The blogs on Asia written by locals and expats there, are hilarious on this subject. Some colorful Chinese language lessons in street slang notwithstanding.
Posted on 09/30/2004 1:50:38 PM PDT by AmericanInTokyo
Title: "Snot Flies in Taiwan-Singapore Row"
Singapore is alarmed by the rise of independence forces in Taiwan Taiwan's foreign minister has sparked a diplomatic row by calling Singapore "the size of a piece of snot".
Chen Tan-sun was angry over comments made by Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo, who recently said Taiwan should not press for independence.
Mr Chen said: "Even Singapore, a country the size of a piece of snot, can swagger around to criticise Taiwan at the United Nations".
He said Mr Yeo only made the comments to please Taiwan's rival, China.
"It was nothing but an effort to embrace China's 'balls', forgive me using such a word," Mr Chen told supporters on Monday.
Relations between Taiwan and Singapore have been strained since Singapore's new prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, used a national address in August to say he was alarmed at the build-up in pro-independence forces inside Taiwan.
China views Taiwan as part of its territory, and has threatened to invade if it ever formally declares independence.
Mr Yeo used a speech to the UN's General Assembly to warn about the risks of China-Taiwan tensions.
"The push towards independence by certain groups in Taiwan is the most dangerous, because it will lead to war with mainland China and drag in other countries," he said.
The blogs on Asia written by locals and expats there, are hilarious on this subject. Some colorful Chinese language lessons in street slang notwithstanding.
Yeah. But the election here is 'too nasty.'
The original article quoted the guy as saying Singapore was the size of a "booger." I liked that more.
Language like that coming from a politician is really refreshing!
Wow.
Sort of remanisant of that Brit ( Or was it French?) who refered to Israel as "that sh#tty little country"
Very crass.
Yes, I heard booger as well. It is so much more lyrical than snot.
I wasn't going to ping the SAF list till I came across this little gems. Snot and Chinese (salty chocolate?) balls all in one article. Nice.
BEEBER to the SAF list!
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Who really nose what those signs say?
And the 's' word.
What really was amazing was "n.s." used, too.
I won't get graphic, in English at least, but for the Nihongo enthusiasts out there, it (n.s.) was "hana kuso".
A few winters back, they described the results of a heavy winter storm thusly:
TEN INCHES OF HEAVY WET SNOT BLANKET THE AREA
I wish I'd have kept that issue :)
"Well, booger and balls, haven't we been busy ... Well, well, if it isn't this, it's something else. Singapore always seems to find new ways to piss people off. But that's not the problem here, it's how we get slammed in response ... and with such colorful language. If there is anything Singaporeans should be insulted by, is Taiwan's complete violation of our hygiene standards. SO! Taiwan Foreign minister Chen Tan-sun went ape-**** over comments made by Singapore's foreign minister, George Yeo, who recently used a speech to the UN's General Assembly to warn about the risks of China-Taiwan tensions and warned that Taiwan could drag in other countries if it continued to pursue independence. Refering to Singapore as (take your pick) 1. tiny booger 2. dried piece of mucus 3. nose dropping is but the new and updated lexicon improvisation of Indonesia ex-President Habbibie's 1998 dismissal of Singapore as "just a tiny red dot". Over here at Tedium, we scoured all news coverage to bring you the following awards for ........... Most creative title BBC Snot flies in Taiwan-Singapore row Most innovative Taiwanese-English translation Channel News Asia In his remarks, Chen likened Singapore to a piece of snot and accused the city state authorities of "licking China's *****" by pointing the finger of blame at Taiwan. Most precise definition (it's a tie) Taipei Times "Singapore holds China's lam pa ( ) with its hands, if I may use these ugly words," a fuming Chen said. In the Hoklo language (also known as Taiwanese), lam pa means "******"; saying that someone holds another's lam pa means that he is fawning over that person. News24 "It is improper to term another country as a 'booger' (United States slang for dried nasal mucus)," said Chen Chien-ming, a parliamentarian from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which is allied to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Most diplomatic defense by the Taiwanese China Post The Foreign Ministry spokesman, (Michel) Lu, explained away the bad choice of words by saying the minister's talks came during a meeting with "townsfolk" from Taichung. Lu said the minister wanted to use a "vernacular" to better explain Taiwan's diplomatic difficulties. Well done, ladies and gents. Welll done. Update: Mr Brown was kind enough to link me. I can only say that his unofficial policy response is more apt. "N*bei, this kind of ch**bye l*ncheow thing also can say. Want to make we all t*lan issit?" For my American audience (all 10 of you), I cannot even begin to translate the obscenity of the 'vernacular' used above. It takes years of mis-education to learn to talk like that. I wonder what will happen if Taipai Times does a feature on this post. Hmmmm"
Well, mewzilla, I've taken out some of the nasty Chinese words not allowed on this forum, and to be family friendly here, as much as possible.....
How refreshing ..and I though this was a misspelling story only...sound like this FM has some real brass ones. :))
Wait till you see the Taiwanese fist fights on the floor of the National Assembly!
Mr. Chen apparently doesn't think much of Confucius, as this sort of language and behavior is most inappropriate and not in accordance with "li".
Following the Taiwanese example, I think colorful language should not be avoided. The next time I refer to France it will be as that effete, smelly country the size of three boogers side by side.
Mao was known to have a gutter mouth, too.
ROTF!!! Language is a wonderful thing :)
HA!HA!..I saw some, about two years ago....can't remember what it was about...very funny, very ineffective.
I wish I could see some (fights) in OUR Congress over things we believe in. :/
ROFL!!!! Classic.
Another hilarious headline typo occurred in a 1991 Green Bay newspaper, on the front page. On an article about Governor Thompson's use of his veto power, they intended to print the headline, "THOMPSON'S PEN IS A SWORD". Unfortunately, they dropped the space between "PEN" and "IS"...
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