Results of Chingrish (2) Contest

There were 8 entries this time. (Well, actually only 6 as you shall see.)

A recap of the entries:

1. Shilpa - Laxative.

2. Chris - (No guess.)

3. Cool Insider - Job that requires running about.

4. Etel - (No guess.)

5. Tigerfish - Do BIG toilet business.

6. Chun See - Business continuity assurance. (Or something to that effect. Trust a management consultant to come up with a term like that.)

7. Fr - No peeing here.

8. Firehorse - Related to toilet stuff.

Thanks to all of you for your entries. And the results are...

*drum roll*

Sorry, none of your guesses were correct. The photo in the last entry was part of a sign hung at the door of a Taiwanese restaurant in Joo Chiat Road:



The traditional Chinese words, written in simplified Chinese as 营业中 means "operating" or "open for business" or simply "open" - any of the 3 English answers would have been correct. Chun See's "business continuity assurance" guess comes close but not quite correct.

Nevertheless, everyone of you still walks away with an award, as usual.

The Persistence Award goes to Shilpa, Tigerfish, Fr and Firehorse for participating in this contest for the second time:



And now, the Special Awards.

The Lame Out-of-guess Award goes to Chris for not only his lame remarks but yet tagged me with a lame meme which he knew that I won't do:



The Maiden Effort Award goes to Cool Insider for guessing for the first time:



Finally, the So-close-yet-so-far/Goggle Award goes to Etel and Chun See for coming so close to making a correct guess but didn't:



Etel did a Goggle Google search but yielded no results. She had probably used the terms ["to run business" chingrish] in her unsuccessful Google search. If she had used ["to run business" chinglish] or even ["to run business" engrish] she would have found that celebrity blogger Kenny Sia had blogged about it before here. Wikipedia even has an entry on it and so do dozens of other websites like this one.

Having said that, I would like to clarify that when I posted this poser on April Fool's Day, I didn't know that this Chingrish sign had already been documented by so many websites. It was only after Etel gave me the idea to do a Google search on it that I discovered it was so.

So what's the moral of the story? Without any intention to sound smug, there are two things that I learnt here:

1. When looking for information using Internet search engines, it is very important that you specify the right search words; and

2. It doesn't necessary mean that you are less Internet savvy when you reach my age.

So take heart, Chun See and Fr.


Disclaimer: As usual, this post is meant to be light-hearted and fun. I apologise if anyone is sore about his/her award. He/she has 2 recourse - go apply some ointment or go ahead, strike me off from your "favorite blogs" list.

Chingrish (2)

About a dozen fun people responded to my earlier Chingrish poser. Thanks again. Since it was so much fun (at least for me) and it's April Fool's Day today, I have come up with a 2nd poser here:


I can't give too many clues to this one as it will give the game away. I can only say that I saw it today somewhere in the east coast of Singapore. There were only 3 English words as shown in the above photo. The other words were in Chinese.

At first, I thought that the words had a literal meaning - teaching people how to become entrepreneurs, toeing the Government's policy of turning more Singaporeans into the likes of Sim Wong Hoo. (Despite much encouragement from the Government, this policy, like the "have more babies" policy, apparently has not been very successful so far. You can't really blame Singaporeans. Starting a business is not without its attendant risks and Singaporeans are generally known for being risk averse. If for whatever reason a business fails, our laws can be quite unforgiving.)

If you thought that the 3 words were from a "marketer and publicist" just like Walter, then sorry, you are also wrong.

That's two down for you so it should be easier to guess. Your job is to guess what the writer of those 3 words had intended them to mean. (Another clue, which should be clear by now, is the obvious meaning of the phrase is not the right answer.) Please read the "Terms & Conditions" below before submitting your guesses. The answer will be revealed in 5 days' time. As usual, winners will be awarded virtual prizes. Have fun guessing and Happy April Fool's Day.

Terms & Conditions

1. Anonymous guesses are not allowed. Anon1, Anon2, Anon3, etc are considered anonymous. So are Just Passing By, Just Browsing, Anyone, Someone, Somebody, Nobody, Noone, Noname, HorseWithNoName, ManWithNoName, Linlaobeh, Linpeh, Me, I or anything similar.

