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Having lived in China for quite a while, I’ve seen a lot of unusual things. In fact, many Chinese and foreigners get so used to weird occurrences and weird Chinese fashion that people just generally ignore them.
On my Instagram page, I try to provide cultural context for why things in China happen the way they do, by explaining some of the history, the culture, or the language, and how these things influence behaviors or even a fashion sense.
The page is not all about street fashion though. It's anything that you can ask the question of ‘Why?’ or ‘How did that happen?’ to, with the general classic answer being ‘No why’ #nowhy (Chinese response) OR ‘because China’ #becausechina (foreigner in China response).
The general explanation for some of the fashion trends and choices below is that:
- Any English = educated, different and fashionable. (it could possibly be a famous brand, but if no one’s English is that great… then just by having it… no matter what it is, it’s already good)
- Anything ‘profound’ is considered good. If you as an observer don’t find it profound…that’s your fault. The wearer is making a statement, and that’s what’s important.
- The wearer doesn’t have to understand, because others most likely don’t understand…so who cares. Even vulgar, rude statements can be worn by kids… because no one knows any different.
- If the actual piece of clothing is functional and comfortable, who cares what’s written on it.
- A haircut should set you apart from everyone else. Many people have very similar or standardized hairstyles (Chinese people are aware of that too) If a haircut creates conversation then that’s awesome.
Here are a few examples I've caught in my street photography shots…quite a few of them, actually.
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Pink Freud
Naima Ivansdóttir 6 years ago
https://www.amazon.com/Pink-Freud-Dark-Side-Shirt/dp/B07K9NG54P/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1548930205&sr=8-11&keywords=pink+freud+t+shirt you're welcome
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Dora Bedpan 6 years ago
What's even funnier: chinese often interverts "L" and "R" in english . They will say "Chicken Flyed Lice". Origin of the word Engrish (chinese spoken english). So if you pronounce Pink Floyd, it sounds like Pink Freud! The rest is a Freudian Slip!
RELATED:
#2
I Would Definitely Wear This
Final score:
360points
Frozengeckolover 6 years ago
I have this on a T-shirt (it's even funnier on me because it's written across my large "melons"). A non-dyslexic person got offended and told me that it was hurtful and rude to people with learning disabilities. My boyfriend (who bought the shirt for me) said, "I'm dyslexic and I think it's hilarious!" I love it when people who aren't the target of a joke get offend in behalf of other people. I've started calling it "second-hand offended".
#3
Follow Dreams
#4
Masturbate your way to success!
Final score:
278points
Kenna Nevill 6 years ago
I have a shirt with Chinese characters all over it. Now I wonder if it says something similar.
Shalling Beh 6 years ago
Lol...i wish i can spot any, but it is too rare to find chinese words printed that similar to this.
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#5
Danger
Daria B 6 years ago
I wouldn't even if it weren't pixelated. I'm bad at recognising people I only saw in photos. The queen of England could be passing by me, I'd think it's just a cute posh grandma.
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Luisa Vasconcelos 6 years ago
As a educated black woman I would love to wear this. Haters back off. I'm asking nicely.;-)
Enola Brinkley-Crayton 6 years ago
There was a time in the United States that people had humor but now this would offend and put a kink in their panties.
#6
I Just Don't
Mary Kavanagh 6 years ago
Imagine how much detention a child would get for that in an English speaking country!
Vic 6 years ago
I don't think it would matter, cuz the kid just doesn't give a f**k..
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tuzdayschild 6 years ago
My kid got sent home from school for wearing the same shirt. What Up?
sharron lynn parsons 6 years ago
If an adult chooses to wear that tee, but don't let a child wear it !!!
ShiftyLookinNinjaPandaGirl 6 years ago
In a young grade wearing that? Eh, who cares: I mean the worlds n0t going to be a horrible dimension of crazy people adicted to stuff like this...
#7
I'm Batman
Em B 6 years ago
The sexual innuendos are ripe here: Picture Batman, in the pink nightie, standing in the dark muttering, "I'M Batman!"
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#9
Adidog
#10
Bear Attack And She Survived, Good For Her
Final score:
238points
C Hypercube 6 years ago
The sad part is that these probably cost more than regular clothing...you know the ones that you can actually wear.
#11
Got Life Figured Out
Final score:
230points
Luis Milian 6 years ago
This is like tattooing a Chinese symbol not knowing what it really says. you just wear it proudly
C Hypercube 6 years ago
Except it's a lot easier to trash the t-shirt once you realize the mistake..
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Shirin Kamer 6 years ago
What's on her shirt...it's blurred. I am unable to figure it out. Help please.
