I wasn't going to post a lot of Chinglish shots, in part because it's everywhere, and I think that even the not-that-funny mis-translations are too commonly passed around. It seems a little unfair to me to make fun of second-language English that isn't really much worse than some things you'd find written by native speakers in the States (don't get me started), and a lot of the English writing here, while it may be a little odd or somehow off, is understandable. After all, there are a lot of non-Chinese speakers walking around with nonsense etched onto their bodies, which seems a wee bit sillier to me than the average sign or menu item.
That said, there are some translations that really grab my attention, either because they're outrageous from a Western standpoint (see embryo egg rolls) and almost certainly not what the translator/original author intended, or because they're so puzzling that even knowing what the Chinese means doesn't help me understand how they got to the translation.
This is only mildly funny (to me), but I included it anyway because it half-fits both categories. I think the Chinese think Americans/Westerners use "OK" to mean something better than we do, because this is the second "OK/Okay Cafe" I've seen. I'd figure it out myself, but the Chinese basically translates to "little wood house" -- which makes a lot of sense for the decor, but not so much with the "ok". On the other hand, my mom and I stopped at the other Okay Cafe for coffee and hot chocolate the other day. The drinks were... as advertised.
Awesome. I have visions of some surfer dude making a living as a translator. These dishes are SUPEREXCELLENTE, man!
Unfortunately, sometimes Surfer Dude's work boggles the mind. The dish here is actually known as black fungus (a yummy mushroom (?) that's supposed to lower your cholesterol). Literally translated, it could be "black wood ear"; nobody at the table could figure out how that became "jew's-ear." I just hope they're not opening a branch in the Middle East (and frankly, the food was nowhere near superexcellente, so I don't think that's a credible threat).
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