(Updated) Buying, selling, eating and joining my contest

Would you buy grammatically challenged products?

Jamie Alarcon, a former student of mine, sent me this picture taken inside a popular supermarket along Chino Roces.

Apparently, foreign industrialists don’t make cheese the way they used to! Does the same go for “that thing you use to tie your hair?” Check out the picture below.

In case you don’t know, elastics are normally made of latex and are used in braces. I have yet to meet a person who has hair in his mouth!

Now, get ready for a triple rhyme: Elastic band, on the other hand, means rubber band. The product being sold resembles the latter. As I said, it’s that thing you use to…you know what I mean.

After looking at another product below, I can’t help but ask: Is there such a thing as an “official” or “professional” pair of scissors?

Please keep in mind that when you write, you have to think in terms of counter-examples, especially in using adjectives and adverbs.

The problem with this sign is not the word but a misplaced punctuation mark.

If the intention were to state that the calculator has eight digits, then there’s no need for a dash. But if the phrase “eight digits” were used as an adjective, the label should read “8-digit electronic calculator.”

I’m sure you can easily detect what’s wrong with this sign.

By the way, if you want to read more grammatically challenged toys, feel free to read my previous post in January 2008.

Now that we have an idea of what not to buy, let me ask you: Would you be willing to buy from retail outlets that have these notices?

The first is a case of too many punctuation marks, and the second is a case of…where do I start? Just for the record, I was not the one who put editing marks on the second sign.

Anyway, after all those buying and selling, let’s now proceed to eating!

When my wife and I went to Boracay in early February, we can’t help but take this picture.

We chose not to eat at that restaurant. Much as the “eat all you can” promotion is tempting, we do not know who or what is fresh: Is it the cook or the ones being cooked?

And since you’ve been patient enough to read several funny signs I’ve posted, I will give you a rare opportunity to get a free copy of the February 2008 issue (Volume 5, Number 1) of Plaridel: A Journal of Philippine Communication, Media, and Society. You should know that as faculty member and director of the Office of Research and Publication (ORP) of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC), I am entitled to several copies of the journal. What I’ll give you, if ever, is one of my free copies. Anyway, there are only two simple rules. First, analyze the picture below and tell me what’s wrong with the use of one word. Second, post a comment here, identifying what you think is the misused word and why this is so. The first one to post the correct answer gets the free copy of the Plaridel journal.

• Update (March 27, 1:50 pm): An hour into the contest and I already have a winner. Read the comments for details.

Are you ready? Here’s the picture I took at a restaurant inside Blue Wave (Marquinton) in Marikina City.

Thank you for reading. Cheers!