Grammar, funny signs and the jejemon phenomenon

N.B. – This was published in Asian Correspondent (June 16, 10:30 a.m.) where I write a column (Philippine Fantasy).

The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) wants to purge the so-called jejemon mentality by “strongly discouraging” the use of jejespeak in formal and informal communication.

Of course, the DepEd officials mean well because they want to develop the students’ command of the language.

Just what is a jejemon and how can one distinguish jejespeak? The sign below is good example of how a so-called jejemonster uses (or misuses) upper and lower cases and gets preoccupied with Zs.

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Of course, you cannot immediately conclude that a jejemon is responsible for all the funny signs in the Philippines, including the one above, as well as this one below.

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Yes, we should maintain donations so that the sign maker can raise enough money to change the sign.

I know that jejespeak uses a combination of numbers, letters and upper and lower cases. But believe me that a jejemon is somewhat familiar with the letter H. I suppose this sign was not made by a jejemon.

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Then again, we couldn’t be so sure, right? For all we know, a grammatically-challenged legislator is the one who made the sign below. I have this “nagging suspicion” because legislative sessions are normally scheduled from Monday to Thursday.

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Anyway, you have no business selling goods or providing services if you don’t know the spelling of business in the first place. Besides, an 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. shift means that you have business hours. And what’s with the lack of “00” after “9:”? Did the sign-maker intend to include an emoticon here?

The error in this sign below is a bit tricky.

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In this sign, the word “supplies” should have been used, unless the business establishment is selling only one particular product (i.e., supply).

The wrong spelling in this sign is very evident if you’re familiar with the Filipino language.

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If you would allow me to edit this sign, it should read: “Bawal magtapon ng basura dito (loose translation: Throwing of garbage here is prohibited).” Yes, the sign-maker tried to fit big letters in a relatively limited space.

Going back to the DepEd’s plan to discourage jejespeak, education officials should consider promoting to students and teachers the use of “predictive text input” in sending text messages. It’s very evident that text lingo has already found its way in other forms of media, particularly print.

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I know what you’re about to say: Y r u so min? (Why are you so mean?) The answer is simple: I’m not fairest of them all!

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You’re the one with the problem if you can’t see what’s wrong with our next sign.

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For our last sign, we should all be reminded to avoid dividing long words. Even if the hyphenation is correct, one finds something funny when the word “trespassing” becomes “tres passing.”

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Does this mean I can pass by this private property twice but never thrice?

More funny signs next week. Feel free to drop by not just once!

One thought on “Grammar, funny signs and the jejemon phenomenon”

  1. “Did the sign-maker intend to include an emoticon here?”

    Probably the sign-maker thought the entire sign is actually a joke. :P

    Reply: Thanks for your comment. All the best!

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