What’s wrong in the picture?

[Joe Carillo]

A reader from Makati City has just sent in a very interesting photo for the Forum’s “Badly Written, Badly Spoken” section and I’m asking Forum members to post their comments about it soonest. Check it out now by clicking this link!

[jonathanfvaldez]

Bamboo Bistro in West Covina, California has signage posted on its walls that reads:

"Please avoid leftovers"

and, obviously the intended meaning,

"Pakiusap Iwasan Ang Pagtitira Ng Pagkain"

I think the management wants its patrons not to waste food, but isn't the use of "leftovers" improper in this context?

It's a pity my cell phone doesn't have a camera.

[Joe Carillo]

I think the language in "Please avoid leftovers" is a little loose, but at least it's a polite alternative to "Please finish all the food you ordered" or "Please eat all of the food you ordered." (For indeed, how can you possibly do that if the food is badly cooked or not to your liking?) In the Philippines, an often-used variant in restaurants that offer eat-all-you-can meals is "No leftovers allowed"--the implication being that the diner can't ask for a doggie bag for food he or she had put on the plate but was unable to finish. (As you can imagine, allowing leftovers to be taken home under that offer could bankrupt the restaurant before long!)

Anyway, jonathan, just to put things in proper perspective, leftover in the context of food is defined as "something that remains unused or unconsumed...especially leftover food served at a later meal." So maybe--just a big maybe--that restaurant in West Covina is indirectly and ever politely telling its patrons to refrain from asking for doggie bags to take their leftover food home.