On Vacation

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

"Ding Dong"

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".

Arbor Snowboard - "Push"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Bewitch Hero Energy

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Manzo's Tattoo

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Friendless"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51202/high/bmepb175130.jpg

This young man probably did not have a Chinese-speaking friend to verify the tattoo for him.

友 (friend) is missing a horizontal stroke.


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

"Hair Splitting"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Shi"

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

Luckily, they did not make the mistake of printing 屎, 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.

Associated Press: Lost in Translation

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Death Wish"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Fraud Blessing"

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

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

诈 is the simplified version of 詐.

The lower partial in 爱 (simplified 愛) should be 友, not 反.


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

"Gratitude"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Raven's Lazy Eye

http://www.raven-eye.com/kanji_disks_1.htm

権 or 權 does not mean "balance", rather it means "authority" and "rights".

乾 in modern Chinese is commonly used to represent "dry" or "dehydrated". There was a Chinese emperor named 乾隆. In the book of Yi Jing (易經), it is used to represent "heaven".

Although any celebration would be a joyous occasion, 慶 does not mean "joy", it means "to celebrate".


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

"Think"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Sisters"

http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A51116/high/bmepb166883.jpg

The top character 姉 is a Japanese specific character for "elder sister". Its equivalent in Chinese are 姊 and 姐.

The bottom character 妹 means "younger sister". If the order of two horizontal stokes in 未 partical are reversed and changed the character to 妺, it would mean "wife of the last ruler of the Xia dynasty".

Both characters are somewhat recognizable, but I am astonished by the mangled left partial 女.


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

"Peter"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Katherine"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Shawn Marion - The Matrix

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Asian Font Gibberish

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.

Einstein Wants to Know

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

Ultimate Mandarin 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?

人 = person
入 = enter

"Forever Cherish"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

"Bitter"

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

GQ magazine Nov. 2005 Issue

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Etch a Mac

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Seven Sins

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Whole-Hearted Devotion

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SNL - Tattoo Removal

video: 5.16 MB mov

Jujutsu

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Four Seasons

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.