The Chinese language is the world’s only language that doesn’t have an alphabet. Each of its 3,000 essential characters has a pronunciation, intonation, meaning and writing stroke order that must be learned and remembered. It’s a lot. So I’ve used the English alphabet to organize some examples of Chinese fit-for-purpose and make it easier to get a feel for the basics.
This post has about one fifth of the usual amount of words but it took about the same time as it wasn’t always easy to identify examples of fit-for-purpose and then find a letter that fitted. I had to bend the rules for Q and X as I couldn’t find any fit-for-purpose queens, quail, x-rays or xylophones.
A is for ASHTRAY.
B is for BROOM.
B is for BLADELESS plastic wrap.
B is for BRIDGE.
C is for CONNECTOR.
D is for DUSTPAN.
D is for DOORSTOP.
E is for ECONOMICAL and EFFICIENT ENERGY USAGE.
F is for FLYOVERS and FLOWERS.
F is also for FENCE.
G is for GAS STATION.
H is for HAT.
I is for IVY.
J is for JUNKSPACE.
K is for KINDER GARTEN.
L is for LADDER.
M is for MOVING AROUND.
N is for NO PACKAGING.
O is for OCR.
P is for PACKAGING.
P is also for PATH.
Q is for QI [“chi” = chi]
R is for RESOLUTION.
S is for STENCIL.
S is for SECURITY.
S is for SPOTS TO SIT.
T is for TOWEL, TISSUES and TOILET PAPER.
T is for TRASH BINS.
U is for UPGRADES / UNFIT-FOR-PURPOSE
V is for VEGETABLES.
W is for WORKBENCH.
W is for WHEELBARROW.
NB: The long handles radial to the axle make this wheelbarrow very easy to tip and unload.
X is for XĪGUÀ [“shii-gwa” = watermelon].
Y is for YELLOW is for domestic gas supply.
Z is for ZEBRA CROSSING.
All photographs apart from the three I used to illustrate Economical and Efficient Energy usage, and the one above, I have taken myself. However, I have walked across this stepping stone bridge in order to see the timber bridge in the distance. It’s one of Taishun’s many covered bridges, the structure of which relies on the weight of the interlocking timbers and is made without nails, bolts or any other kind of metal connector.
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