OUR KIND OF ENGLISH: In accidents, it isn’t vehicles that lose control; it’s drivers
We’ve had the occasion to say it numerous times: this column, aptly titled Our Kind of English is not strictly about the man who pens it. Rather, it’s about us all who are keen on the precise and correct use of this treacherous language called English. Wadau, we are so referred to in Kiswahili.
Sending feedback in regard to what appears in this space and readers’ input, are what makes the column tick and sustainable.
Let’s give an example of what we’re saying. For last Friday’s edition, we picked for critique the following sentence from a broadsheet: “On June 7, a truck with a trailer…carrying flour lost control on the slope, colliding with two vehicles, including a PASSENGER bus…”
Our critique only took note of nonsensicality of the phrase “passenger bus” and overlooked that of “…a truck losing control…”
One of our readers, Ally Makengo of Dar, made a call to draw our attention to the fact that vehicles—trucks included—don’t lose control; rather, it is drivers who lose control of their vehicles, a situation which culminates in accidents!
It means, our rewrite should have read thus: “On June 7, THE DRIVER of a truck with a trailer…carrying flour, lost control on the slope, AND HIS VEHICLE collided with two vehicles, including a BUS.”
Let’s move on and share gems meant for this week, starting with what we picked from the Sunday, June 22 edition of Nairobi’s huge tabloid that commands a sizeable readership in Bongo.
In a Page 18 story with the naughty headline, ‘Did you just say that? Gachagua’s art of double speak’, the scribbler writes in reference to what former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said to “his” people: “Forgive those who have been seen visiting Dr Ruto and Prof Kindiki… if they promise not to REPEAT the mistake AGAIN.”
Hello! We have just been treated to an old goof— “repeat again.” This one rears its ugly head when a user forgets that “repeat” means, “do the same thing again.” It means, the sentiments purportedly expressed by Gachagua should read, “…Forgive those who have been seen … if they promise not to REPEAT the mistake.”
Pages 20-21 carry an interview entitled, ‘Kamlesh Pattni: Gold is in my blood, I don’t chase it.’ Revealing that he doesn’t hold a university degree, Pattni who at the age of 27 worked, purportedly, as President Daniel arap Moi’s economic adviser, is recorded as saying, in regard to his failure to complete his studies in Germany: “I could not complete because my father died in an accident in Mombasa, so I had to return BACK.”
This is another old goof. The verb “return” means “go back to where you came from.” It means, our Nairobi colleague’s recording of what Pattni said should have been edited to just end with the verb “return.”
And then, there is a story appearing on Page 3 of Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet, entitled, ‘Mpwapwa ready with 12-year WASH masterplan targeting universal access.’ Para 2 reads: “The launch EVENT, held in Dodoma, was a collaborative effort with the non-governmental organisation ‘Water for People Tanzania’.”
A launch, by its very nature, is an event. Which is why, we aver, the qualifier “event” shouldn’t be there, for it is redundant. Meanwhile, we wonder why the scribbler decided to put the name of the NGO in single quotes!
Another story on the same page is entitled ‘ECOP, WASCO award 124 new scholarships to Tanzanian YOUTHS.’
We won’t fuss much over this one. Suffice it to say the final word on the headline ought to have been YOUTH, not “youths.”
Ah, this treacherous language called English!
