Feminine Product Euphemisms in Chinese

I saw this posted by David Moser on Facebook recently:

David writes:

This bilingual sign in the restroom of a Beijing hospital is interesting. The Chinese literally reads: “[If this is] a special day, [if] you need a feminine hygiene product, please contact someone at the front desk.” The English eschews such gentle euphemisms: “If you need a tampon during your period, please contact with the front desk [sic].” An interesting cultural difference?

Note that the translation of “tampon” in the sign isn’t quite accurate, and the picture doesn’t match.

There are definitely a lot of Chinese euphemisms regarding the topic of menstruation. The one I hear the most is also the simplest: 我老朋友来了 (wǒ lǎopéngyou lái le), literally, “my old friend is here.”

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John Pasden

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

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