Monday, November 23, 2009

Perhaps a proofreader would be in order...

I have certainly never been characterized as "easily amused," but many times silly things will strike me as funny which nobody else thinks are as funny as I do. Case in point: Friday night's Chinese restaurant menu.

So - with all due respect* and acknowledgment that they're doing quite well for composing in a second language - I offer the following amusing Chef's Suggestions:

* Walnut Shrimp...
Jumbo shrimp with cream walnut sauce exquisite flavor, you're never try before.

* General Tso's Chicken...
The most tender morsels of chicken enveloped in an etherealty light blended of special ingredients to import the morest crispness & exquisite flavor.

* Beef with Orange Flavor...
The tender beef breaded & deep fried with imported tangerine peel and enhance by a rich brown sauce.

* Roast Duck (Half)...
The old traditional way to marinated and slow roasted to golden brown.

* Spicy Pepper Shrimp...
Breaded large shrimp deep fried to golden crispy & cooked in special way to coat with hot and spicy powder.

* Jumbo Shrimp Chef's Special...
Jumbo shrimp with vegetable in chef's own sauce.

We were also advised by a large sign near the ice cream: "To avoid sticky, wash spoon every scoop."

And one near our table: "Please bring in church bulletin and received 10% discount."

On the front cover of the travel menu was a map, depicting our location as being near "Eftinghum St." (Effingham St.), "Crowford Porkwoy," (Crawford Parkway), the "Naval Haspital," the "Renuissunce Hotrl," and the "Sport Hall of Fome Museum."

The fellowship over this meal was a delightful end to a delightful evening of watching my youngest daughter EL play handbells in the youth handbell choir that was performing at the Portsmouth Antique Show.

[*This is shared in good humor as good-natured fun. I do not mean to be seriously mocking anyone. I would also like to freely acknowledge how much Chinese that I - the English speaker - could put on a menu in their language: precisely zero words.]

3 comments:

Dianne said...

I, too, find much enjoyment in "Chingrish". And thanks for the disclaimer - I even took a semester of Mandarin and could also put together a menu of zero words!

Anonymous said...

The website "Engrish.com" is an occasional guilty pleasure of mine. It's a sweet website, not degrading. Good for a chuckle. :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, wrong one. Engrish.com can be a little crass, but http://engrishfunny.com/ is cute.