Bad Characters

The blog Hanzi Smatter is dedicated to debunking what it calls "the misuse of Chinese characters in Western culture."

The most recent post (as of my post today) brings up the myth that "the Chinese word for crisis means danger and opportunity," which, it notes, came up in the context of The Daily Show. It also does an energetic job of exposing the silliness of certain tattoos.

While, given its narrow focus, it's not as robust as some other good debunking sites I have become quite fond of, like Quackwatch, the New England Skeptical Society, and James Randi's site, it does perform a useful, if small, public service.

Worth a look.

posted by C A Crowley @ 11:16 PM