‘Roam About’ Incorrect

Expression By Ebere Wabara

YOU are welcome to our language clinic where diagnosis and therapy are free: “Proposed Labour Bill, affront on (to) our psyche—NLC, TUC” Please do not allow the hard times to affect your grammaticality!

“…spent time to visit the state, assess the projects, interact and felt (feel) the pulse of the people….”

“The three institutions are still in Ijebuland and they are, in fact, few kilometers apart.” (Back Page Guest Columnist) Joining the TASUED debate: there is a distinction between ‘a few’ (which correctly applies here) and ‘few’ (wrongly used in the extract).

Last week’s edition of THE NATION ON SUNDAY goofed in defence of freedom: “The South African government may have apologized for the deportation of 125 Nigerians, but the country’s citizens harbor deep-seated opened (open) animosity towards Nigerians.” 

“A delegate of the PDP in Ogun State…slumped and died in the early hours of Thursday in an hotel in Abeokuta, the state capital.” (THE PUNCH, July 10) This is certainly the old school genre. New class: a hotel. 

“Police absolves security agencies of electoral fraud” It would be astounding for the Nigeria Police to indict fellow state gangsters! And, of course: police absolve (not absolves). 

THE PUNCH OPINION pages of July 4 and 10 circulated some unpardonable mistakes: “…even if it means going extra miles….” I will go the extra mile (note the fixed expression) to ensure that this column appears unfailingly every week. 

“And like (as) someone said recently….” 

“…in the evacuation of dead bodies to mortuary.” On a clinical note: corpses instead of ‘dead bodies’ and a/the mortuary or mortuaries, depending on the fact of the matter. By the way, would it have been ‘living bodies’? A rewrite: in the evacuation of bodies to the mortuary. 

“…as well as condoning the place and evacuating the dead and survivors to nearest health facilities.” Bomb blasts and conflicting figures: cordoning off (take note of the spelling and correct entry) the place. 

“There seems (seem) to be stiff competitions among the foreign media and local press as well as….” 

“…politicians are also culprits in overheating the system with provocative statements in blaming their opponents over (for) every misdeed.” 

“…the likely antics of masquerades (masqueraders) behind some of those disasters when one juxtaposes the scenario to the general elections.” Additionally: more schoolboy infelicities from the mass media: “Baring few skirmishes which regrettably led to the death of four persons….” An anatomy of the season of linguistic violence: there is a world of distinction between ‘a few’ (which correctly applies here) and ‘few’, which connotatively suggests an expectation of more skirmishes—except if the writer has a weird denotative inclination towards potentialities for more skirmishes! Otherwise, the extract is lexically absurd because of his regret.    

“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 correctly situates here), portends disaster.

“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” (Headline) 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 the three nationalized 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 piece of meat….” Spelling counts and garnishes a sentence: 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 language usage: A man does not have to be a moneybags…. ‘Moneybag’ is a sac! 

“…in addition to dispensing drugs for immediate relief and giving counsel on the steps necessary to prevent a reoccurrence.” Good grammar: recurrence. 

“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’? 

“If somebody had told me when I met with late Dr. Ernest Ogunade shortly before his death that it was going to be the last encounter with him.…”  The first and only time when I met (not with) the (vital article) late Dr. Ogunade he commended this column as published in the heyday of Daily Times profusely. May his cerebral soul continue to rest in peace (not ‘perfect peace’ as abused in Nigeria)! 

“I still remember vividly that when it was my turn to speak at the occasion….”  I thought we had gone past this stage: on (never at) the occasion.