Shirts I'd Never Dare Get Caught Wearing

That’s just me. Because the truth is the Japanese don’t care. They have never embraced English like we did. Truth is, with many unemployed English-speaking nationals (including Americans) now knocking on their doors for jobs, the Japanese instead insist that the strangers learn their tongue. And I see a lot of them taking great effort to do so. I am.

But for us, English has been a language we grew up in, even for my kindred souls who were raised in the boondocks. Some people take cover under the mantle of nationalism when they still cannot express themselves in cognizable English even after college, but I don’t buy that. It’s like living in an island and never learning to swim. Either you’re troubled or you are just plain cracked.

That’s why these shirts will not make good business in the Philippines. These are not the type which intentionally play with or mangle the language just to amuse, but were obviously written by copywriters who were so convinced that their grammar is perfect. You know, like some clueless but proud people we met back in school, whose sentences are but a mixture of unfathomable words. :-)

Check these out:

If you can't read the last one, it says:

Likes Suddenly
Underdone
Interrupts the original melody
No longer has the very good physique to come the heavy rain
But may lie prone in the window
The window gently to breathe.