Leslie Forman

Found in Translation

November 29, 2010

Forrest Gump is Chinese, and Other Striking Realizations (circa 2006)

I just stumbled upon this email, which I sent home on November 17, 2006.  I think it still stands true. Enjoy! Yeah, you read that right. I just watched Forrest Gump (a one-dollar bootleg DVD, of course) and now I understand why it was so popular here.  One of my teaching colleagues even chose “Forrest” […]

November 12, 2010

Found in Translation: Pistachio => 开心果 => Happy Nut

The first in an occasional series about living, speaking, and writing at the intersection between languages. Of all the products in Beijing’s upscale supermarkets, these pistachios have the best branding.  Let me count the ways! 1) Literal. “Pistachio” translates to 开心果 kaixinguo. 开 means open, 心 means heart, and 果 means fruit or nut.  开心 […]