Anchors on China Central Television(CCTV) will need to do some fast talking to replace the popular English acronyms they are now banned from using. Shanghai Dailyreports that "anchors at China Central Television have been banned from saying the English acronyms NBA, CBA, GDP, and the like in their programs."        The replacement for those handy acronyms? Chinese presenters must use the full Chinese name, standardized by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.        Although CCTV(oops, we mean China Central Television) presenters must already have a score of at least 94 in their government-rated oral mandarin proficiency exam, saying the full name of organizations like the CBA and WTO---10 and 6 characters' long respectively---is sure to challenge even the most skillful anchors. CCTV sports anchor Sun Zhengping tells Shanghai Daily, "A full Chinese explanation of the English initials must be followed if my tongue slips. It is a little troublesome but a necessary one because not every member of the audience can understand the initials."        Although the government isn't giving any official explanation for the shift, it is believed to have something to do with a proposal by Huang Youyi, director of the China International Publishing Group, at March's NPC meeting. In his speech, Huang said, "With more and more publications mixing Chinese with English, measures and regulations should be adopted to avoid English invading Chinese. If we don't pay attention and don't take measures to stop the expansion of mixing Chinese with English, Chinese won't be a pure language in a couple of years."        Although China is far from the first country to take measures to protect local languages, acronyms are more about saving time than they are about corrupting a language, we would think. Good luck to the CCTV anchors. What's Huang Youyi's purpose?
Using full English names instead of short forms. Translating Chinese terms into proper English. Avoiding Chinese words being mixed into English. Keeping our mother tongue a pure language.