす does have “to bewitch” as one of its meanings, but the character 化 by itself only means “to change” or “to convert”, and “reaction” in Chemistry. 蠱惑 is often used to describe “bewitch”.

The last character in “hero” appeared to be mirrored. The three characters 主人公 only mean “main character”. If you ever stepped foot in a DVD store, you will know “hero” is 英雄, there is even a movie with the same title was made starring Jet Li.

The “energy” character 活 means “to survive” or “to exist”. Usually 氣 is used to represent “energy” in terms of “Chi” or “Qi”, and 能 is used to represent physical energy.


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Manzo's Tattoo

http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=789394

Reader Sam emailed me the photo shown above.

As one commenter has already mentioned in the original forum, these are random characters with two of them done incorrectly.


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"Friendless"

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"Hair Splitting"

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"Shi"

http://www.shistudio.com (thanks to Jonathan for the photo)

Well designed business cards are necessary to attract potential clients’ attention. Shi Studio recently passed out these cards at a Toronto art show. According to their website, “Shi means poems in Chinese”.

That is absolutely correct.

Unfortunately, that is not what is printed on their cards.

The character on the card is 禅 (or 禪), which means “meditation”, and “shi” (or "poem") should be 詩 (or 诗).

Luckily, they did not make the mistake of printing 屎, which is also pronounced as "shi" but with third tone, on their cards. (Hint: This "shi" does not mean "poem.")


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Associated Press: Lost in Translation

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"Death Wish"

http://www.painlesswayne.com/SCREENSAVER/KANJI%20WRISTS.jpg

This young man wanted "death wish" (or "death" and "desire") to be tattooed on the insides of his wrists. 死 (death) is missing one dot, and 欲 (desire) has been completely butchered.


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"Fraud Blessing"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51121/high/bmepb168208.jpg

I am not sure if this person wanted 诈 (fraud) or 祚 （blessing) on his arm.

诈 is the simplified version of 詐.

The lower partial in 爱 (simplified 愛) should be 友, not 反.


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"Gratitude"

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Raven's Lazy Eye

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"Think"

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"Sisters"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51116/high/bmepb166883.jpg

The top character 姉 is a Japanese specific character for "elder sister". Its equivalent in Chinese are 姊 and 姐.

The bottom character 妹 means "younger sister". If the order of two horizontal stokes in 未 partical are reversed and changed the character to 妺, it would mean "wife of the last ruler of the Xia dynasty".

Both characters are somewhat recognizable, but I am astonished by the mangled left partial 女.


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"Peter"

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"Katherine"

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Shawn Marion - The Matrix

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Einstein Wants to Know

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Ultimate Mandarin Chinese

Textbook is one of the basic tools for someone to learn a foreign language. When there are typos in a beginning-intermediate level Chinese textbook, usually students would assume they are “correct” and move on.

I wonder how the editors of “Ultimate Mandarin Chinese” would feel after reading this post, especially when the slogan on its cover says “The Most Complete and Up-to-Date Program Available”.

How about recheck your book with a dictionary?

人 = person
入 = enter

"Forever Cherish"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A20925/high/arm.jpg

I wonder what she is "forever cherishing" (永遠懷念) about.

The poorly done tattoo, perhaps?


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"Bitter"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51012/high/bmepb147728.jpg

苦 means "bitter", "hardship", or "suffering".

The three exact emotions this guy is going through right now.


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GQ magazine Nov. 2005 Issue

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Etch a Mac

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The Seven Sins

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51022/high/bmepb151995.jpg

Anyone who has ever read Dante Alighieri’s La divina commedia or “The Divine Comedy” (It was a required reading when I was in high school, and trust me, it was not an actual “comedy”) or watched the movie “SE7EN” would know about the Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Cardinal Sins.

"Superbia" (高慢, Pride), “Invidia” (嫉妒, Envy), “Ira” (激怒 or 憤怒, Wrath), “Acedia” (怠惰 or 懶惰, Sloth), “Avaritia” (貪欲, Greed), “Gula” (暴食 or 貪食, Gluttony), and “Luxuria” (肉欲, 色欲, 性欲 or 好色, Lust) are Latin names for the Seven Deadly Sins.

欲 is the simplification of 慾.

After viewing the tattoo above, I would like to add “improvidus” and “ignarus” to the Cardinal Sins list.


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Whole-Hearted Devotion

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SNL - Tattoo Removal

video: 5.16 MB mov

Jujutsu

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The Four Seasons

(thanks to Terry for the photos)

Just because you have purchased the latest books on Feng Shui 風水 and watched way too much home make-over shows, it does not mean you have to jump onto the bandwagon. At least please consult someone first.

Twisted “Four Seasons” 春夏秋冬, that is definitely bad Feng Shui.


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