Even the premier state university (i.e., UP) has its share of funny signs.

Last January 10, as I waited for my turn to withdraw my salary from the ATM of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) beside the Shopping Center, I noticed this advisory. Please read it carefully!

Did you notice what’s wrong with the advisory? If you noticed the redundancy in the phrase “ATM machines,” then you’re absolutely right! As you know, ATM stands for automated teller machine. There’s no need to use the word “machine” to describe ATM.

Redundancy in the use of words is a common mistake in English, resulting in popular though ungrammatical expressions like “pleasant good morning,” “tuition fee,” “present state,” “part and parcel,” and, lest I forget “PIN number.” As regards the latter, I’m sure you know that PIN stands for personal identification number.

The proper use of prepositions is another common mistake in English. Unlike the previous sign, I think you can easily detect what’s wrong with the sign below which I found a few hours ago today (January 18) on the second floor of Balay Kalinaw. (A fellow journalist who is aware of my “funny signs” project called my attention to this as we waited for an activity to start.)

I’m sure it’s not the intention of whoever prepared this sign to tell people that they can smoke anywhere except on this area, probably on the roof! If a smoker were to obey this sign, he or she can smoke in the area where it’s posted, but not on it. Did you get the mistake in the use of prepositions?

That’s all for now and I hope you enjoyed the funny signs and the crash course in English.