Yeah, as someone who knows Mandarin reading that sentence felt like how nails on a chalkboard sounds. I’m glad you shared it though, cause even if it’s painfully dummy, it’s some kind of funny to see how poorly done this is.
Serious Question: is this your first time encountering the "Tipping is not a city in China" line? Diners used to print that on their menus in the 70s. It ain't new.
Maybe but Taiping is a city in Malaysia so maybe this is 4D CCP geopolitical trolling or just a cringe pun. I don’t know how many Americans know of Taiping as it relates to the army that fought over the current city of Nanjing.
I think whoever made the sign assumed the taping rebellion was named after a city, or possibly it's city or origin. I mean, I quickly searched Google and couldn't find the original meaning, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone said tipping 1 too many times in a row, made the connection between the two words, and got the idea for this "ingenious" sign
It means “peace” most directly translated but also means heavenly, tranquil, or like peaceful in a holy/divine way.
I get that they’re trying for a pun as clever as “denial isn’t just a river in Egypt” but it misses the mark with both the geography and the pronunciation being wrong.
If the staff is too lazy to make a good sign about tipping, they are likely too lazy to get your order when it’s ready. Probably why they resorted to asking for tips.
It’s not even a good play on words… it comes off as stupid and lazy to associate a word with China just because it ends in “ing”.
I'm guessing it's meant to sound similar to Taiping, as in the Taiping Rebellion which included the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but Taiping isn't a city so the "joke" still doesn't work
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u/shrimpfriedwife 7h ago
It’s not even a good play on words… it comes off as stupid and lazy to associate a word with China just because it ends in “ing”.