ALGON on Enugu Gov

“ALGON: Association of Local Government (Governments) of Nigeria, Enugu State.” (Full-page congratulatory advertorial in DAILY SUN of March 20 for Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, on his 53rd Birthday) One thing is certain: people will not give up arguing about correct usage in English. Happily, the spirit of (language) activism is alive and well. As a word-watcher (from the Word Watch School), how do you feel or react when you read: “…expired politicians, court jesters and political fuddy-duddies parade themselves as icons?” Yes, “expired politicians” are dead politicians! Do the dead come back to parade on the political scene? Only in Nigeria! Holy terror!

Another note: “sheathe” and “sheath” are both verbs in American English (AE); you can sheathe a knife, a cutlass and a sword, but, in practical terms, you can’t sheathe a machete!

“Mail”, meaning “letters parcels, etc by post”, is an uncountable noun—it has no plural form. “Mails” is a piece of Nigerianism, Nigerian English (NE) or English made in Nigeria!

Evidences? “…but fails abysmally in giving concrete “evidences” (evidence) of such claims.” “Evidence”, meaning “information that gives reason for believing something; proof “(e.g. in a law case), is an uncountable noun. It has no plural form. We correctly say or write: enough evidence, some evidence, a mass of evidence, a piece of evidence or pieces of evidence.

Standard-bearers or flag-bearers? “Group insists PDP, APC should pick Christians as “flag-bearers” (standard-bearers). In politics, music, etc, it is “standard-bearer”, in games, sports, etc., it is “flag-bearer” or “torchbearer”.

“Know/Knowing full well” is Briticism while “Know/Knowing fully well” is an Americanism. Work harder and keep watching, brother! (Foregoing elucidation by Bayo Oguntunase/ Language Activist/Adoro62@yahoo.co.uk)

COLUMNIST’S ADDENDUM: Some dictionaries could be misleading. When I saw ‘evidences’ in one of the extracts published last week, I immediately knew that something was wrong with the word, as now pointed out. I told my son to check up the word in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2010 Eighth Edition). We discovered that it was both countable and uncountable. Based on this, I allowed the entry to go! When Mr. Oguntunase intervened, I checked dictionaries and discovered that it was non-count! In fact, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English New Edition for Advanced Learners, 2013 Edition) declares categorically: “Evidence is an uncountable noun and has no plural form. Use a singular verb after it: Vital evidence was destroyed.” The reaffirmation I get from this revelation is that it is not everything that is in some dictionaries that is correct! So, there is need to critically and selectively drink from the fountain of as many dictionaries as possible in order to be on the safe side. We must therefore develop circumspective and interrogative capacities in the use of language.

From last week: “…but fails woefully (abysmally) in giving concrete evidences (evidence) of such claims.”

Do not say ‘true evidence’, but ‘reliable evidence’. (Longman)

SUNDAY ADESINA (08029955388): You are right on ‘outright’ being both an adjective and adverb. ‘Outrightly’ is not just uncommon, but queer and unknown to standard etymological entries.

“Boko Haram peace talks reopens” Why the disagreement? This kind of ‘schoolboy howler’, in the words of Mr. Oguntunase, should not be seen in standard publications.

“CBN intervention bouys naira” Get it right: buoys.

“You must be matured and in love with jazz music.” (Lifestyle) Just ‘mature’.

The next three errors are from NTA Network News of March 20: “…who presided at the occasion.” NTA correspondents should be refreshed: the preposition that goes before ‘occasion’ is ‘on’ (not ‘at’)

“He said that the ministry intends (intended) to restore back….” ‘Restore back’ shows unintelligibility. With ‘restore’, you can’t have ‘back’. We shouldn’t use words we don’t understand their meanings (or implications). The English language has evolved from the old period to the modern era. So, journalists must avoid Anglo-Saxon expressions.

“Each of the stadia was provided with practicing pitch.” It is not the pitches that practise as implied in the statement. Therefore, the sensible phrase ought to be ‘practice pitch.’ Lexical and semantic appropriateness demands this line of thought.

“Captain…wedded former Miss…in Lagos over the weekend with pomp and pageantry.” ‘Pomp and pageantry’ is not an accepted phrase. The standard expression is ‘pomp and circumstance’ or ‘pomp and ceremony.’ It can simply be left as ‘pomp’. If