Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Chinglish vs English

Chinese and English are totally different language systems. Even though we have learnt English since being little children, most of us cannot convince native English speakers that we are good at English, no matter whether it is writing or speaking. We must confess that we use our Chinese-orientated brains to translate Chinese into English word-by-word. I would like to share some Chinglish that I collected from my foreign friends for your reference:
CN: remember you forever vs EN: always remember you
CN: wish you have a ... vs EN: wish you a ...
CN: give you vs EN: here you are
CN: yellow hair vs EN: blond/blonde
CN: WC vs EN: men's room/women's room/restroom
CN: it's a pity vs EN: that's too bad/it's a shame
CN: trousers vs EN: pants/slacks/jeans
CN: mend vs EN: fix/repair
CN: way in vs EN: entrance
CN: way out vs EN: exit ( way out=crazy)
CN: should vs EN: must/shall
CN: mansion vs EN: center/plaza
CN: so-so vs EN: average/fair/all right/not too bad/OK
CN: delicious vs EN: good/nice/tasty/appetizing
CN: try my best vs EN: try/strive
CN: famous vs EN: well-known/renowned/legendary/popular
CN: the door of the car vs EN: the car's door
CN: how to spell? vs EN: how do you spell?
CN: bye-bye vs EN: bye/see you/see you later/later
CN: it is said vs EN: I heard/I read/I was told
CN: and so on vs EN: etc.
CN: till now vs EN: recently/lately/thus far

1 comment:

  1. i see some really genuine Chinglish--so-so, WC, oh, that's funny,,,haha

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