In Continent Decoration

Another sign seen in Beijing.

Where do we even begin? Ok, enough ROTFL-ing.

I say, we really gotta hand it to the Chinese for their highfalutin intentions and linguistic ambitions. You couldn't even say they are trying to sound pretentious. I truly wonder what the translators were thinking. What were the criteria they set for choosing words for translation?

Could it be:

a) Only words that are 3 syllables and above in length can be considered.

b) Use your p's and q's properly. This entails "Please" in all translated signs.

c) As best as possible, sound stupid ostentatious without knowing it.

But I digress.

Forgive to be Incontinent?

Interior Decoration?

What?

Really, it should just be:

"Renovation in Progress.

Sorry for the Inconvenience Caused."

All in all, this is a classic case for better judgement in how we use certain words. Certain words just cannot be used alongside others and this probably calls for a deeper knowledge of their nuances and wider exposure to how those words are used in proper contexts.

Well, to be fair, if I were asked to use the logographic Chinese words to form sentences, I'll probably end up being incontinent as well.

Where's the toilet?!