The New York Times notes that “for the last two years, the Shanghai Commission for the Management of Language Use has been trying to clean up English-language signs and menus to rid them of their malapropisms…” Adrian Age pointed me to an amusing slide-show put together by the NYT featuring what they call examples of “Chinglish”.
Looking through the slide-show I couldn’t help but wonder whether the church (or individual Christians) need their own Commission to manage language use. I’m not suggesting we need to steer away from big words like “justification”, “propitiation” or even “repentance” (if you use them be sure to explain them) but much of the language some Christians use on a daily basis can be just about as effective in communicating with the world around them as a “Chinglish” sign.
Something to think about.
OK, I’ll bite. What examples do you have in mind for “language some Christians use on a daily basis can be just about as effective in communicating with the world around them as a “Chinglish” sign.”?
Manfred: I’ll reply next week when there has been more time for people to have a think about it.
See the video log link above as I further expound what I meant by this post.