My trip to a popular mall in Marikina City last April 14 resulted in yet another harvest of funny signs.

My decision to start taking pictures around the mall using my camera phone (I know: It’s only a Nokia 6070, but it gets the job done!) was prompted by this sign I saw after buying a pineapple shake. I don’t mind adding P10 for ice cream, but what will I get for an additional P7?

Yes, my plan for this installment of funny signs is a product of the flan’s misspelling.

Roaming around the mall while drinking my pineapple shake, the sign below reminds me of my previous post on “Snickers,” “Chicken Fingers” and “Pocari Sweat.” Please note that what’s being sold are bubble gums.

Do you honestly think that children would buy a gum with this brand if they knew what a hockey puck is? If I were to give this to my four-year old English-speaking niece, she would most likely ask me, “Uncle, what the puck is this?”

The typographical error in the next sign is not so obvious but if you read my previous post on the eight-digit electronic calculator, you would immediately know what’s wrong.

Yes, It’s wrong to use a dash in this case as the two words are not being used as an adjective. The product being sold promises that you’ll be alluring for one day, which means a 24-hour (or one-day) state of attractiveness.

If this is a sign that has an unnecessary character, our next funny sign has an excess character, or a letter to be more precise. Care to guess what letter it is?

If your answer is the letter “e,” then you’re correct. This is a common mistake in spelling out the word “tarp.”

Kindly note, however, that the words “adrenalin” and “adrenaline” are both correct. You have the option to choose one or the other but you need to be consistent, of course, if you were to use the word “adrenalin/adrenaline” in your written output more than once.

Our next sign is also a case of an excess character, this time involving the letter “s.”

You may think it’s just a joke if you were to tell me that the word should have been “tuffs.” There is such a word, mind you. Tuff refers to a rock formed by the consolidation of volcanic ash. From what I know, tuff is not a collective noun so “tuffs” could be used to refer to several rocks of this kind.

The word “stuff,” however, is a collective noun so it is wrong to add the letter “s” after it to refer to its plural form. This rule may remind you of my previous post on the use of the word “gear.”

The sign below, on the other hand, confuses me as to what’s being sold.

Does this refer to bags you can use if you were to go on a shopping spree? Or does this sign refer to bags that are currently on sale? Since it’s apparently the latter, the sign should read: “Bags on sale.” (I assume, of course, that you are not putting on sale only one bag, but several.

Let me end this installment with a joke which I hope you’ll find funny.

There are several innovations being done by capitalists to meet and create demand for products. In the case of mobile phones, for example, there are so many add-on features that result in the convergence of telephony with other aspects of information technology, making them practically part of our lives. Some people would even quip that mobile phones are already part of their anatomy (not literally, I hope).

I know that I promised you a joke, so here it is: Have slippers finally evolved into something that’s part of our human body? Look at the sign below:

I know there are slippers for boys and girls, as well as men and women. I didn’t know that even women who are experiencing that time of the month should wear “mens” slippers.

Or maybe I’m mistaken in my interpretation. The slippers are the ones menstruating!

See what a lacking apostrophe can do to my imagination, as well as yours? Thanks for reading!