Mark Howell 6 years ago
We started a Chinese arm of our company in 1998. When the top brass came over to England for a visit some of them laughed a young ladies tattoos on my section. To this day they won't tell me what the symbols said, except that she didn't look the type!!😊
#12
If You Think
Sarah Christine 6 years ago
I HAVE THIS SHIRT. WELL KIND OF. THAT IS WHAT IT SAYS ON THE FRONT OF MY SHIRT, WRITTEN RIGHT ACROSS MY TITS
#13
A Bit Of Nationalism Coming Out There...
Final score:
207points
Han 6 years ago
The photo is brilliant. The KKK within the word Amerikkka is relevant when followed with the word Suck. I f*****g hate the kkk. I f*****g hate ring wingers. The phrase on the jacket isn't racist. It's exactly the opposite.
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Aaron Kara 6 years ago
Is that meant to be an eagle? Or just some random black, emaciated bird?
varwenea 6 years ago
That the U.S. is no longer the magnificent eagle but this disheveled bird.
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#14
Leave Me Alone
ShiftyLookinNinjaPandaGirl 6 years ago
YUP, YUP, YUP, YUP, YUP, YUP: I need this.
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Hard 2 Guess 6 years ago
I'd buy it. May be buy 10. One for each day and 3 spares just in case.
#15
China Fashion
Lef 6 years ago
I want that. I'd wear a jacket over it and if anyone pisses me off I'll just unzip the jacket and tell them to read what's on my shirt.
donghun's emo cactus 6 years ago
Same also nice profile picture (sope for the best)
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#16
Make A Woman
Walter Cheego 6 years ago
This is like when I was in highschool and it was cool to get Chinese lettering tattoos, we all wonder what they really said. Probably the same as these shirts.
Arran Walker 6 years ago
If those kids are hers, she might be saying that next time it needs to be worth it....
Jace 6 years ago
Two orgasms aren’t worth the responsibility of two kids.
Load More Replies... #17
Hipster Triangle
Calypso poet 6 years ago
I love when the comments are funnier than the post!
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xXsapphireXx Minecraft 6 years ago
When your trying to hit that 500 word count on an assignment
#18
Shark Soup
Pumbaa 6 years ago
I just don't get why some words always need to be blurred out.. like is it gonna hurt your feelings that bad? Really? It's part of the body of like 50% of all mammals!
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago
yes, i agree, C**T is a fabulous word.
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#19
Asia
Ankita Pattanayak 6 years ago (edited)
So China is working on renaming Africa to Asia...or forgetting Suez canal and incorporating Africa into Asia... OR Simply Asia is what Madagascar is pointing at...
Ben Steinberg 6 years ago
I always thought Africa looked like the profile of an archaic human fossil skull (not including Madagascar).
Symbole Simple 6 years ago
Well, if you make a rotation of 90 degrees to the left, there's something! Ok, you might have to try hard though!
Sarjana Lastname 6 years ago
Tat is India and Pakistan still together , Sri Lanka is place wrong and too small but it is still there.
#20
How Old Are You? And Just How Drunk Are You?
Final score:
147points
Bored Fox 6 years ago
In the company that makes these shirts probably no one speaks English so every text is printed to all sizes of clothes. That is why there are also baby clothes with really offensive English texts. And people buy these to their children because they have no idea what the text says. Here is a video about strange English language shirts in Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzCHmH3j8SI
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#21
A Bit Morbid, But I Wonder If I Can Get It In Yellow... Would It Be Less So?
Final score:
145points
earringnut 6 years ago
He might be a taxi bike driver. In which case this is kinda reassuring in a weird sort of way.
#22
Beep, Beep!
April Simnel 6 years ago
So of course the first thing I think of is "We are the goon squad and we're comin' to town..."
#23
Need To Stop Feeding The Cat Vegetarian Food
Final score:
140points
#24
Sexy Style
#25
Feline Good
Amanda Ferraz 6 years ago
Wasn't this list supposed to be crazy stamps over Chinese merch? Most of the stuff I liked...
#26
I'm Not Leaving This Blanket
Final score:
130points
Imma Letchoofinish 6 years ago
I want this to become a thing. Wrapping ourselves in blankets in public needs to be a thing. "Nice blanket Steve" "Thanks, its brushed flannel..." My God...my commute to work would be so awesome.
#27
I Do Feel Happy Now
Final score:
128points
Ankita Pattanayak 6 years ago
The placement of this is definitely wierd. A little higher and it would make a little more sense.
Pamula Furness 6 years ago
I'd rather this printed but weak nicety than someone cursing me and meaning it
#28
I Needed That Today
Final score:
126points
Ankita Pattanayak 6 years ago
A bit of Self Motivation never hurt anyone. The cleaver would though...so yeah she's funny...
