Bowlingual and Confucius Institute
kimiik
August 23, 2009, 10:00 AM posted in General DiscussionWhy do I get advertisement for the Confucius Institute when I read articles about the “Bowlingual” (Portable dog language translator) ?
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/07/13/bowlingual-portable-dog-language-translator/
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/06/23/dog-talks-through-bowlingual/
kimiik
August 24, 2009, 04:49 PMOk I admit that my blunt statement about the interchangeable words was "a bit" excessive.
Hi Changye,
The articles are in english (and japanese) here. If it was in french, of course I would have made a statement including France. ;o)
Btw, in Shanghai, was 复兴公园 （原法国公园） the french-style park or the park of the french people ?
There's also a famous "french park" in NSW (Australia):
kimiik
August 23, 2009, 04:48 PMI don't know who has chosen the key-words for the Google ads, but obviously it's not a good idea to associate a gadget that "translates" dog language with the Confucius Institute that promotes chinese language and chinese teaching.
Don't forget that, from a japanese or british perspective not so long ago, the words chinese and dog were interchangeable.
Even if it's not deliberate, it seems highly provocative.
changye
August 24, 2009, 12:44 AMHi kimiik
France was no different. France also prohibited dogs and local people from entering a park in Shanghai in the past, although there seems to be a dispute in China over credibility of this well-known episode.
"有几个穷朋友，邀我去游法国公园。一走到公园门口就看到一块刺目的牌子，牌子上写着：‘华人与狗不准进国'，几个字射人我眼中，全身突然一阵烧热，脸上都烧红了。 这是我感受着从来没有受过的耻辱了。"（方志敏《可爱的中国》）
1909年的法国公园的规定（部分）
（1）严禁下列人和物进入公园：中国人，但照顾外国小孩的中国阿妈和伺候洋人的华仆可跟其主人入园
（2）洋人牵带的外加口罩的狗允许入内......
上海租界"华人与狗不得入内"牌子是伪造的？
http://dl.jj.goufang.com/MsgShow-lixin76985-49112.html
silktown
August 24, 2009, 09:33 AMHi, Kimiik.
Yes, we need to be careful. After all, my username could be read as extremely insulting, which it most certainly isn't meant to be. Aaarrgghhhh... should I change it fast?
Dogu means eastern. Patree is a name. (I'm no friend of the British Empire.) Like a "dog up a tree" is how I feel when I'm trying to speak Chinese - awkward, clumsy.
Interchangeable? I've lived in the UK for over 50 years, but I've never heard this. Was it a local thing in British colonies?
Dogs have quite a positive image in modern Britain: "he's as happy as a dog with two ****s"; "lucky dog"; "every dog has his day". Or are you referring to the use of cheap labour? "Working like a dog", "Dog tired". I don't think the British were unique in that respect: didn't it happen in French Indo-China? building the American railways? Today, the Western lifestyle depends on it - look in any discount store.
Tal
August 24, 2009, 10:47 AMErr... what does a happy dog have two of?
silktown
August 24, 2009, 11:00 AMHappy as a dog with two d*cks!
That could be a gun-dog: ducks.
That could be a sea-dog: docks.
That could be a healthy, adult, lucky male dog who has just found out he can spread his genes at twice the rate...
Tal
August 24, 2009, 12:11 PMOkie-doke! You know I thought it must be tails, which was why I queried your earlier err... asterisking - lol.
The question is now begged, would having two err... d*cks not make any animal happier? Or perhaps sadder, given the advanced dexterity required to make the most of the situation (see bodawei's reflections on male multi-tasking skills here).
bababardwan
August 24, 2009, 12:25 PMtal et al,
Well I'll have you know that wallabies have a bifurcated 阴茎 so maybe Aussies are an exception to this inability of males to multi-task.
ps tal,just saw your 吃话话 joke..love it,hehe.
zhenlijiang
August 24, 2009, 01:21 PMIf I were a dog (or not!) I wouldn't wish for that.
I mean where would they be, side by side?
Baba, you guys are ... part wallaby??
Tal
August 23, 2009, 12:09 PMYou mean there's a dog Confucius out there, and we could find it with this machine. Let's do it!
Seems too easy though, just using a machine. It might make a mistake, and find a dog Lenny Bruce instead.
Anyway if dogs ever take over the world, and choose a king, I hope they don't just pick by size. I'm sure chihuahuas have got some pretty good ideas.
