Machinery: Count, Non-count
Ebere Wabara
“I CPC boss laments high rate of ‘sex for grades’ (sex-for-grades) in schools”
“Despite the huge money expended in (on) these periodic maintenance exercises, the nation’s refineries have remained unproductive, forcing the country to depend so much on imported petroleum products at exorbitant rates.”
Daily Independent Online of March 2 backs the floodgate of goofs this week: “The result is that many under-aged (sic) children are routinely subjected to abuse….” All the facts, all the sides: overage and underage (not ‘overaged’ or ‘underaged’) children.
The politics page of the above medium raises the tone with four slip-ups: “The Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference recently kick started (kick-started) its sitting in Akure….”
“These facts have contributed greatly in (to) the level of congestion in the courts.”
“…enjoy their loots and still aspire for (to) higher offices.” Again, ‘loot’ is uncountable—and you aspire to, not for!
Repeat by popular demand: In order to address the divergent views on the plurality of ‘machinery’, I visited Wiktionary, an online portal on Google platform and here is the result: ‘Machinery (countable and uncountable, plural machinery) (1.) The machines constituting a production apparatus, in a plant etc., collectively. (2) The working parts of a machine as a group. (3) The collective parts of something which allow it to function. (4) (Figuratively): The literary devices used in a work, notably for dramatic effect.’ ‘Machinery’ is an assemblage of machines or mechanical apparatuses. If you must use a plural form for ‘machine’, use the word ‘machines’, not ‘machineries’ to avoid needless morphological controversies. The machinery, not ‘machineries’, of government.
My dear reader, here is a revelation: restricting yourself to the printed dictionary—no matter its currency—will circumscribe your knowledge span and development. Based on Mr. Ken Ugbechie’s suggestion that I enquire more about ‘machinery’, ‘convoy’ and ‘motorcade’, I set out and rediscovered a boundless goldmine of knowledge: additional online dictionaries too numerous to be listed here and other related portals. Most of them, however, require subscription. I recommend grammarly.com because of its comprehensiveness.
It is a thin line between ‘convoy’ and ‘motorcade’. From my research, both words can be used interchangeably. The only difference is their etymological origin. The underlining point is that the two words involve processions of vehicles for security/escort, essentially, mutual benefit, ceremony and other sundry deployments. So, the Kogi governor’s fatalistic procession could be described as a convoy or motorcade.
“At Electro-hall, our trained engineers ensure that your photocopier get (gets) back to work as soon as possible.”
“The Admiral lived a glorious live (life) of service to his community and to the nation.”
“Irregularities, logistics (logistic/logistical) chaos mar Anambra poll” Truth in defence of freedom: Adjective (logistic—also logistical) and noun (logistics).
Now the inside pages: “Alaafin advocates for re-orientation of moral values” Firstly, yank away ‘for’ and secondly, do you re-orientate values or people?
“NURTW crisis: Ondo drivers’ wives protest over detention of husbands” You protest against/at/about (not over) something. You can also protest something: I protested my friend’s arrest. Similarly: Ondo drivers’ wives protest husbands’ detention
“Then another committee of eminent bureaucrats would be set up to prepare what we know as Government White Paper….” My comment: delete ‘government’. ‘White papers’ are issued by governments.
Still on THE NATION ON SUNDAY: “The 4th Conference of the Forum of Cities in Transition holds (held) recently in Kaduna….”
“We have always believed in the team’s enormous potentials (potential/potentialities) for greatness and our support has been consistent and unwavering.” (Centre-spread advertisement by Guinness) ‘Potential’ is uncountable.
“Oduah: Pitfalls of Reps (Reps’) report”
“Bomber bags life sentence…N150m awarded to family victims” A rewrite of the sub-head: Victims’ families awarded N150m
“EFCC arrests Lamido’s sons over N11b money laundering” A voice of your own: The governor’s sons were arrested for (not over) N11b money laundering!
“Let’s go to England…All expense paid trip for 60 people” (Full-page advertisement by DStv) Lexical terms and conditions apply: All-expenses-paid trip for 60 people. There is nothing like ‘all expense paid trip’! Grammar is not Samba. In the months ahead, DStv will continue to replicate this promotional blunder.
“Abiola’s wife, others charged over N617m bank fraud” The SATURDAY INDEPENDENT sub-editors must be obsessed with ‘over’. They were charged with (not over) fraud.
“Ethiopia set to fly over (this word, again!) Ethiopia (Ethiopian) Antelopes”
“Sanwo-Olu assures on making Lagos liveable (livable)” Furthermore, who did he assure?
“Man bags 21 years (years’) imprisonment for snatching motorcycle in Ibadan”
“1.3m people die yearly through road mishap (vehicle mishaps)”
“…is one celebrity who seem (seems) to do big things without attracting the paparazzi.”
“Producers calls (why?) for more local content at DISCOP”
Still on SATURDAY INDEPENDENT: “False allegations have promoted Liberation City” True confession: what is the meaning of ‘false allegation’? My dear reader, please jettison ‘false’ so that our syntactic ministry can move to a higher realm. You can say grievous allegations—not false!
Finally from the back page with this boyish goof: “Ladipo, Taiwo tips (what?) Eagles for…”
FEEDBACK
READING through Nigerian dailies, one is always scandalized by the unbecoming repetition of a barrage of howlers which are painstakingly corrected week in, week out here (and Thisday on Saturday, Sunday Tribune, et al). The impression one always goes away with is that many people suffer from intellectual conceit (as earlier observed). They are beyond correction! If not, why do they remain heedlessly and pig-headedly incorrigible? Admission of one’s shortcomings—of any hue—is an integral hallmark of true greatness. (Folorunso Babafemi, Ilesa, 08133197524).
