"China to Ban Chinglish for '08 Olympics"

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Updated:2007-04-12  10:11:49
China to Ban 'Chinglish' for '08  Olympics

By STEPHEN WADE
AP

BEIJING (April 12) - Along with spitting, run-down  housing and bad manners,
add unintelligible English to the list of things  organizers of the 2008
Beijing Olympics want to ban.



Municipal officials promised on Wednesday to crack down on awkward,
Chinese-inflected English, known as " Chinglish ," and asked the public to help
police bad grammar and faulty syntax.

With 500,000 foreigners expected  for the Olympics, taxi drivers who can't
speak English - or signs that mangle  the language - could be an embarrassment
and distract from the $40 billion being  poured into rebuilding the city for
the games.

Throughout the city,  examples abound.

A store selling tobacco products advertises: "An  Excellent Winding Smoke."

On the floor at Beijing's Capital Airport, a  sign reads: "Careful Landslip
Attention Security."

On a billboard, this  mysterious message: "Shangri-La is in you mind, but
your Buffalo is not."

In an elevator, parents are warned: "Please lead your child to tare the
life."

(...)



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