Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Important Hebrew Lesson!

When we were new to Israel, forty years ago, and even until pretty recently, Israeli marketing didn't include major "sales."  In clothing stores they'd offer ten to fifteen percent off end of season items and then store away the clothes, selling them full price, as new, the following year.

Now there are constant style updates and SALES!  The real thing with all sorts of misleading signs to get you into the store.

In large letters the sign proclaims:
"The end of the end of the year sale.  All the store NS29.99"
 



But the small letters, all four of them, give different information.


החל מ- Hecheil mei- STARTING FROM-

That's right.  It means that the lowest price in the store is --, and there will be items which cost more, most probably lots more.  Other stores have signs with a variety of prices, proclaiming that these are the prices items will cost.  That's more honest, less misleading.

Read carefully and shop wisely.

4 comments:

Mrs. S. said...

"Read carefully and shop wisely."
Good advice!

שנה טובה ומתוקה
וכתיבה וחתימה טובה
to you and your family!

Dorah @ Israel said...

It's market and marketing. People are interested in making money out of you and nothing else. may sound depressing but that's true.

Jennifer in MamaLand said...

They do that here, too.
It's annoying, but I can imagine in a foreign language, fatally deceptive.
If the numbers were the only thing I understood, I could easily walk into a store hoping for a bargain. I fear for my all-Canadian dh; he's no good at languages, but hopes to start learning Hebrew this fall. Learning "Israeli" - attitudes and aggressiveness - now that's another matter. He is PURE nice and some things might not translate well.

Batya said...

thanks Mrs S, same to you and yours.
Dorah, exactly
Jennifer, no doubt the same tricks all over the world.