Black and White Cat

Before I go any further, I really must apologize for the title of this post - both to those I may have offended; and to those who will not find what they were looking for here.

The following picture appeared as wallpaper on one of our work computers recently:

Since no one seems to know who put it there, I have no way of knowing where in China the cocks socks were bought. Google did give me a lot of results for that phrase, but not exactly the one I wanted. Unlike Monday’s contribution from the wallpaper poster:

This supermarket sign for ‘disposable products’ (one-time-use) was easy to find links for. It’s everywhere, including here. But a Google search for that phrase also took me to another gem at the Language Log. There are already too many dodgy keywords on this page, so you’ll have to go there yourself to find out what weird and wonderful things you’re supposed to do with your newly purchased Cisco/Crisco switch.

All this reminds me, though, of Hanzi Smatter’s unsuccessful efforts to persuade Westerners to find out what those Chinese and Japanese characters mean before you get them permanently inscribed on your flesh. After all, the sock wrapper will be thrown in the bin. The supermarket sign will be taken down. That tattoo, however…