Assuming we all have at least some familiarity with the formative importance to the U.S. (and Canada etc.) of Chinese-American history and that of the diaspora (among the other Asian diasporas with which, importantly to its history, it is frequently conflated), painful as the most pivotal events have been, I think we can take a moment to reflect pleasantly on the dramatic Chinese-American contribution to both international cuisine and American dining culture. Furthermore, good food is the kind of thing that drives even the most hateful xenophobic bigots face peacefully, positively, their imagined nemesis.

There's the longstanding "Engrish" meme theme online, with the concept of laughing at e.g. Chinese-American restaurant text going back as far as those restaurants have catered outside the diaspora (ofc laughing at language mistakes is as old as humanity -- language is inherently funny). However, that mocking behavior is a cultural exchange between some different level of English speakers on the one hand and the continual flow of the Chinese diaspora on the other, as much as it is simply laughing at silly language. Compare the "in bed" joke routine a big group might do with their fortune cookies at the end of a meal. These kinds of social behaviors are a big part of what invites foreigners into the Chinese restaurants and businesses, from the suburban malls to downtown Chinatown. People are definitely laughing at, not with, the misspeller or printer, but that's all still elemental in a peaceful -- and profitable -- cultural exchange.

Finally to the point: with machine language translation getting constantly better -- never mind a rigorous English education becoming even more ubiquitous -- I fear there will be fewer and fewer examples of Engrish to see in America. And that's a cultural loss -- not net loss, but change. The real-life fubar misprints will be gone and all we'll have left are the rehashed memes and occasional ironic t-shirts.

I guess this became my inelegant pre-elegy to Engrish. For all I know it's premature by 50 years; I can also conceive of a manner in which natural Engrish in some form, regardless of tech and education, would never disappear. (Note also this more or less can apply to any diaspora anywhere, but there's lots of reasons besides those listed for why the entire Chinese-American interweave makes such a richly complex case of its own.)