Notes » June 2009

Chinglish Is Everywhere

The phrase much ado about nothing leapt to mind when I read of a small flap over the "Chinglish" used at Central Pier.

It seems some folks feel that instead of saying "Go. Cheung Chau" and "Go. Mui Wo", they should say "To Cheung Chau" and "To Mui Wo". The complaint is that the poor grammar hurts Hong Kong's image as an international city.

But Chinglish is nothing new; I've been documenting it for years:

• Waiting Will Be Prosecuted

• Flash Food

• Keep Out of Distances

• No Dog Fouling

• Becare

• Witch Room

• Government Retaining Wall

And that's just a few of many. By comparison the Central Pier signs are forgivable. In fact, English speakers might take the punctuation as understated encouragement: Go (no really, go, it's cool. Go. You'll thank me.). Therefore I disagree that it damages the Big Lychee's international reputation.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board and the city's political system takes care of that.

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