Jumat, 16 Desember 2005

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

Kamis, 15 Desember 2005



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".

Selasa, 13 Desember 2005


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, 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"?


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Minggu, 11 Desember 2005


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 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 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 only mean “main character”. If you ever stepped foot in a DVD store, you will know “hero” is , there is even a movie with the same title was made starring Jet Li.

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


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Kamis, 08 Desember 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Senin, 05 Desember 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.
Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Rabu, 30 November 2005


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 (or ), which means “meditation”, and “shi” (or "poem") should be (or ).

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


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Selasa, 29 November 2005


http://asap.ap.org/stories/199840.s

Stephanie Hoo of Associated Press has written a piece about Hanzi Smatter called "Lost in Translation, Are you SURE that Chinese tattoo means what you think it means?".

Thanks!


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Sabtu, 26 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Selasa, 22 November 2005


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

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

is the simplified version of .

The lower partial in (simplified ) should be , not .


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.


Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.
Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Jumat, 18 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.
Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Rabu, 16 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Minggu, 13 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Sabtu, 12 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Sabtu, 05 November 2005



According to reader “Quaz”:

“It is a picture of a tattoo taken by some racist, who apparently just downloaded an ‘Asian’ font from the Internet, wrote ‘SAY NO TO NIGGERS’ with that font and let somebody to tattoo it in his back. Of course, since languages don't work that way - which apparently is too much to comprehend for our little white supremacist here - the message is completely incomprehensible, as it actually is just finish with a strange font.”

The tattoo is complete gibberish.

Update: The tattoo shown here is suppose to be Finnish of “SANO EI LAKUPEKOILLE”, which is the English equivalent for “say no to niggers”. The owner of the tattoo used an “Asian” font to mimic the alphabets. What the fool did not realize is that the Chinese do not use alphabets. Way to show your racial superiority by using another culture's language.

Racists are idiots.
Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Jumat, 04 November 2005

book / ultimate mandarine 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?

= person
= enter

Rabu, 02 November 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Sabtu, 29 Oktober 2005


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

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

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


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.
GQ Magazine Nov. 2005 issue 1130

In Nov. 2005 issue of GQ magazine, there is an article called "The Office Dick" by Cecil Donahue. It identifies "The Common Two-Face Slacker" with the characteristics of "odd facial piercings" and "Chinese character tattooed on back of neck".


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Selasa, 25 Oktober 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.

Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2005




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" (, Pride), “Invidia” (, Envy), “Ira” ( or , Wrath), “Acedia” ( or , Sloth), “Avaritia” (, Greed), “Gula” ( or , Gluttony), and “Luxuria” (, , or , Lust) are Latin names for the Seven Deadly Sins.

is the simplification of .

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


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Jumat, 21 Oktober 2005


http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51022/high/bmepb152472.jpg

is an old Chinese idiom that meant "in all sincerity", "with one's whole heart", or "whole-hearted devotion".

Ironically, neither the tattooist nor the client has devoted enough effort to make sure the tattoo was done correctly.


Use "HANZI2006" to save 10% on any t-shirt purchase at Jlist.com, and save 25% for 3 shirts or more.

Kamis, 20 Oktober 2005

Selasa, 18 Oktober 2005

Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.
Ringkasan ini tidak tersedia. Harap klik di sini untuk melihat postingan.