10.03.08
Caption/Translation Contest
This one comes from my day trip to Tianjin this past June. Ironically, I found these guys just a few blocks away from that infamous Tianjin vending machine. Let’s see what you can come up with.
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Best caption wins a free item from whatever it is these two 小弟 are advertising for.
Xiao Hei
said,
October 3, 2008 at 1:06 am
“Free lube with every vibrating tube!”
Glen
said,
October 3, 2008 at 4:53 am
“Free massage if you fill out an Amex card application.”
matt
said,
October 3, 2008 at 10:32 am
Buy one get one free on any Adult toy when you activate your ‘frequent flyers’ card
Will
said,
October 3, 2008 at 11:19 am
“Don’t believe the guy with the sign! It’s a total ripoff! All you get are these phone cards!”
Or, thought bubble from guy with the sign: “Someday, I’ll be the guy with the cards.”
Or, thought bubble from guy with the sign: “Sigh. He’s so handsome.”
shoe
said,
October 3, 2008 at 2:33 pm
what?!where?!is this toy bar?!
George
said,
October 3, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Guy with sign: “I’d like to 玩 with him …”
RedKemp
said,
October 5, 2008 at 4:06 am
“In an effort to create new jobs, by law it is now required that at least one bored looking sign holder is to accompany every yelling guy who hands out stuff”
Nikolai Xander
said,
October 5, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Hahahahaha “Someday I’ll be the guy with the cards” is the clear winner
Anonymous
said,
October 7, 2008 at 11:13 am
“I’m with stupid”
Benjamin Ross
said,
October 7, 2008 at 12:18 pm
In case anybody didn’t get it on the first go round, the big characters point to the “Adult Toy Bar.” It’s not that the existence of such an establishment in the Middle Kingdom would surprise me in the least, but it doesn’t seem like the type of business where you would typically send out two school-aged boys to act as human signs.
chriswaugh_bj
said,
October 7, 2008 at 7:51 pm
They’re not school-aged. They look to be at least 18, therefore working legally (I won’t comment on their leisure activities). But yes, it’s not the kind of business one would normally advertise this way.
lei
said,
October 8, 2008 at 9:52 am
and i don’t believe the sign literally means “adult toy bar”, it’s merely a bar sort of environment for adults, to get together and play board games and such. They charge by the hour and per person.
Benjamin Ross
said,
October 8, 2008 at 10:38 pm
@ lei
…I don’t know…usually that kind of venue is called a 棋牌室. They have them all over Beijing. China has one of the higher adult toy shop per square mile ratios of anywhere in the world, so even if that wasn’t the signs original meaning, it’s still awful suggestive.
chriswaugh_bj
said,
October 9, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Yeah, sorry lei, gotta agree with Ben’s interpretation. Walk into any of the ‘Adult Health Care’ or ‘Adult-Use Products’ or “Husband and Wife Health Care/Use Products’ shops looking for a simple, regular pack of condoms and you’ll see all kinds of stuff that makes you wonder if China wasn’t secretly colonised by the English, or if perhaps the English are secretly Chinese. Actually, that last one would make more sense since those of us who actually were colonised by the English never really picked up their more, uh, interesting proclivities.
[Chris stops playing with ethnic/national stereotypes now]
lei
said,
October 9, 2008 at 9:52 pm
棋牌室 are those places for cards and mahjongs and such. The one that o’m talking about are not the same as 棋牌室. It’s relatively new, and “hip”. They are not usually the traditional types of board/tabletop games.
lei
said,
October 9, 2008 at 9:55 pm
here is a picture of what one of those place looks like.
http://www.ntrpg.org/main/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ff.jpg
chriswaugh_bj
said,
October 11, 2008 at 10:00 am
That makes sense. Haven’t seen any of those around, though. Still, squinting at the top of that sign, does it say “碧云天休闲”? Any subtly suggestive punning involved there, especially in the first two characters? Still, very few shops selling things of a sexual nature could be accused of subtlety…. I suspect, lei, you are probably right.