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I was reading an article in some chinsese newspapare and saw a line
因为偷了一张题写着政治标语的海报
Why the Hell Ocean + Official Report means "a poster"?
p.s. has it something to do with a postage stamp? You by a stamp, stick it on to an envelope of the letter and send it overseas. And those stamps always have some picture on them like a mini-poster?
P.p.s. Any idea why they called any "theatrical act" - ocean?
Baidu says:
海报这一名称，最早起源于上海。旧时，海报是用于戏剧、电影等演出或球赛等活动的招帖。上海的人通常把职业性的戏剧演出称为“海”，而把从事职业性戏剧的表演称为“下海”。作为剧目演出信息的具有宣传性的招徕顾客性的张贴物，也许是因为这个，人们便把它叫做“海报”。
Which means, if I summarise: The word originated in Shanghai, where people referred to professional theatrical productions as "海". Hence "海报"
"Ocean" in Chinese sometimes means massive production, maybe it is because "ocean" is so big and vast. "Official reports" means posters. "A massive production of official reports about special events" can be understood as "Hai Bao", or "ocean" + "reports", or posters.
