Reading ON newspapers and donation of LIMPS
Let’s move straight to our basic task of sharing gems collected over the week, so, here we go…
On Page 1 of Bongo’s senior-most broadsheet of Sat, Oct 13, there’s a story entitled, ‘Only embezzlers live in fear’, in which the scribbler says:
“The CCM Secretary General, Dr Bashiru Ally, has castigated, as baseless, claims THAT MAJORITY of Tanzanians are living in fear, saying ONLY CORRUPT and embezzlers of public property are the ones going through that experience.”
Note two things. One, the noun “majority” must be preceded by either article “a” or “the”. And “corrupt” too must be preceded by “the” when used as a noun. Here’s our humble rewrite:
“The CCM Secretary General, Dr Bashiru Ally, has castigated as baseless claims THAT the MAJORITY of Tanzanians LIVE in fear, saying ONLY the CORRUPT and embezzlers of public property GO through that experience.”
On the same page, there’s a story entitled, ‘Kinyerezi power project complete, says Tanesco’, in which the scribbler says in Para 3:
“Tanesco MD…said that the machines have arrived at the Dar es Salaam Port and will be PICKED between today and tomorrow.”
Will be picked? No, the machines will be PICKED UP. Why, to “pick” means to choose something out of a group of people or things.
Still on Page 1, there’s this headline, ‘Prayers for MO as police keep card CLOSE CHEST’. Well, there’s the idiom “Keep close TO YOUR chest”, that means “Keep your intended actions secret.” You may adjust it slightly to suit your circumstances, but the preposition “TO” is a must—close TO chest (not :close chest).
And now, a look at the tabloid associated with this columnist (Fri, Oct 12 edition). In Para 3 of a Page 5 story entitled, “We’re unshaken by MP defections”, the scribbler, purporting to quote a Chadema official in Ukerewe, writes:
“We’ve not officially received the MP’s resignation letter. We‘ve only read about it ON papers…” Read ON papers? Nope; they’ve read it IN newspapers!
On Page 28 of the same tabloid, there’s a story headlined, ‘Indignation greets Mo Dewji abduction’. Therein the scribbler, indicating he’s quoting a Yanga club official condemning Mo’s kidnap, writes: “It is first (sic) time an INCIDENCE of this kind occurs in Tanzania’s football community…”
The kidnapping of Bongo’s topmost business tycoon isn’t an “incidence”; it’s an INCIDENT. The noun incidence (usually singular) refers to the extent to which something happens or has an effect. Examples: Some districts have a higher INCIDENCE of HIV infections than others.
And finally, something from an opinion piece on Page 11 of the Sunday tabloid that’s sister to Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet (Oct 14 edition), entitled, ‘Makonda call on inclusive employment…’
In Para 3, the scribbler says: “In July 2017 the RC raised funds and distributed artificial LIMPS worth Sh800 million to improve mobility of the physically challenged…”
Artificial limps? Nope! It’s artificial LIMBS, because “limp” means “walk with difficulty” (verb) or “a tendency to walk that way” (noun).
Ah, this treacherous language called English!
