‘Next Week Saturday’ Wrong

THE Guardian, Saturday, June 16, welcomes us today with this infraction: “To be concluded next week Saturday” Short story: next Saturday “Out of control (Out-ofcontrol) Boko Haram kills dozens in Kano Mosque” “FRSC, plate numbers and drivers’ licence” Get it right: number-plates “A well deserved (well-deserved) honour” “But we should never lose sight of the fact that like every voracious entrepreneur who has invested billions of dollars on (in) cement plants….”

“Credit Bureaux records (record) 26 million registered borrowers”

“The health workers strike” Conscience, nurtured by truth: workers’ strike

“Monetary policy committee at crossroads” This way: at a/the crossroads

“Having served under a military regime… he needs to bath in the Yoruba River for forgiveness.” Noun: bath; verb: bathe.

“Just before you ponder about this Owerri revelation….” ‘Ponder’ may take ‘on’ or ‘over’, not ‘about’. It’s even more economical and elegant to use it without embellishments.

“When we hear of people talk about glory….” Get it right: hear of people talking… or hear people talk about glory

“Lack of facilities threaten course accreditation at LACOED” The verb here should be singular.

“What is good for the goose can equally be said to be good for the gander.” What is sauce (not good)…

“Out of 35 years of the nation’s political independence, the military had been on (sic) the leadership saddle for 25 years.” Democracy In the saddle.

“CPC to clampdown on illegal microfinance banks” Phrasal verb: clamp down (two words).

“An acknowledged scholar, a distinguished statesman and a team leader per excellence” (Full Page Congratulatory Advert, THISDAY, March 25) Get it right: leader par excellence.

“New trends in electioneering campaigns” Politics Today: just electioneering or political campaigns. ‘Electioneering campaign’ is sheer verbiage! ‘Electioneering’ encompasses campaign and other related electoral issues.

“INEC chair asks SSS to crackdown on violent politicians” Noun: crackdown; phrasal verb: crack down (which applies here).

“Some countries have taken tobacco manufacturers to court for the damages their products cause.” The will to die: ‘damage’ is uncountable, except in reparative applications for indemnity.

“With the launching (launch) of the poverty alleviation (a hyphen) programme by the Federal Government, not a few Nigerians desire to see it effectively in place.“

“…what happened was that somebody filed a writ of summon.“This way (singular): a writ of summons; plural: summonses.

“It is the Federal Board that is always guilty of that, because it is them who take riff-raffs as welfare officers.” (Nigerian Tribune, May 22) ‘Riff-raff’, just like ‘stuff’, is uncountable.

“Modern technology has reduced the world into (to) a hamlet where the inhabitants are their brothers’ keepers.” This way: brother’s keeper (fixed idiom), irrespective of the number of people involved.

“The coincidence in the timing of all those sleazy gossips in soft-sell magazines and the beginning of his fashion parade….” ‘Gossip’, in this context, is uncountable.

“More overaged players for youth soccer“(Sunday Tribune, June 14) Get it right: overage players.

“Residents of some of the troubled spots in Libya in disarray” (SATURDAY CHAMPION, May 26) Witness to lexical mayhem: trouble spots.

“…rummaging all the bags and ransacking every nook and corner.” (Source: as above) Stock expression: nook and cranny.

Leadership of May 21 disseminated seven improprieties: “The police requires (require) a redeemer who can uplift the Force from the battering it (they) suffered during the long years of militarization.”

“I inquired from those that appear to know and they said that the president is (was) roaming the country in the name of campaigns.”

“There is (are) no electricity, no security, no water, no roads, no health facilities in Nigeria.”

“Foreign companies will be falling over themselves (one another) to come and invest here if we get the next elections right.”

“...given the lame-duck posture of the opposition parties, the PDP simply held sway from the onset (outset).”

“Reactions on (to) the Pope’s visit, however successful, were mixed in Egypt, a country inhabited by a predominantly Muslim population.”

“Prior to the Pope’s visit, Egyptian Catholics have (had) opted out of the….”

“The first part was published last week Friday.” (THE GUARDIAN, May 28) Monday politics: either last Friday or Friday, last week.

“Vigilante (vigilance) groups, committed to the enforcement of the by-law, are being set up.”

“Some of these areas include producing enough food to feed our teaming (teeming) population.”

Please note that “evidence” is both countable and uncountable, but, in a law case, we correctly say or write: a piece of evidence/ pieces of evidence, some evidence/enough evidence/a mass of evidence, etc. We cannot afford to have the mediocre. The mediocre cannot teach/communicate is correct. “Reoccur”, like “reoccurrence”, is Americanism; “bus station” is Briticism while “Motor Park” is Nigerianism. “Host-guest” is Briticism while “invitor-invitee” is Americanism. Usage is king. Keep smiling!

This column is the editor’s purgative. I agree with pundits that politicians run “neck and neck” (not neck-to-neck), but may also run “head-to-head”.