TELAWAA: Saturday, July 16, 2016
I keep hearing that one event or the other is scheduled to hold....
Sorry, may I say it for the umpteenth time:
Events, activities, programmes,etc., don't hold.
Instead, people hold them.
Just say:
"The event/programme/party would be held...."
or
"We will hold the event...."
"They hold the meeting on a monthly basis."
As such, you are saying people, rather, would gather to perform the act of holding the event, activity, programme, and so on.
Don't even say:
"My English class would hold tomorrow".
It is totally incorrect to say, please!
Is that clear enough?
Saturday, 16 July 2016
Thursday, 14 July 2016
TELAWAA: Thursday, July 14, 2016
My big boss, teacher and mentor, Professor Segun Awonusi, an astute scholar of English, sent this to me and gave me the permission to post to all: "The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals. We are all familiar with: a herd of cows a flock of chickens a school of fish a gaggle of geese However, less widely known is: a pride of lions, a murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an exaltation of doves, and presumably because they look so wise. a congress of owls... Now, consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? Believe it or not -- "parliament"... "A PARLIAMENT OF BABOONS" Guess that pretty much explains the things that come out from the Parliaments we have these days. MY TAKE: I hope you get the crux of the gist?
My big boss, teacher and mentor, Professor Segun Awonusi, an astute scholar of English, sent this to me and gave me the permission to post to all: "The English language has some wonderfully anthropomorphic collective nouns for the various groups of animals. We are all familiar with: a herd of cows a flock of chickens a school of fish a gaggle of geese However, less widely known is: a pride of lions, a murder of crows (as well as their cousins the rooks and ravens), an exaltation of doves, and presumably because they look so wise. a congress of owls... Now, consider a group of Baboons. They are the loudest, most dangerous, most obnoxious, most viciously aggressive and least intelligent of all primates. And what is the proper collective noun for a group of baboons? Believe it or not -- "parliament"... "A PARLIAMENT OF BABOONS" Guess that pretty much explains the things that come out from the Parliaments we have these days. MY TAKE: I hope you get the crux of the gist?
Wednesday, 13 July 2016
TELAWAA: Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Just now, I heard an event facilitator, on TV, say:
"When people gather together...."
I simply asked loudly, as if she could hear me:
"Can you ever gather separately?"
Does anyone get my point here?
You simply "gather".
Saying "gather together" makes you guilty of tautology, but that is what you hear most people say, too often.
That brings to mind a popular song we often sing in our churches:
"We are gathering together unto Him...."
Imagine how much of blunder we commit, singing that song!
Is this clear enough?
Just now, I heard an event facilitator, on TV, say:
"When people gather together...."
I simply asked loudly, as if she could hear me:
"Can you ever gather separately?"
Does anyone get my point here?
You simply "gather".
Saying "gather together" makes you guilty of tautology, but that is what you hear most people say, too often.
That brings to mind a popular song we often sing in our churches:
"We are gathering together unto Him...."
Imagine how much of blunder we commit, singing that song!
Is this clear enough?
Tuesday, 12 July 2016
TELAWAA: Tuesday, July 12, 2016
In a bid to sound sarcastic on English and perhaps its users, someone posted: "N500 worth of airtime for anybody that can translate this to correct English 'OGBAMUGBAMU OJU ORUN O SE GBAMU." (In Yoruba, that's one of the eulogies for God, the Almighty) Well, I often receive a lot of such posts from people, sending to me directly, perhaps in a bid to ridicule English or so. Well, I usually smile at their ignorance but here is my comment to the latest one: "Jokes apart, there is a difference between translation and transliteration. NB: You don't translate idioms, clichés, indigenous names, technical terms, jargon, and the like. You simply transliterate! Let's leave out the sarcasm that that is meant to have on English, as a language. Mind you, it applies to every language, not just English. Linguistically, you don't translate such linguistic properties; rather, you transliterate. To "transliterate" is to cleverly summarise the idea, message or sense in a structure". Worthy of note is the fact that language is first a cultural property before it is anything else! Simple!
In a bid to sound sarcastic on English and perhaps its users, someone posted: "N500 worth of airtime for anybody that can translate this to correct English 'OGBAMUGBAMU OJU ORUN O SE GBAMU." (In Yoruba, that's one of the eulogies for God, the Almighty) Well, I often receive a lot of such posts from people, sending to me directly, perhaps in a bid to ridicule English or so. Well, I usually smile at their ignorance but here is my comment to the latest one: "Jokes apart, there is a difference between translation and transliteration. NB: You don't translate idioms, clichés, indigenous names, technical terms, jargon, and the like. You simply transliterate! Let's leave out the sarcasm that that is meant to have on English, as a language. Mind you, it applies to every language, not just English. Linguistically, you don't translate such linguistic properties; rather, you transliterate. To "transliterate" is to cleverly summarise the idea, message or sense in a structure". Worthy of note is the fact that language is first a cultural property before it is anything else! Simple!
Monday, 11 July 2016
Sunday, 10 July 2016
TELAWAA: Sunday, July 10, 2016
May I ask: What comes to your mind when you hear or come across the word 'bogus'? I smile when people use the word 'bogus' to mean "big", "large". You now hear an expression like "My friend likes small cars but his latest car is very bogus". What a big blunder! CAUTION: The word "bogus" simply means "fake". Sorry, it doesn't mean "big" or "extremely large", like you think. e.g. He was arrested by the police because he had bogus car papers (meaning "fake papers"). This is interesting, isn't it?
May I ask: What comes to your mind when you hear or come across the word 'bogus'? I smile when people use the word 'bogus' to mean "big", "large". You now hear an expression like "My friend likes small cars but his latest car is very bogus". What a big blunder! CAUTION: The word "bogus" simply means "fake". Sorry, it doesn't mean "big" or "extremely large", like you think. e.g. He was arrested by the police because he had bogus car papers (meaning "fake papers"). This is interesting, isn't it?
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