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Transport
Ministry of Communication ProblemsPosted by Joel Martinsen, January 26, 2007 6:56 PM
![]() With all this attention to proper English, you would expect that the Ministry of Communications (交通部) would be poised to pick a new name that better reflects its responsibilities - administering the country's transportation systems apart from railways and aviation. In a blog post earlier this month, peripatetic cultural commentator Zhai Hua remarked on the Ministry's name issues (quotation marks indicate words originally in English):
Southern Metropolis Daily picked up the blog post this week and investigated further. Here's what an office head in the MoC International Exchange Department told a reporter:
Zhai Hua writes that when the former Propaganda Department was looking for a new, gentler identity, chief Ding Guangen initially wanted to use "communication" but was forced to settle for "publicity" because of MoC's hold on the term. Zhai suggests that although the Beijing government does not have jurisdiction over the Ministry of Communications itself, the ministry's buildings might fall within the scope of the city's effort to clean up English-language signage before 2008. Then again, it might be wise to keep the old name around just in case Beijing's gridlock isn't solved before the Olympics - foreign guests could be given the impression that since China doesn't have a Ministry of Transportation, it must be the private sector's fault. Links and Sources
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Comments on Ministry of Communication Problems
So, is the Bank of Communications really supposed to be the Bank of Transportation, or did they get it right when they translated their name into English?
I am guessing that the Bank of Communications also has a misleading name.
The SMD reporter says at the end of the article:
In November, 1906, the Qing government set up a Postal Department, in charge of water and rail transport as well as the mail, telephone, and telegraph. In 1907, the Postal Department established the Bank of Communications.
Looks like it's a little more justified in this case.
Well, if "fuwa" is supposed to avoid the twisting of native english speakers, I can pour water on their fire.
fuwa = phooey
My fave "bad government Chinglish" is still the name of China's #1 broadcaster: CCTV
Ok, so you want an "English" brand. Well, pick one that doesn't already have a meaning in English: "closed-circuit television" indeed.
If you're going to have initials, what is wrong with ZYDST? And, since the "DST" part is simply "television station" if you wanted to port "TV" into the language, presumably so your brand was "sayable", what's wrong with ZYTV?
nanheyangrouchuan - I got the impression that "Fuwa" was mainly meant to avoid the twisting of non-native English speakers. You can't really imagine a native speaker misinterpreting "Friendlies" as "friendless" or "friend lies", unless it was pronounced in a particularly Chinglish manner.