For many of us English-speaking foreigners, we are quite used to the Chinese displaying “interesting” use of English and many would shake their head with disapproval. And we think as native Chinese, their Chinese would be perfect. Well, if we were to think ‘perfect’ is something hard to achieve, perhaps we would least expect such ‘imperfection’ to be displayed at an official public space, it simply doesnt reflect well. If my student were to ask “老师，中国人正式的场合华文都能犯错，我们写错别字你就不要那么生气了好吗？” Hmm … perhaps we/I should be more forgiving at times? 😛
This is a display item in the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum.
And this is our dear “Robot Host”
So, you are led to believe that this display teaches one how to read time …
And you have read that Chinese’s a conservative lot. Perhaps it doesnt apply in modern Shanghai? Here you look upon an ‘attractive‘ ‘subject‘, and thereafter you pressed the subject’s ‘bottoms‘ !?! *gasp*
This is the main part of this musing. Use your sharp eyes to locate the error 🙂 If you need a hint, click on the ‘continue reading’ link below … enjoy the hunt …
Hint: Compare line 3 words 11 & 12 with line 4 words 9 & 10, so which one’s erroneous?
Answer: Line 3 displayed the correct use. However, one can argue that the final wish ‘愿’ is a result of an in-depth discussion ‘议’, which shows how democratic we are. This is however 强词夺理 😛