One of the many fond memories that Garrett has of his mission to Taiwan is of the English signs they have (like city signs, bumper stickers, billboards, etc). Their translation from Chinese to English isn't really the best, so he and his companion would often come across some pretty amusing signs. For example, on a billboard ad for perfume, it said "you touched my things and a smile came out like music." Or, on a scooter (not a bumper sticker, this was on the actual scooter) it said "we reach for the sky, neither does civilization".
Today I found an article on the LDS Newsroom website about how the mayor of Taichung has asked the LDS missionaries for help in improving their English signs, in hopes that Taiwan will become more inviting to tourists and international businesses. He recognized that many of the missionaries there are from North America, and are native English speakers, and offered to pay them for their service. Of course, they will help free of charge.
The article gives some good examples of some signs that need help:
At a Confucian temple: "Please keep orderliness solemnly silent." (Changed to "Please be silent and respectful.)
Or, at a baseball field: "Game that attention to flying out-of-bounds." (Pay attention to foul balls.)
When I told Garrett about what the missionaries are doing, he laughed but was kind of sad. "That's one of the things I loved about that place... it was so funny!!" I told him that it's too bad it didn't happen while he was there, because then maybe he could have taken an old sign when it was replaced - he would have loved that. Oh well...at least he has a few pictures of some signs with his other mission stuff.
1 comment:
That's hilarious. So politically incorrect. It's cool that they asked the missionaries for help.
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