Adil Najam
The headline used for this photograph by the Daily Times was just too good not to reproduce above.
I do not know if this qualifies as Pinglish or not but the typo - ‘over’ instead of ‘our’; the misplaced space in ‘Friend Ship’; and the grammar slippage in ‘with Pak-China’ are so very charming and so very Pakistani. (or, maybe, it means what it says; i.e., we have an OVER-close friendship with China!)
But please, let no one think I am being a snob in laughing at these mistakes. I really am not. Really.
Its our language too and as a free people we will use it whatever way we want. What better revenge can we have on our erstwhile colonists. Also, I have always subscribed to the notion that ‘Friend Ship is the best Ship of all’ 
Well, it’s not like most of the Chinese delegation would have been able to tell the difference.
The misspelling and erratic grammar depicts much more than what it actual shows. It might be funny but the funnier part also has various underpinnings. To some it might reflect a gradual but sure decline in educational standards. To others it shows that replacing ones language with another, in a haphazard manner has its consequences. While, still others would attribute it to the rigmarole of the administrative setup in our society. After all, the welcome sign for a foreign dignitary must have the final approval of the “know all� baboos of bureaucracy.
In the same vein, from The News today:
‘Realize’ the press release!
By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: If an official press release is titled “Press Realizeâ€Â?, some nasty message might be conveyed between the lines to the media. Or it could just be a typographical mistake or a computer’s devil. But whatever it is, it is too catchy to be ignored.
Issued here on Tuesday, the “Press Realize� is signed by no less than the project director of the Agribusiness Development and Diversification Project, Agricultural and Livestock Products Marketing and Grading Department, Government of Pakistan.
Who is the project director? What is his qualification? What pay package is he offered from the taxpayer money? No such details are available, but it is strange that the head of a government project has entitled a press release as “Press Realize�.
Interestingly, the “Press Realize� is written in bold and is the most prominent part of the one-page writing.
The first para of the “Press Realizeâ€Â? says, “The Agribusiness Development & Diversification Project is an initiative of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL), executed with the financial and technical assistance of the Asian Development Bank. The purpose of the project is to develop a competitive and dynamic agribusiness sector to foster economic growth and employment generation through agribusiness development.”
This “Press Realize� at least proves that the project director is being paid from the loan money that the government has borrowed from the Asian Development Bank and that the taxpayers have to pay back with interest. How successful the project will be only time will tell.
@Pervaiz
AoA is short for asalamoalaikum
I read it someplace i dont exactly remember this was supposed to be a friendship poem goes something like “Be a jellyfish Be a shellfish but dont be selfish”
….and one more thing. This is new for me. In this age of electronics, I get e-mails from my Pakistani friends starting with “AoA”. Any guess what this might be.
I have a copy of a well known illustrated book on Pakistan with a picture of busy Anar Kali Bazar. One of the bill boards reads: HOLE SALE. Of course we know many Pakistani doctors with “MBBS” and not “M.B.,B.S.”. And there is no shortage of Pakistani “PHD Doctors” either. I also wonder why it is B.Sc. and M.Sc. and not B.S. and M.S. Also being gracious people we are not shy to “WELL COME” our guests. Thanks God for the “spell check” in my computer.
One more spelling that pakistan’s truck industry never seems to get right is the word Inflammable. I’ve seen anything written from imflamabel to flameabel on trucks in pakistan. Some of the artists also can’t seem to get it centered geometrically on a truck’s back. Sometimes more than half of the letters are written on one half of the oil tanker’s back e.g. ‘imflamm’ on one side and then just ‘able’ on the other side
Adil thanks for bringing spellings to forelight here. While everyone (especially me) makes mistakes on spellings, the comedy of the situation should be enjoyed
Funny! ‘Friend ship is the best ship.’ I remember hearing that so many times, sounded cute too!