The ‘most emailed’ story on the website of The New York Times is currently No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says.
The article refers to a billboard in Beijing that many native English speakers found rather charming, and identifies the culprit behind its removal:
David Tool, an American who teaches analytical thinking at Beijing International Studies University … and a prominent retired professor, Chen Lin, are now at the vanguard of Beijing’s English police, an effort emboldened by the Olympic self-improvement campaigns. City officials have enlisted the two scholars and other experts to retranslate the bad English translations on signs around the city. Last week, Beijing announced new standards and official translations that can be used on more than 2,000 different types of signs, as well as on menus…
…Mr. Tool said one prominent sign had become a regular photo op for foreigners: the Dongda Anus Hospital.
Mr. Tool intervened. It is now the Dongda Proctology Hospital.
- Danwei: Beijing cleans up its sign translations (with photo of ‘Racist Park’ sign that no longer exists)