Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Singapore Littered with Bad English



At this point in time, I feel quite embarrassed to be a Singaporean. Who on earth is the copywriter???

According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online the definition(s) of 'SPARKLE' are as follows:
sparkle
verb
1 to shine brightly with a lot of small points of light:
The snow/sea sparkled in the sunlight.

2 If a person or performance sparkles, they are energetic, interesting and exciting:
Alice is shy and quiet at parties, but her sister really sparkles!

sparkle
noun
1 bright shine:
The radiant smile and the sparkle in her blue eyes were the clear signs of a woman still deeply in love.

2 energy and interest:
Their latest performance of My Fair Lady really lacked sparkle.
The sparkle went out of/left her (= She became unhappy) after her husband died.


So, by asking us, "Have you sparkle (sic) lately?", are they asking if we:
1. have been shining brightly with a lot of small points of light?
2. have been energetic, interesting and exciting?
3. have a bright shine?
4. have energy and interest?

Also, the verb 'sparkle' in such a question, should be in present perfect tense. Thus, it should have been "Have you sparkleD lately?"

It's really about having a clean and green town, rather than the verb definitions - to be shining bright with a lot of small points of light, or been energetic, interesting and exciting. Maybe it's used metaphorically, but still, the tenses' wrong, and they ought to remove these banners that are littered all over the island.

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