Chinese Cultural Lesson #1

The Chinese language is a very old and rather practical language. When something new comes along, say a computer for example, they don’t make up a new word, “computer” as we do in English. Rather, they use the existing words and characters they already have to describe new ideas, concepts, and inventions. They do not create new characters. This is why their language is rather practical. Let’s take our earlier example - computer. In Chinese they call it a 电 脑 （diannao）which literally means “electric brain.” I was fascinated by this concept so I thought I would make some suggestions for other things that either have recently, or may soon make their way into Chinese culture thus necesitating a Chinese moniker. Here they are:

Sweet Tea - 液 体 阳 光 (yeti yangguang) - liquid sunshine

Nascar - 慢 说 向左 (man shuo xiang zuo) - slow talk, left turn

Text Messaging - 不 时间 (bu shijian) time waster

Target - 我 太 好 Wal-Mart (wo tai hao Wal-Mart) I’m too cool for Wal-Mart

Macintosh - 剧痛 电脑 (jutong diannao) smarter electric brain

Valentine’s Day - 我偷你白痴 (wo tou ni baichi) Gotcha suckers! This Chinese phrase is also loosely translated, “someone is laughing his way all the way to the bank.”

Crocs - 我 是 愚蠢 (wo shi yuchun) “I look like a clown but at least my feet are comfortable.”

Krispy Kreme - 圆形的 天堂 (yuanxingde tiantang) circular heaven. My other suggestion, “carbs have gotten a bad rap lately and are really quite underrated” didn’t exactly translate.
As a side note - they used to have Dunkin’ Donuts in Beijing but it is no longer here. Perhaps it didn’t have a good enough name.

I would love your comments or further suggestions. Submit them via email and perhaps we can add a part 2 to this blog post. If you have a good one I will of course give credit where credit is due.