Recently, I’ve noticed a few typical Chinglish phrases:
These are examples of sentences with English words mixed into Chinese, a phenomenon that occurs frequently in many (domestic) TV shows and variety programs.
The problem is, how do we translate these English words in these sentences? Literal translation definitely can’t convey the full meaning (why?). One sad possibility is that the people who speak this way are not good at English or Chinese. They can’t completely replace Chinese with English, nor can they completely replace English with Chinese.
If we consider Chinglish as a language, it would be a third hybrid language that people who don’t understand English or Chinese can’t comprehend. I saw a video, maybe it was a joke, where a British person lived in China, and after returning to the UK, he chatted with his family, saying, “This is too low, that is too low.” His family asked him, “What does ‘low’ mean?” He said, “Low is just low…”
The meaning of language can also be influenced by ideology. On some domestic platforms, many Chinese words can’t be typed out, but it doesn’t affect people’s understanding of what’s being discussed.
Some people claim to have “linguistic purism” and can’t tolerate mixed Chinese and English sentences, thinking it’s an impure expression. They believe one should use either pure Chinese or pure English. Such people might be suspected of nationalism.
Whether it’s hieroglyphs or Latin letters, they are tools used by humans to express their thoughts and are mediums for social consensus. The Martian script of the post-90s generation and the pinyin abbreviations of the post-00s generation are part of a generation’s collective memory, also a form of alternative language.
It’s enough to convey the meaning.