Why Chinese People Say Take bus

[EN] The phrase "take bus" has no single meme origin; it emerged organically from Chinese English learners' speech and writing over decades. It belongs to the broader category of "Chinglish" that became notable in the late 1990s and early 2000s when China opened up and more English public signs appeared. The earliest documented spread came from online forums like "Chinglish.com" (founded 2001) and Chinese BBS platforms such as Tianya or Xici Hutong, where users shared funny English mistakes. "Take bus" was a common example alongside "open the light" and "big stomach king". It later appeared in photo collections of Chinglish signs in China, posted on Flickr and Reddit (around 2008–2010), then spread to Western humor sites like Engrish Funny. A notable spread path: Chinese students abroad used it in daily conversation → teachers corrected them → anecdotes shared on forums → became a textbook example of Chinese L1 interference. Today it still resurfaces in TikTok videos where Chinese people demonstrate "Chinglish phrases foreigners find hilarious". [中文] 来源："take bus"并非源自单一网络梗，而是中国英语学习者长期口语和写作的自然产物。它属于广义的"中式英语"（Chinglish），在20世纪90年代末至21世纪初中国对外开放、公共英语标识激增时开始引起关注。最早的文字记录出现在2001年成立的Chinglish.com论坛，以及天涯、西祠胡同等中文BBS上，网友分享搞笑英语错误时，"take bus"常与"open the light"（开灯）、"big stomach king"（大胃王）一起被列举。随后（约200