Johnny Frostbite 6 years ago
...She says, pointing at you while holding a large meat cleaver in her other hand. The dramatic musical score builds...
#29
The Pig
SykesDaMan 6 years ago
Damn it Internet, every image search brings up something funny! :) saffy-pig-...05313a.jpg 
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago
Omnivorous pigs would be correct, they eat anything.
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Hand Wash
#31
Pervert
Pamula Furness 6 years ago
But easier to keep an eye on an honest pervert...................,
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Gary Cotugno 6 years ago
Or then again, she may be. And not everyone hates perverts! It could be fun!
#32
Am I French Yet
Alexandru Bucur 6 years ago
Beuh, ça dépend. Si elle était née en Indochine avant '54, alors, par loi, elle serait française... For non French speakers: Well, it depends. If she were born in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and a bit of Cambodia, all French colonies at the time) before '54, by law, she would be...
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Lorelai Lumpkin 6 years ago
désolé vous n'êtes pas français et ne le sera probablement jamais. vous parlez peut-être couramment le français, mais vous n'êtes pas un autochtone, alors s'il vous plaît, ne me demandez pas si je suis français parce que, oui salope je le suis, n'est-ce pas?
Load More Replies... #33
No Carrots
Jace 6 years ago
Not necessarily. Ever heard the phrase “more carrot, less stick”? It’s about incentivizing.
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#35
Let's Not All Live Like This
Final score:
105points
Major Houlihan Bear 6 years ago
Unfortunately this is what many parents tell their kids in highschool.... poor chinese have no courage to trust anything but money. 300yrs of war and occupation has weakened their souls morals and trust
#36
That's... Taking Things To Extreme
Final score:
103points
Symbole Simple 6 years ago
Does she realise she's been robbed? Someone literally 'picked her pocket'!
Uche E 6 years ago
Yeah, you can pull the whole thing off easily with one finger
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Daria B 6 years ago
It's the bizzare fashion that's the problem here. But to each their own, I guess. China can be hot in summer, I understand. *shrug*
Load More Replies... Luis Milian 6 years ago
some people are comfortable showing a little extra. just enjoy the view and mind your own.
Potato 6 years ago
In China? Probably... Is it illegal to wear bikinis or something where you live? I'd think that's not the case in most countries.
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#37
Some Sweet China Style... So Fashion
Final score:
101points
#38
And He Knows It
Final score:
100points
#39
Good Point
Final score:
95points
Pumbaa 6 years ago
I think he got a point there! F**k yesterday, focus on today and the future.
Aileen 6 years ago
Unless it’s important to know what happened in the past so we don’t repeat it. But yeah, it’s a really good mindset to be in so you’re not constantly sad about some mistake you made weeks ago.
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Annabelle Lee 6 years ago
That is always what I like to think! I don´t care about the past much.
Frozengeckolover 6 years ago
Why just yesterday? F**k today, and tomorrow too, I'm going back to bed.
#40
I'll Be A Plastic Toy
#41
Too Much Profoundness
Final score:
93points
#42
Wait, What?
Final score:
92points
Ankita Pattanayak 6 years ago
Maybe iDots are interactive windows on an airplane...The would be cool...
#43
Addicted To Black
Enuya 6 years ago
What is wrong with this one? Ok, the shirt itself is not very pretty, but the text on it isn't in any way humiliating or inappropiate. Or am I missing something?
Yu Ting Gao 6 years ago
look up news about African guys & Chinese girls relationship in southern coastal China, it has been hot debate in recent years.
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#44
Good Advice, Rarely Taken
Final score:
87points
#45
I Ate A Rat
Nia Loves Art 6 years ago
My dad was once eating meat in China. When he asked what it was they told him “small furry thing that runs through the grass.”
#46
If I Ask Where You're Going, Will You Be Confused?
Final score:
80points
Han 6 years ago
I made a T-shirt in high school and wrote on it in puff paint "Don't follow me I'm lost too." It was 1988 and I thought it was so cool. Hahaha
#47
Because... They're Easy?
Final score:
78points
#48
Does It?
Final score:
73points
ShiftyLookinNinjaPandaGirl 6 years ago
Yup. I agree Antenor. UwU-5c5447...f479e3.gif 
Gemma Lees 6 years ago
@ Moe Less. In the UK in 1996, a gunman entered a primary school in Dunblane and sadly shot dead 16 kids and a teacher before shooting himself. There was an enquiry followed by an action group containing some of the bereaved parents who lobbied Parliament. In 1997, all handguns except historical, some sporting and muzzle loading ones were banned. There was a huge buyback programme in which 163,000 weapons were surrendered. There has not been any school shootings since and only one mass shooting in Cumbria in 2010 in which 12 people were killed. Do you think gun control worked? Because I do.
