Japanese writing project

When I learnt or saw the word of eraser in Japanese in the textbook for the first time, I felt a little bit strange, as the word is written as けしゴム (消しゴム), with katakana, hiragana and also kanji. On the other hand, the japanese word written on the eraser from my friend is different, at least not 消しゴム (I don't remember what exactly the words, just remember it's different.) However, at that time, I didn't check or think of the reason, I just put it aside. So, after Seo sansei gave this writing project to us, I decided to check and think about it.

Of course, I don't think that ゴム is a onomatopoeia or loan word. At first, I just think that it may be a practice to write in katakana. However, after I check the dictionary, I discover that it is a word from English. It is the english word "gum" which is one of the ingredients for making eraser. So, it makes sense that why "消しゴム" is written with katakana, hiragana and kanji.

Another question that I am curious is why the word is different on the eraser of my friend. As I forget what is the exact wordings, the only thing I can remember about that eraser is it is from Muji (sadly, there is no Muji near my home). So, I just go to some stores that sell stationeries. It is surprised that I find four different kinds of expression.


 

The first type is 消しゴム, of course. I can find it more easily than other type. Somehow, I think that it is a more classical expression  for eraser, may be it is because it is the expression used in the textbook.



The second type is 消ゴム. I don't know why し is missed. Actually, I don't even know whether it is eraser or not, I guess it is. I check on the dictionary to find the meaning of 消ゴム, but I can find nothing, there is no word like this.

 

The third type is けしごむ. All the words are written in hiragana. I can only guess why the company do so. It is a product of a box of erasers which have different cute shape. In order to match the image of the product, it is better to use hiragana than katakana or kanji. It is because hiragana has a roundish shape which gives people impression of cute.

The fourth type is ケシゴム. All the words are written as katagana. I think it is because the company wants to emphasize and attract people to see and buy the product.

 I think the use of these expression depends on what the company want and whether it suit their product. However, no matter which kind of expression, they have the same meaning of eraser.