The Absence of Alternatives: The importance of understanding Chinese...

Someone forwarded me this as a cautionary tale for people to understand the Chinese characters on the t-shirts they are wearing or, especially important, those that you are about to have tattooed on your body:

1. Pig. Not BOAR. But PIG. There is only one common Chinese word which stands for all types of pigs, but mostly the domesticated pigs, so yes, all negative stereotypes apply and don't kid yourself by saying what you have means BOAR. NOT.

2. Not sure whether she is knowingly wearing the t-shirt for shock values since it says "Love intercourse the most". 'nough said.

3. Chicken. Again, the one common Chinese character that stands for all chicken, so for example, Rooster is "male chicken", chick, "little chicken", chicken (that you eat), "chicken meat", and so on. The trouble with this t-shirt is that this word is also a slang for "hooker"...

4. The kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese) on the t-shirt says PERVERT. It would be funny if the person wearing it looked anything but...