Terrible news. In preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing officials are working to rid the city of signs with nonsensical and awkward English translations. “For the next eight months, 10 teams of linguistic monitors will patrol the city’s parks, museums, subway stations and other public places searching for gaffes to fix,” reports the Wall Street Journal. I’m not sure the sign I photographed in Beijing several years ago would merit removal—I know that the Palace Museum had more glory on the day I visited because I gave it tons and tons of care—but either way, I can only hope the sign police fail.

Otherwise, we’ll lose gems like this warning about a hazardous walkway: “Take Care of Your Slip.” And this one near a lush lawn: “Show Mercy to the Slender Grass.”

That’s proof that one person’s gaffe is another’s poetry.

Fortunately, The Chinglish Files is working to document these signs through photography.

Noting the Wall Street Journal story on the sign police, the site’s editor today renewed his call to arms: “I hope that makes more people realize that we should put in all efforts...to archive as much of our beloved endangered species as possible before it’ll be gone for good. Cameras out, time’s tickin’...”

Finally, in fairness, the Chinese aren’t the only ones with mangled translations. The Journal’s story notes that many Americans these days have Chinese character tattoos that barely begin to make sense. Let’s hope there’s a Chinese Webmaster out there somewhere documenting those, too.

Photo by Jim Benning