EBERE WABARA

ewabara@

supposed to lie?

The import of my intervention with regard to the word “decampment”, published in Wordsworth of June 7, appears to have been missed, judging from an undeserved stinging feedback a week later. Granted the word is listed as a noun derived from “decamp” (word not in dispute) in a few dictionaries, it is not a substitute or synonym for “defection” which the concerned writer meant. Longman (Contemporary English), Oxford Advanced Learner’s and Chambers are some standard dictionaries and are not meant for us in the nursery school. The phrase “available to me” was my honest submission. So, it is regrettable that a lofty and highly interactive portal such as Wordsworth is being turned to a platform for hurling abuses and insults at other contributors.

Take note that the old, grammatical rule that “one” must be followed by “one” and its parts –“one, one’s, oneself”, has changed. The feeling that the repetition of “one” - - - one’s (e.g. One must do what one can to ensure one’s family a decent standard of living) makes for a stilted style has now led to the permissible shift from “one, one’s” to “he, his” (e.g. One must do what he can to ensure his family a decent standard of living).

In general, a shift in the number or nature of pronouns is undesirable, but this particular shift is established usage. Examples: When one is in power and things go his way in highly competitive elections, his first task is to fight his own mentality. Perhaps one has gone to the university where he has been given the wrong orientation that his degree is an opportunity to reach for the skies just like that. One could be said to hate himself if he lacks self–confidence in his abilities.

Every user of the language, particularly every journalist or communicator, must keep abreast of the current changes—the dynamics—in the language.