PLEASE note that “conspire together” and “join together” are incorrect expressions. It does not matter that they are found in some learner’s dictionaries and most bibles. If you do clinical and scholastic studies of these etymologies, you will find out that there is no intellectual basis whatsoever to add the otiose adjunct (together) to words (conspire and join) that clearly stand alone. ‘Togetherness’ is intrinsically implied in the key-words under reference. In order to foreclose padding or redundancies in collocations, we need to interrogate contexts, words and expressions to find out their lexical and syntactic meanings.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday stated that sugar importation in the country can (could) only be done by….”
“His intervention on (in) road safety happened before our very eyes while at (in) Ife.”
Overheard: “How is children”? Of course, you know the right verb.
“Is it that rains (rain) only affected (affected only)….?”
“Eze Igbo Ghana…commends Nigeria, Ghana over (for) end to trade dispute”
“Tears, as General…killed along Lokoja-Abuja road is buried” (THISDAY PAGE FIVE, July 17) Get it right: the gallant officer was killed on (at a particular spot)—not along—the road. Exception to this assertion is if the General was dragged along the road in the process of his gruesome murder by bandits!
“I heartily write to congratulate you as the flag bearer (standard-bearer) of APGA in the forthcoming Anambra Governorship election….”
“Police detonate bomb in Kaduna”: As irredeemable as our policemen are, they cannot publicly detonate a bomb! What they do is to defuse it. Both the print and electronic media are guilty of this malapropism. ‘Detonation’ cannot be used in the reported circumstance: “Men of the Anti-Bomb Disposal Squad of the Kaduna State Police Command yesterday recovered and detonated another bomb at one of the gates leading to NNPC staff quarters….”
“More greaze (sic) to your elbow” (Beyond the spelling error (grease), it is ‘more power to somebody’s elbow’, but you can grease somebody’s palm if you have corruptive tendencies!
“Glo’s associates relieve Man U-Barca match experience” Have a lovely week: relive. Even as an ardent supporter of the topmost English team, that was a mismatch now worsened by this local language poverty!
BUSINESS of June 10 circulated two embryonic blunders that remind one of dissemblance: “Rescued banks, investors in last minute (last-minute) rush to tie-up (tie up) deals”
“Ondo police discovers illegal arms factory” Police: plural verb always.
“But coming within a shared calender space of one another (a comma) it pointed to one fact….” This way: calendar.
“International Bank helped liberalized (liberalize) the supply end of the financial market.…”
“From all indications, many elected political leaders in our democracy are still basking in the thrills of election victories, copious weeks after they’ve (they’d) been sworn in.”
“An irate Nigerian wondered why the honourable members were not made to refund the N4,000 daily sustainance allowance.…” Get it right: sustenance.
“Shortage of such materials as stationeries for printing order papers….” Some of the words that are uncountable: stationery, furniture, cutlery, heyday, jewellery, equipment and loot.
“In another incident, six suspected armed robbers, including a military personnel….” ‘Personnel’ is a collective noun. Rite it right, as Dr. Adidi Uyo will write: a military officer.
“…that you will be sent to jail to rotten and regret the day you embarked on those inglorious acts of perjury and forgery.” Adjective: rotten; verb: rot.
“Compatriot Bankole, can you imagine the great rupture your imprisonment would have caused in the placid relationship existing between the three arms of the Nigerian government….” ‘Between the three’ again? Just among the three, I beg you.
“The embarrassing development, according to a principal engineer who inspected the damages….” On Guard: ‘damage’ is uncountable except in legalese.
“…defence pact between two unequal partners which was well open to blackmail, curtailment of freedom of speech at the price of democracy. Yank away ‘two’ in the interest of linguistic currency. Don’t depend solely on dictionaries (some of which tolerate a few of these embarrassing contradictions); be inquisitive and exploratory in language usage, which is the hallmark of developmental communication. I always advocate lexical modernism as a way of life. Do you also know that you can now use ‘two’ for three or more items? Elucidation in subsequent editions of this column.
“Importers and customs agents may have deviced a new strategy to pay lower tariffs….” Noun: device; verb: devise.. The excerpted muddle is the American version of it. The same thing applies to ‘advice’/‘advise’ and ‘practice’/‘practise’, among many other entries.
“This practice which makes the government to loss (lose) substantial revenue….”
“Therefore, confronting robbers who are armed with superior arms and ammunitions is only being irresponsible and foolhardy.” ‘Ammunition’ is non-count.
“Less than 5 per cent of Nigerians have assess (access) to telephone–even public telephones.”
“If two towns in every local government in the country is (are) provided with telecommunication facilities every month, within 4 to 5 years, the project would have been completed.”
“Philosophers literarily (literally) threw metaphysics through the front door and bolted it.”
“Firewood could just as well had (have) served as handsets.”
“Often, a simple telephone call could save lives that are needless (needlessly) shed on our highways daily.” A poser: is it lives that are shed or blood?
“A few weeks ago, an Abuja-based paper has (had) alleged that….”
“These brazen acts of banditry is (are) also enveloping secondary schools.…”
‘Even when he was answering questions from newsmen, he was still beaming with smiles.” Would the man have ‘beamed with a frown’? Please, delete ‘smiles’ to avoid ‘Bankole-gate’!
Iwuanyanwu yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari is not responsible for the marginalization of Igbos (sic)” Reported speech: PMB was not responsible for the marginalization of Igbo.
“He observed that the September 22 OPEC meeting would be a break-or-make event that would determine the way the price goes.” Fixed expression: make or break.
“In any case, there is no doubt that the actions and perhaps inactions of Muhammadu Buhari since his re-elections has (have) been giving a sizeable part of the South West serious concerns.”
“…force his friend to comply to (with) his own desires at the pains of being bundled into their horrendous cell.