Lost In Translation (10/10)
October 10, 2008 Posted by ChrisThere’s some great hiking in Taiwan, definitely. We’ve gone to a place called ‘DaKen’ a few times now. It has a few trails that all lead up to the top of a mountain where you can look out upon the city of Taichung (on clear days). The people on the trails are always very friendly and have big smiles on their faces when they see us foreigners. I’m making a big guess, but I’m pretty sure foreigners don’t go hiking in Daken very often.
At the entrance to most of the trails there’s always a few maps & warning signs. Although the English is quite easy to understand (whilst leaving something to be desired) I love this warning sign:
I think it’s the “Be Careful Monkey”. Somehow whenever I read it and see that picture I think of the movie Jumanji and some voice in my head says “Ahhh, be careful, monkeys!” Either way, luckily for this one, not too terribly much is lost in translation from Chinese to English.
My little disclaimer to go a long with these photos is that I have much respect for the many cultures in Asia. It is only that many Asian ideologies inherent in their languages translate poorly into English. Even with these translation errors, I am completely grateful that most signs are translated into English, it has been infinitely helpful to me.
Posted: October 10, 2008 under Lost In Translation
4 Comments
i didn’t even have to read the rest of the sign. “Be careful monkey” is hilarious! i almost fell off my chair.
btw, i believe i told you before about the “problem” i think you have. well, its actually your site. for 3 days straight whenever i try to visit i see this “internal server error”. i’m not sure if you already know that but that’s the problem i was talking about in my previous comment.
hope its resolved already
haha, “Be careful monkey†!
Did you also know a famous Chinese slang “熊出没注æ„“， it can be understand as “熊出没，注æ„ï¼â€ï¼ˆBe careful Bear!), Or “熊出，没注æ„.” (Didn’t notice that the bear was alreay in front of you.)
lmao, thanks for sharing the laugh, i love the first one ” be careful monkey”
hope you’re having a great week.
@chorva
Thanks man! Yea I fixed that problem with the site. Thanks for the heads up (I was gone on vacation when it happened =P).
@iWalk
Haha, thanks for the insight, I didn’t know that!