Can tables move on their own?

I wondered what this sign meant until I read the Chinese text. What is the restaurant management trying to say?

"Please do not move the tables around"

To "shift" something means to move it. However, "shifting" something infers that the object in question, in this case the tables, move by themselves, without human intervention, as in "shifting sands". In the latter, the sand moves about on its own from movements beneath the surface of the earth. Tables in a restaurant do not move themselves unless there is an earthquake.

When living in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual country like Malaysia (where I spotted this sign), we do end up with mastering one language over another, even though we are supposed to be proficient in both. In this case, the manager or owner who typed up this sign is obviously better at Chinese than English, hence the funny English phrase.

While English is not an easy language to learn, it does help to ask for help before putting up signs that embarrass yourself and display your lack of understanding of the language. Learning is lifelong. Let us take every mistake as a learning experience.

Have fun with English!