2. Each person can submit only one guess. Although you can submit more than one guess under different names, I seriously can't figure out why anyone would want to do that unless he/she is desperate for a virtual prize. (This rule applies especially to Chris.)

3. This is meant to be a fun post for fun people. If you don't find it fun, please don't guess. Better still, don't visit my blog. Go away, you are on a different wavelength with me. You've hopped to the wrong blog.

4. If you don't like your award, simply don't claim it. Under no circumstances should you utter expletives in whatever language, whether in revenge or in frustration. Personally, I can take it but please understand that this is a family blog - there may be young children reading my blog without seeking parental consent.

5. Never apply any pressure, subtle or otherwise, on the blog owner to come up with the next poser. This is not a regular series as this type of poser is "by chance" only. I don't make a living out of this, okay?

And The Winners Are

*Drum roll*

It's time to announce the winners for the "Chingrish - Guess The Product" competition! First let us recap the guesses. There are a total of 12 guesses:

1. Chris - Viagra (I don't need it. You can save it for yourself.) Deodorant spray for armpit - I've no wish to turn off my "natural turn-on mechanism".

2. Kenneth - Laxative - I've no problem shitting.

3. Chun See - Wash basin filter - You only have 5S. This thing has 5x5S plus 400S.

4. Shilpa - Herbal Tea Mix - Nice try Shilpa, but I am not a health freak.

5. Frannxis - Thing for toilet bowl - Disinfectant/deodorant/cleaner lah, what "thing"?)

6. Meow - Refrigerator odour remover - I got no cat food in my fridge wor.

7. Zephyr - Fertilizer - Don't need this either, I am fertile enough.

8. Dawn - Medicated sponge - Got such thing meh? Heard of medicated soap and medicated shampoo before. But medicated sponge? Is it the sponge with medicated soap that you forgot to wash off?

9. Tigerfish - Odour remover - Partly right. But it not only removes tigerfishy smells.

10. Stanley Foo - Antiseptic mouthwash - Aiyah, why is everyone suspecting that some part of me smells? Yes, I smell... but like a rose, okay?

11. Firehorse - Toilet bowl cleaner - Nope, even my toilet smells... good.

12. Alphabet soup - Room deodorizer - My room smells good too.

Thanks to all of you fun and sporting people for your guesses. Please pardon me for my tongue-in-cheek comments - they are all for fun. The verdict is that none of your guesses was 100% correct. Half of you (6 out of 12) are half correct - those who mentioned cleaner, filter or deodorant/deodorizer. So for Chun See, Frannxis, Meow, Tigerfish, Firehorse and Alphabet soup, you win the Veteran Award:



For Kenneth, Shilpa, Zephyr, Dawn and Stanley Foo, you win the Novice Award:



Now come the special award winner, Chris. Because he broke the rule by guessing twice, he wins the Booby Award:



The product is "Super Porous Bio-Ceramic Rings". It absorbs and promotes beneficial bacteria growth for biological removal of ammonia and nitrates for my aquarium:



Go on, print out your decoration and decorate your wall with it. Muahahaha.

Chingrish

Last Sunday, I bought something from a shop in my neighbourhood. It cost $1.20 and came in a box. I did a double take when I looked at the words printed on the box. At first, it didn't look like English:


On closer inspection, I realised it was indeed English. Some people call it Engrish while I prefer to call it Chingrish since it is "English from a China perspective".

I have blogged about Chingrish before here and there but never before has it been this atrocious. For the previous cases, at least you knew what the product was. For this case, I bet you can't even identify it just by reading the box alone.

Before Chris again accuses this proud monkey of thinking that he's always right, I would like to prove it this time. So I would like to play a little guessing game with you. You make a guess as to what product this might be. I will not respond until this weekend when I will reveal the answer. Unlike Chun See who usually disqualifies people aged above 40 from participating in his guessing games, I open mine to anyone aged from 9 to 90. My only request to those who have bought this product before and already know the answer - please refrain from letting the cat out of the bag and spoiling the fun for others.

Since this is a virtual game, you will be rewarded with virtual mystery prizes if your guess is right or quite close. (Quit thinking you'll get rich by doing this, will you? Go buy 4D and Toto instead.) Check back for results this weekend. Happy guessing and have fun.