Summer Eyes Online continues to promise to deliver the following: 1) a cheap substitute for holiday cards; 2) a lofty tradition of impersonal, self-laudatory, and infrequent correspondence; 3) a pun on the word " summarize," 4) a guarantee that this newsletter will not be sent before Christmas so that it can also serve as a single mailing of holiday cheer as well as serving as an inexpensive thank you card to gift givers (and to serve as a gentle reminder to those who fail to realize that it is better to give than receive), and 5) a method of avoiding printing, copying, paper and postage costs. (Eyes by Quinn)
Bejing-- While on sabbatical in Beijing, David Corbin met with people from various health-related fields and he made contacts for future research. He was in Beijing for the month of April taking one side trip to Xi'an. Josie Metal-Corbin joined him for the last two weeks. They both gave two presentations on stress management at the American Embassy in Beijing. Following are some of Corbin's musings and observations--called "Tossed in Translation." I am checked into a hotel in Beijing and I look at the printed materials my room. I am, literally, reading a laundry list with the price of laundering each item. My eyes are drawn to two items on the list: "cowboy suit" and "armor." It occurs to me that maybe the cowboy suit is some kind of Ang Lee reference to "Brokeback Mountain." Because of the popularity of that movie, maybe more people are now traveling with their cowboy suits. I think: "Cowboy suit, I wish I could quit you."
But what about the armor? Can it be cleaned and polished for less than two American dollars? If this is true I should have packed more armor, despite the hassles it might have caused at the airport metal detectors.
Okay, so who am I to criticize? I am far from being a Sino-American scholar. I had only been studying Chinese for about a year, mostly on my iPod and mostly via Pimsleur lessons. Truthfully, I wouldnąt have been able to translate any of the items on the list on my own. Besides, this was a list in a small hotel and the translati on was probably not done by a professional translator. As amusing as the laundry list was to me, it is understandable that some translations will be less than perfect.
Let's just chalk the above amusing translations to lack of attention to detail. However, a short walk from my Beijing hotel I came across this translation -- "Research Center of Fictitious Economy and Finance." My first thought was, I wonder if they could help me with my tax returns? As comical as I thought this translation was (and this translation is on an official government institute), I wondered what they really meant. A better translation might be "Research Center of (Theoretical/Virtual/Simulated?) Economics and Finance." Then it occurred to me that the use of the word "fictitious" is not much different than the way some English speakers interpret the "theory of evolution" or the "global warming theory." To them theory equals fiction.
The next strange translation that I encountered was technically correct, but still off the mark. Among the ruins in Yuanmingyuan Park the sign read: "No climbing. No depicting." Although you get the message that you shouldn't climb or write on or deface anything on the property, this sign conjures up images of someone illegally trying to re-enact an historical event. "Hey you, are you depicting the Opium War?" "Well, knock it off right now."
Other signs that I observed fell into the category of literal translations of a flowery language. Nevertheless, the English translations come across more as lines from an internet predator than a sign message in a public park. "Pleasure ground for children" and "Eight pleasures studio."
Maybe the following sign is aimed at the implied predators from the park signs above.
In a language where mamahuhu (literally horse horse tiger tiger) means "so-so" as well as "careless," it should not be surprising for English speakers to see these interesting translations. And for those of you who are old enough to remember, it is reminiscent of the way Hollywood television scriptwriters wrote for the Lone Ranger's faithful Indian companion, Tonto. Lone Ranger: "Tonto, how do you stay so slim and trim?" Tonto: "I go free fit keeping field, Kemo Sabe" (see the sign below).
As entertaining as some of these Chinese translations were, I can't help but envy those people who can converse and communicate in two or more languages. Maybe someday I can attend the "Talenty Children's English Talenty Elementary Education."