Load More Replies... Enuya 6 years ago (edited)
I'm more interested in "Medicine cabinet checklist" below. Why on Earth do somebody want to wear something like this on his clothes?
C Hypercube 6 years ago
Well, at least you can let other people know if you have a thermometer on you...
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#49
Beat
Monday 6 years ago
Do we beat him until he gives up? Do we give up when the beating doesn't make him give up? I need this information!
Daria B 6 years ago (edited)
Beat Takeshi. (Takeshi Kitano) A cool guy indeed. ♥
Load More Replies... ChiveChilly 6 years ago
There are words that are conceled by the hood, you can see the start of one of the letters. "You can't", maybe? IDK, still a bad design when the hood hangs down!
Veronica Sjöberg 6 years ago
Be stronger (mentally) than someone who doesn't give up. Its sort of inspirational if you see it that way...
#50
Oh Good, Noing... That's What I Needed In My Life
Final score:
64points
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Kaisu Rei 6 years ago (edited)
Sometimes I want to be like "don't these people ever check what the stuff on their clothes might mean??" but I know there are an equal amount of western people who wear stuff with Chinese characters or even get tattooed without knowing what it means, or thinking they know what it means but not actually speaking the language.
Ms Phit 6 years ago
Yes- today there was a "news" article that said Ariana Grande tattooed a Japanese word for a "small tabletop bbq grill" instead of the title of her new album. Why anyone would tattoo in a different language/alphabet without triple checking is beyond me. maybe I'm too practical
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Rose the Cook 6 years ago
Anything American is considered trendy, the English language is associated with America only by many Chinese. I had a small boy repeating the F word over and over until the whole class was doing it in tune. On asking the Chinese headmistress to help me stop it she replied in Chinese, "But Americans say it all the time so it has to be a good thing". She was very red faced when told what it meant and avoided me for ages after.
Brivid 6 years ago
I am very curious to know makes these t-shirts, etc. Is there some wanker somewhere laughing while he prints blowjob t-shirts and thinks how funny it will be to have non-english speakers whereing it?
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Stanislav Teliatnikov 6 years ago
Or they know exactly what it means and simply attended the Trolling School of Life.
Robert tait 6 years ago
I have seen some amazing shirts in china, this is an excellent sample.. I vocationally buy some on trips that are in English but make no sense as presents for kids / friends /family. By the same token I commissioned father in law to create the symbol for "Guess" and had t-shirts made out of it, so when people ask what it says. A few special folks got one that translated to "Small Penis" and were told it meant great courage. I think there is a market for bad Chinese on shirts for Americans to wear...
Xiaomeng Yuan 6 years ago
pixelize children's faces at least, they did not do anything wrong to get laughed at and shamed publicly
Kaisu Rei 6 years ago (edited)
Sometimes I want to be like "don't these people ever check what the stuff on their clothes might mean??" but I know there are an equal amount of western people who wear stuff with Chinese characters or even get tattooed without knowing what it means, or thinking they know what it means but not actually speaking the language.
Ms Phit 6 years ago
Yes- today there was a "news" article that said Ariana Grande tattooed a Japanese word for a "small tabletop bbq grill" instead of the title of her new album. Why anyone would tattoo in a different language/alphabet without triple checking is beyond me. maybe I'm too practical
Load More Replies... Rose the Cook 6 years ago
Anything American is considered trendy, the English language is associated with America only by many Chinese. I had a small boy repeating the F word over and over until the whole class was doing it in tune. On asking the Chinese headmistress to help me stop it she replied in Chinese, "But Americans say it all the time so it has to be a good thing". She was very red faced when told what it meant and avoided me for ages after.
Brivid 6 years ago
I am very curious to know makes these t-shirts, etc. Is there some wanker somewhere laughing while he prints blowjob t-shirts and thinks how funny it will be to have non-english speakers whereing it?
Load More Replies... Stanislav Teliatnikov 6 years ago
Or they know exactly what it means and simply attended the Trolling School of Life.
Robert tait 6 years ago
I have seen some amazing shirts in china, this is an excellent sample.. I vocationally buy some on trips that are in English but make no sense as presents for kids / friends /family. By the same token I commissioned father in law to create the symbol for "Guess" and had t-shirts made out of it, so when people ask what it says. A few special folks got one that translated to "Small Penis" and were told it meant great courage. I think there is a market for bad Chinese on shirts for Americans to wear...
Xiaomeng Yuan 6 years ago
pixelize children's faces at least, they did not do anything wrong to get laughed at and shamed publicly
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