吃话话！ Geddit?!
bodawei
August 24, 2009, 01:40 PM@changye
If I said 'You are not missing much' that would be true from a strictly Chinese language learning point of view. Your colleagues have posted some banter about animals with two penises. I cannot explain every aspect but the dog appears in many English idioms, and as a dog-lover I think you will be relieved to know that most of these idioms are postive.
Note: the wallaby is a native animal of Australia that looks like a shorter version of the typical kangaroo. Technically, and I wouldn't doubt barbs on this kind of fact, he seems to know his biology, they have two penises.
This may be about as off-topic as you will find on CP.
zhenlijiang
August 24, 2009, 01:51 PM??? (electronic devices??) I guess I don't understand English too well today either, haha. Oh well. It happens.
Changye--coy as usual. You may say you don't get the English but surely you're not claiming that you can't read the (nice, explicit) hanzi that Baba has included.
"wouldn't doubt barbs on this kind of fact"--hahaha
bababardwan
August 24, 2009, 02:00 PMzhenlijiang,
Well,all we need to do is don this replica wallabies jersey [made in China I'm sure..see the relevance of where I'm going with this] and then we are endowed with a myriad of multi-tasking abilities such as drinking beer while watching rugby,seeing a multitude of fouls on our guys the ref is blind to, and giving the kiwi's a ribbing all in the blink of an eye.
ps.I must confess that the female of the species has a bicornuate uterus ,so males cannot make any kind of one way claim here.
pps.Sorry if being expicit about something merely anatomical was a bit much.Besides,as a native English speaker saying something in Chinese seems somewhat euphemistic.
changye
August 24, 2009, 02:01 PMI sometimes read a Chinese news article about a sign that says "No Dogs and Japanese Allowed" set up by a "patriotic" Chinese restaurant owner here in the PRC. Personally I'm always impressed with the Chinese humor, even though that's already a little worn-out joke. After all, it's merely a copy of the original more than 80 years ago.
In my considered opinion, the sign "No Dogs and Japanese Allowed" might suggest one serious hygiene problem you sometimes encounter at a restaurant in the PRC. Without this sign, theoretidcally even a dog can enter a restaurant. And actually and surprisingly, I often see a dog (or a cat) walking in a small restaurant here in northeast China.
zhenlijiang
August 24, 2009, 02:20 PMNo no Baba, I didn't mean explicit as in too much. I meant it as "leaving no room for doubt as to what was being referred to", "no coy euphemisms". Yeah "anatomical" might have been better.
I will have to go study the fascinating anatomy of wallabies at some other time--back to finishing up the transcript now!
changye
August 24, 2009, 02:21 PMHi zhenlijiang
Honestly, I thought that was a kind of herb or vegetable. Do you believe this? hehe
zhenlijiang
August 24, 2009, 02:31 PMChangye, which? what?
Going back to where these references started, happy as a dog with two kind of herb/vegetables?
Or you mean the hanzi Baba wrote? Uhh hard to believe (yet--why would you tell such a lie, when it would make people think you were daft?) but you were probably just being absent-minded; that I believe.
changye
August 24, 2009, 02:44 PMJust as a side note, Chinese characters 阴 (yin1) and 阳 (yang2) can represent something related to genital organs. 阴 can be used for both male and female, i.e. 阴部 (private parts) and 阴毛 (pubic hair). On the other hand, 阳 is used only for male, such as 阳根 (penis = 阴茎) and 阳痿 (ED). "Intersexuality" is translated as "阴阳人" in Chinese.
P/S. I just hope zhenlijiang will like this "coy" posting.
changye
August 24, 2009, 01:25 PMGuys
Your English is too difficult for me. I just can't follow your conversations!
P/S. Zhenlijiang, don't worry. Japanese manufacturers are very good at miniatuarizing electronic divices.
changye
August 23, 2009, 11:53 AMHi kimiik
As a Japanese, let me proudly announce that the developers of "Bowlingual" won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. This translator can promote peace between dogs and human beings......(?).
My chubby dog always asks me to buy one for her, but I don't. Just imagine, it would be a nightmare of me listening to her grumbling, complaining, and demanding in my native language all day long.
As for the Confucius Institute, I guess that they might be going to sell a Confucian-style Bowlingual, which translates from dog language into Confucian flavored archaic Chinese. For example,
犬曰，朝吃饱，夕饿死可矣。未知饱，焉知饿，
又曰，过食犹不及也。君子固饿，小狗饿斯滥矣。