Fail Abysmally, Not ‘Woefully’

Expression By Ebere Wabara

LET’S do business: “NNPC Ltd, TotalEnergies kick-off (kick off) $550 Ubeta upstream gas project” Phrasal verbs do not admit hyphenation.

“SARS returns in (to) Anambra…Tension as suspect die (dies) during torture”

“FG assures of boosting domestic airlines’ operation” Who did the federal government assure? ’Assure’ is not a stand-alone verb!  

Daily Trust of August 23 seconds this week with a few inaccuracies: “Police arrest car-laden (car laden) with 3,500 cartridges” The police arrested the car owner/driver—not the vehicle! Commonsense tells us that once the person behind such a toxic contraption is apprehended, the car ends up in the police station. Collocation demands thinking! With regard to vehicular application, police can seize, take away, whisk away/off a car, among other expressions—but certainly not ‘arrest’!

“…it has failed woefully (abysmally), no doubt.”

“UNIJOS inaugurates new Governing Council” Education Today: it could not have been an old council! Yet another headline faux pas: “Katsina to send more student (why?)….”

“Chinua Achebe: The end of an epoch making (epoch-making) writer (1930-2013)”

Now all the facts, all the sides as we take the last contribution from the back page of Daily Trust under focus: “But honours that the good professor would have rejected in his lifetime should not be hanged on his tomb as a mark of magnanimity from the state.” The past tense/past participle of ‘hang’ is ‘hung’; ‘hanged’ is only used when the context is ‘kill/be killed.’

Leadership of August 22 committed an offence: “…theirs remains one of the riskiest and least rewarding job (jobs) in the land.”

“Should we not rather give kudos to these policemen who risk lifes (lives) and limbs daily to see that society does not grind to a halt?”

 “Living in this crime-infested and thriving community that is disgusting and demeaning…and doing nothing to stop or arrest the situation amount (amounts) to….”

“…is not only hypocritical but out-rightly (sic) mischievous.” Get it right: outright mischief. 

“…is castigating same (the same) for saving the lives of the unarmed.”

“Umar Manko should be spared unnecessary distraction (is there a necessary one?) from those who want to make omelets without breaking eggs.” Fixed (idiomatic) expression: (you can’t) make an omelette without breaking eggs. Note that ‘omelet’ is American English, while ‘omelette’ is British English. 

“Chief Tony Chigbo, a public affairs commentator (another comma) writes from Abuja.” The foregoing is the recompense and karmic nemesis for sycophantic tomfoolery!

“Taking the message of FOIA to the grassroot” (Leadership, August 22) Hallmark of leadership: grassroots

Vanguard of August 22 goofed: “We are trusting in the Lord that you are not alone and He shall also not leave us alone even as we grief (grieve).”

The Guardian front page of August 21, among other pages, nurtured grammatical errors: “Reps (Reps’) panel threatens arrest of bank chiefs over (for or in connection with) tax remittance”

“…Alli, yesterday said that there will (would) be no hiding place for the insurgents, assuring that the military was battle ready to crush terrorists.” Who did he assure? Again, ‘assure,’ a transitive verb, must take an object.

“…Yobe State yesterday relaxed the curfew imposed in (on) the state by two hours daily.”

“…the 120 terrorists were arrested when they converged in (on) Maiduguri to….”

Still on THE GUARDIAN: “Govt allays fears (fear) as aviation workers end strike”

“He said that the troops are (were) already interacting with locals and citizens….” Are locals foreigners? Where is thy conscience?

“He said that troops were to be deployed to (in) the black spots….”

“Fidelity Pharmacists Support Facility (FPSF)” (Full-page advertisement by Fidelity Bank PLC) My own prescription: Pharmacists’ Support. Technical: possessiveness in grammar. Let us keep our word because we’re Fidelity.

“UNIBEN alumni lauds (laud) govt action to solve security problems” This should not be news at all!

Now THE GUARDIAN BUSINESS Page: “Flying revenue collection intensifies (intensified) in Abia” Is the revenue collecting itself?! Sub-editors should not be afraid to use past tenses in headlines occasionally when it becomes inevitable like the above case.

Yet another full-page advertisement slip-up: “It’s another ground breaking CSR initiative from 9Mobile to further enhance (sic) and empower the telecoms industry.” Let us talk correctly: ground-breaking CSR initiative…and ‘enhancement’ does not require ‘furtherance’ even if it is serial.

Please note that ‘turn or stand something on its head’ is correct as against last week’s inadvertent declaration that ruled out ‘turn’!

Vanguard of August 29 ended the month on a lexical sour note beginning from its Views Page, as usual: “The gap between the rich and the poor is constantly widening as there is no concerted efforts (effort) by the powers that be (powers-that-be) to….”

“This explains the incidents of rural-urban drifts that have worsen (worsened) the security challenges in the cities.”

From Vanguard schoolboy blunders we move over to The Guardian of September 9 which nurtured two falsehoods: “Our committee has the responsibility to oversight (oversee) BPP….”

“…it is not to intimidate or witch-hunt them but to rub minds (dialogue, exchange ideas, discuss, talk, converse—not ‘rub minds’!) and enlighten….” How do you even ‘rub minds’?

THISDAY of September 6 grappled with basic grammar: “…the debate had far progressed beyond the introductory stage to the question and answer (question-and-answer) session.

“But the minister seems to have swam (swum) into troubled waters recently with allegations ranging from insensitivity to abuse of office….”

“Voters apathy mars election” News: Voter apathy…

“The presidency, also aware of its interests, may do same (the same).”

“…takes a look at the fallouts, recent studies and how women are coping.” New WOMAN: ‘fallout’ is uncountable.

“Snoop Dogg, others join the EMA’s bandwagon” Entertainment plus: climb/jump (not join) on the bandwagon

“Rep debunks report of decamping (defection) to APC”