Wrong: ‘Next Week Tuesday’
“FCT reintroduces park and pay (park-and-pay) policy in Abuja” An aside: where else would the FCT have reintroduced the policy if not Abuja? “Osimhen offers to help amputee pure-water (sachet water in formal environments like newspapers and official/standard communication) hawker”
“Thus, it’s no surprise to see her blossom into a world class (world-class) actress and film maker”
“Gunmen kill 9, kidnap 25 along (on) Kaduna-Kachia road” (News around the city, April 7) The abduction took place at a particular spot on that road—not along, except, of course, there was resistance!
“Doctors, judicial workers, lecturers (lecturers’) strikes ground Nigeria” (NATIONAL NEWS, April 7)
“Users testify about (to) newfound sex enhancer”
“Gunmen kill catholic (Catholic) priest in Benue” “Furore over Reps (Reps’) public hearing on Nigeria (Nigerian/Nigeria’s) missions abroad” Again, where would the missions have been located? Maybe Ajegunle!
“Sanwo-Olu inaugurates 6-man panel to probe impasse on (in) VC race”
“…sensitise (sensitize, preferably) the populace on (to) the operational methods of traffickers….” “…so that children (childless) couple (couples) would embrace it to have children instead of patronising (again, patronizing) baby factories.
“When a political party and a governor has (have) a vision….” (Politics & Power, March 24)
“NPA suspends export receipts at Lagos ports, clamps down (clamps down on) illegal jetty operators”
“The billionaires listed as presenters of the book at (on) the occasion to be chaired by….” “Ekiti CP orders security beef up (beef-up)” “…a media practitioner (professional) wrote from Lagos”
“…dissects the honour amidst (amid) the push for the ex-governor to succeed….”
“…in one of the stand out (stand-out) fixtures of the Premier League.”
“…the fixture also presents in-form Nigeria (Nigerian) striker….”
“Vietnamese-Nigeria (Nigerian) striker bemoans league ban”
“No doubt, your track record of doggedness, visionary leadership and commitment to excellence have (has) been inspiring to….” Get it right: the track record of…has (not have—the long list of accomplishments notwithstanding)
“If you want to gain insights on (to) the secrets of wealth management” (First Bank full-page advertisement, March 27, THISDAY)
“The onus is now on the 19 year old (sic) to cash-in (cash in) on the situation and win the heart of the….”
Wrong: “Next week Tuesday….” (Silverbird Rhythm 93.7 7 a.m. Bulletin, March 19); right: Next Tuesday or Tuesday, next week. ‘Next week Tuesday’ is sub-literacy!
“Today, we celebrate our flag-bearers, those who go the extra mile to put You Firs
Happy Customer Service Week: standardbearers; not ‘flag-bearers’ which, unfortunately, has been subjected to notoriety by non-ideological Nigerian politicians and popularized by a few unintellectual colleagues of mine!
“Several videos shared on social media showed some of the protesters bolting away from the tear gas….” According to my copious dictionaries and other reference books, ‘bolt’ means “to suddenly run somewhere very quickly, especially in order to escape or because you are frightened.” Therefore, there is no room for ‘away’. Often times, you hear or read: “The armed robbers bolted away before the police arrived.” The bandits simply bolted before…. “…he is unable to do same (the same) in….” “Kwara Express staff seek governor’s intervention on (in) company’s N36.9m debt”
“Did you bought cake for me…?” (Facebook post, October 8) No comment!
“Just imagine a young man that rounded up his apprenticeship as a welder.” This is an indication of the current malaise in scholarship: a situation where a lecturer cannot distinguish between phrasal verbs, ‘round up’ and ‘round off’ (which applies here).
“Will anybody please let us know which country became a super-power by allowing its best brains to roam about the world?” ‘Roam’ encompasses ‘about’.
“News from the universities are no longer about innovation.…” News is news (uncountable). “The condition, which is said to be due to an abnormality in either the number or structure of the chromosomes, cuts across every races.” Get it right: every race or all races.
“Janet, a twelve-year-old and the third child of her parents’ four offsprings and the only one with the problem…” ‘Offspring’ is non-count.
“Since 1993, funding of oil exploration have (has) been beset by different levels of problems.”
“In answering this question we classify the outcomes into long term and short term implications.” The greatest problem of journalists: unnecessary embellishment (outcome) of words.
“This is clearly a danger signal as the time between discovering an oil field and commercially putting it on stream could be between four to five years.” No analysis: between four and five or from four to five years.
“THISDAY checks reveal that every termination penalties goes from 500,000 US dollars to 2 million US dollars”. Check the discord as already discussed above.
“Lack of funds cripple waste management activities” Another error of attraction: Lack of funds cripples.
“Nevertheless, the donor country is also interested in this decision to ensure that the loan is repaid as at when due with its accrued interest.” Without any periscope: the loan is repaid when due (not as at when due which is pleonastic).
“Government should consider the destructive effect that further delay in the sale of ‘shaky’ banks would mete out on the banking system”. Stock phrase: mete out to (not on) the banking system.
“If the family cannot truely relish at least a decent meat….” Spelling counts: truly.
“A man does not have to be a money bag (sic) before he can dress well and look charming in his own little way.” Brighten up your English usage: A man does not have to be moneybags…. Moneybag is a sac!
“…in addition, (sic) to dispensing drugs for immediate relief and giving counsel on the steps necessary to prevent a reoccurrence.” Good grammar: recurrence.
“…it sent the signal that those responsible for the security of lives and properties in Oyo State are working at cross-purposes”. Some caution, please: life and property.
“The arsonists usually escape with their loot as the embattled market lays in ashes, leaving many traders terminally ruined financially.” There should be no dilemma: ‘lays’ for ‘lies’?
“…Nehemiah whose determined efforts to rebuild the tottering walls of Jerusalem was (were) undertaken purely out of love for his country.”
“…analyst whose intellectual prowess and deep understanding of social issues knew no bound (bounds).”
“Poly senior staff union gives FG 21-days to address IPPIS complications” (Source: as above). This way: 3-week or 3 weeks’ ultimatum—not 21-days
Corrigendum following last week’s inadvertent misrepresentation here: “The yearnings for the special status for Lagos is (are)….” Thanks to the 70-year-old elder-statesman who pointed out this mix-up. More constructive and highly-appreciated observations, questions (clarifications/elucidations), interventions and general contributions are welcome from all readers. The essence is to make this column an interactive and all-inclusive platform for the exchange of cerebral perspectives.