Question reliability of eyesight

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Hello everyone,

In the movie Shanghai Chest the character named Charlie Chan speaks like this:

“For instant, Charlie Chan question reliability of eyesight. Wish pap could say same. May ask, please, how it happen miserable Number Two Son and unfortunate driver of automobile find selves in police lock-up all night? Have two ears, but can hear only one thing at time.”

Am I correct in thinking that it’s not a very informal English, but grammatically incorrect English (for example, “question” instead of “questions”) deliberately used to show that Mr Chan is not a native English speaker?

The scene in question starts at 8.42.

Thank you.

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Hi Klpno,

I wasn’t quite sure so I went to look it up, here’s what I found: The use of grammatically incorrect English, such as saying “question” instead of “questions,” can be a deliberate stylistic choice to portray Mr. Chan as a non-native English speaker. It adds authenticity and character to his speech, emphasizing that English may not be his first language1. Similarly, in other contexts, bilingual individuals might mix languages or use non-standard grammar based on their background and experiences. For instance, Stray Kids’ Bang Chan, who grew up in Korea and Australia, shared that he thinks in both English and Korean2. So, while it’s not standard grammar, it serves a purpose in conveying cultural nuances and authenticity.

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Hi Marc and thank you.

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To add to what Masme already said:

This was an old movie. They intentionally used incorrect English as Mesme stated. However, it was usually very stereotyped broken English. It was almost never how a non-native speaker actually speaks.

The old movies and TV shows did not care about accuracy. They just used stereotypes about language and culture. Those stereotypes were usually very inaccurate and judgmental (usually making them look very stupid). Back then they didn’t care. In modern movies and TV, they make an attempt to be more accurate.

It wasn’t until around the late 70s that they started to seriously move away from those stereotypes and aim for more accuracy.

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Just to add a little more…

A movie could not be made with this sort of language now. I see that it was made just after World War II, and so this may have affected the portrayal of Asian characters.

I looked at some quotes from older Charlie Chan movies from before the war staring Warner Oland (who was Swedish) and the language seems more intelligent. There still were no articles, and verbs were often missing, but overall it sounded better than this quote, although still not good.

BTW, Number Two son is how he refers to his second oldest son. Number One Son in the series was played by Keye Luke who was later considered for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He acted in 231 movies and TV shows up until 1990.

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Thank you, NearlyNapping.

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Thank you, Arinker.

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