Does Anyone Ever Ask?

[Randy W]

When you're in China, does anyone ever ask what their English-language (or Western gibberish) T-shirt says? I thought about this today as I was reading our waitress' . She didn't seem to care (or that I was looking) - it said "many many". No one ever has asked me to read their T-shirt for them, either for meaning or pronunciation.

 

If I were at home, I could attach a picture I took of a girl wearing a "please murder me" T-shirt.

[Kyle]

Hi Randy, yeah, that's funny, and no, like you I was never asked about English text on articles of clothing. I remember those days. It somewhat reminds me of Americans who clearly didn't research their Chinese tattoos enough before getting inked.

[Randy W]

My favorite was the girl who wore an "Ass!!" t-shirt to class one day.

[Allon]

I noticed that convention too and the Chinese women love it anyway when told what they have spread all over their pants or breasts mean nothing, absolutely nothing.

 

One thing I found the women like to see across the chest off American men: "Polo," , <the famous Polo emblem>, "Neeekur (Nike)". and now "M (with a circle around it, preferebly in gold" (Michael Kors imprimatur.) There are others.

 

Money talks in signs and symbols in China more than any other country I think.

[Greg.D.]

I have asked a few times about someone's shirt with English writing on it - and always made them self-conscious. It wasn't important what it said - so much as it had some foreign writing on it. And, as Kyle said above, this accounts for some of the tatoos based around hanzi characters.

Anyway, I don't let it bother me ... I would have brought some of those shirts home if I could find my size there!

Greg

[Randy W]

[Catherineli]

As a sensitive language teacher, I met such ignorances many times. The first time was 15 years ago when my English was not practical at all. One of the teachers from other departments holding a cap with the words "shit head" came to Foreign Language Office. I happened to be there. He asked for the meaning of the words because they were buying the cap wholesale for the sports meet the next day to march in a parade. None of the English teachers could give the answer. Everyone believed it a decoration to the cap, so there should be no problem. As a result, all over 60 teachers of their department were wearing the same cap with the same words "shit head" at the sports meet as a way they dressed up. hahahaah

 

Now I even don't dare to repeat the words if face to face talking to someone. The forum helps a little bit. Recent years there are many embarrassing words on people's T-shirts. Really don't want to retell here.

I also saw some tatoos on American people's body in Chinese. There are also mistakes but the tatoo is much worse than a t-shirt because they can't get rid of their tatoo so easily as to put a t-shirt in a garbage. Chinese people are luckie in that way.

 

Catherine

[warpedbored]

My wife says that most of the Chinese characters she sees tattooed on people look like a first grader's scrawl.

[Catherineli]

It's alright mainly with the Chinese characters tattooed but once a young man asked me what his Chinese words meant on his body. I didn't dare to tell him, "I'm devil."

 

Tattoo is one of the patpives or petpives meaning "dislike" for me. In America I saw too many people, men or women having tattoos. I would be thinking, "Your body is beautiful, pure white, why do you give it some man made scars?"

 

Who can tell me the spelling to mean sth you don't like? Patpive or petpive, similar to the pronunciation

 

Catherine

[Greg.D.]

"pet peeve"

[Catherineli]

Excellent Professor Greg!!! pet peeve, pet peeve, pet peeve, learning and learning------------- When can I have a break?----

[Dennis143]

It's alright mainly with the Chinese characters tattooed but once a young man asked me what his Chinese words meant on his body. I didn't dare to tell him, "I'm devil."

 

Tattoo is one of the patpives or petpives meaning "dislike" for me. In America I saw too many people, men or women having tattoos. I would be thinking, "Your body is beautiful, pure white, why do you give it some man made scars?"

 

Who can tell me the spelling to mean sth you don't like? Patpive or petpive, similar to the pronunciation

 

Catherine

Hi YaJie,

 

Call me old fashioned, but I agree. Skin is beautiful and to color it with cartoons or art that you wouldn't hang on a wall in your home is a bit sad. I suppose it's a fad that everyone seems to want to be in on. Not quite the same fad as wearing gold chains was back in the 70s though.

 

I see men with sculpted muscles at my gym. Yet many have "full sleeve" tattoos that covers their arms that tends to hide those defining muscles... oh well, to each his own.

 

I suppose my biggest peeve about tattoos is seeing so many "large" women wearing skimpy and low-cut clothes showing off their tats on their chests. I always wish that I could just un-see it.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Dennis143 (see edit history)

[Thomas Promise]

In my city we have a monthly alumni gathering from all the high schools primarily from the classes of late 50s thru erly 70s graduates. We meet and socialize for about 3 hours and upwards of 200 people attend. My wife can see all the photos that are taken. She will comment about the meeting to me. She asked me if the people who are drinking become obnoxious there because of the drinking. I told her there was not a bunch of "Rednecks" there. I didn't explain what Redneck meant. Here is her response to one of the events she asked me about.

 

Yes hello. I wish everyone nice party that plan for. I one day come to meet many of the nice person who been have so kind to me in their words for me. Tom says to me that event getting better every time that have pass. Keeping friends and making the new is so important for. Tom says that event is very friendly, with nice music, dancing the line and humorous for. The ones who suffer the red rash of neck are not attendance for party. They very wise to seek medical attention for this condition.
I honored that I invite to to party again. One days soon I will be there with Tomo for the XX XX XX

[Catherineli]

Alumni gathering sounds exciting to me. But your words of "redneck", "late 50s thru erly 70s graduates" and "gathering" aroused me fascinted more about Hippies's life and Rainbow Gathering. I always want to talk face to face with those who have been hippies and who attended the Rainbow Gathering. I wonder if Rainbow Gathering is still going on in the west every year. If I have a chance, I would like to explore more as a culture survey. I don't know a lot about rainbow gathering. Is that a religious practice? I heard that people who join the gathering have to receive enema first to be thoroughly cleansed. I'm just interested in different cultures.

 

I laugh and I talk. As a "people" person, I know I'm gregarious but deep inside of me, I'm old fashioned and traditional. I can't hang up any "pictures" on my wall, though I sometimes appreciate other peope's tattoo as their pictures. Heck, life is beautiful! Everyone has his own right to enjoy life, no matter what way, as long as they stay happy! I guess it's the tattoos that make this world colorful. I wish everyone, tattoo or non-tattoo a happy life!!

[Greg.D.]

I was a graduate student at Cornell University - right in the center of upstate New York. I saw that there would be a Rainbow gathering ("Rainbow Family"?) near Ithaca so I went just to see what it was.

 

What I recall: it was very much in the hippie culture - even though the hippies happened 20 years before. They set up a little village in the National Forest land: like a "medical center" (just a tarp hung from trees), kitchen, etc. I noticed that the people were not well looking, not healthy. Children without clothes, which is okay, but maybe their diet and health was not the best.

 

I can't remember what was happening -- I think it was a "gathering" - so people were probably doing music and dancing and chanting and meditating, etc. So, some of the people travel all the year in buses or campers - others just come for the gatherings.

 

Because they do this on national forest land, the setting will always be trees, etc. But, their life the rest of the year will be in their bus, camper or home - if they are not traveling.

 

I also went to a bluegrass festival in Suwanee Florida about 6 years ago and it seemed like it was also attended by Rainbow people - I think they chose it because it had camping and music and toilets.

Greg