The Chinese poem printed on the cover of the most recent newsletter from the Max Planck Institute (MaxPlanckForschung),
means, according to Victor Mair of Language Log:
With high salaries, we have cordially invited for an extended series of matinées
KK and Jiamei as directors, who will personally lead jade-like girls in the spring of youth,
Beauties from the north who have a distinguished air of elegance and allure,
Young housewives having figures that will turn you on;
Their enchanting and coquettish performance will begin within the next few days.
Mair comments drily:
Clearly this is an advertisement for some kind of burlesque business. I did find quite a few references on the Web to a "KK Juggy" from a group called "Machine Gun Fellatio," and apparently the KK in her name stands for "Knickers" and "Knockers." Perhaps KK in the sense of "Knickers and Knockers" is an Australian expression, since KK Juggy (Christa Hughes) is from Sydney.
In the interests of fairness, I should note that the MPI immediately issued a heartfelt apology and replaced the cover. [h/t JR]
> The sinologist
“Translate for food (or booze)!”
> concluded that the text in question depicted classical Chinese characters
“My ex-girlfriend has a tattoo that looks like this”
> in a non-controversial context.
“Nobody can read this shit anyway.”
LikeLike
(cont.)
> To our sincere regret, however, it has now emerged that the text contains deeper levels of meaning,
“Apparently, somebody *can* read this shit.”
> which are not immediately accessible to a non-native speaker.
“Like, Chinese people for example.”
LikeLike
Ben old bean, that was fookin’ brilliant.
LikeLike
That last line is telling. Maybe it’s a coded message for an upcoming invasion of Taiwan?
In any event, I see a perfect entry on the Chinese version of Engrish.com.
LikeLike
Their enchanting and coquettish performance will begin within the next few days.
LikeLike
With high salaries, we have cordially invited for an extended series of matinées
LikeLike