The Weirdest Pinyin Ever

Check out the name of this clothing shop in Shanghai:

Dan Nong

It just looks so wrong, but it’s actually correct, if you ignore the fact that the N (И) and D (ᗡ) are written backwards. It still kinda hurts my brain, though.

Also, the characters 單農 (DĀN NÓNG) are written in traditional characters. In simplified, they are 单农.

As for what “單農” as a name is supposed to actually mean, I have no idea. Any theories?

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John Pasden

John is a Shanghai-based linguist and entrepreneur, founder of AllSet Learning.

Comments

  1. SIMPLE LEAVING? a bit far-fetched, but might be some kind of reverse translation of their English slogan

  2. sorry, I meant SIMPLE LIVING

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