You don’t note with CONCERNS but rather, you do note with CONCERN
The Dar artist who worked on this signpost must have been in a hurry. We note with concern where he paints PASPORT (for passport), COPUTER (for computer) TUNAFRASH (for tunaflash) and Graphics DIGN (for graphic design). As for STATIONARY (for stationery), we bear with him because this goof is a national malaise. Trust signwriters! PHOTO | AMS
What you need to know:
- Noted with concerns? Nope, we say “note with CONCERN.” By the way the noun “concern” means anxiety, worry. It also means a matter of interest or importance to someone.
Before me is a copy of the Tuesday, September 27 edition of Bongo’s huge and colourful broadsheet, in which there’s a Page 2 story entitled, ‘CBT distributes 95 motorcycles to extension officers in eight regions’.
On Para 4, our scribbling colleague writes in attribution to what was said by a senior official with the Cashew Nuts Board of Tanzania in regard to issuance of 95 motorbikes to eight regions:
“He named the regions to receive the motorcycles as INCLUDING Iringa, Morogoro, Songwe, Mbeya, Lindi, Mtwara, Coast and Tanga.”
The verb “include” refers to what is part of a whole. Now when “that whole” has been laid bare, like all the 8 regions that will receive the 95 motorcycles, the use of the verb “including” becomes redundant.
Had he avoided the mention of some of the benefitting regions, “including” would be okay. Like saying: “He named the regions…as including Iringa, Morogoro and Tanga.”
On Page 5, there’s another story with the headline, ‘Mhagama reiterates government’s commitment to uplift poor households through TASAF’, and therein, the scribbler writes in Para 3:
“The minister noted that without the fund, at least two MILLIONS and above Tanzanians could be languishing in abject poverty…”
Two “millions…” Nope; we say two MILLION...Just like we say two hundred (not two hundreds) youngsters. However, if you don’t give a figure, it’s okay to pluralise—like we say millions of Tanzanians, hundreds of boys, etc.
Furthermore, when you say “at least” two million, there’s an obvious suggestion that the sum can possibly be higher than two million, so the qualifier “and above” in the cited sentence is entertaining tautology!
In Para 9, the scribbler writes: “She specifically warned against ghost beneficiaries…that allegedly siphoned millions of MONEY. Oh, no! You cannot number money. Shillings, dollars, sterling pounds…you can, like saying millions of shillings.
Come Friday, September 30 and the tabloid associated with this columnist has a story labelled, ‘Samia’s directives to state attorneys’. In the third leg of her story, our colleague writes:
“The Head of State noted with CONCERNS that in the past, some state contracts were entered without involving the Attorney General’s Office…”
Noted with concerns? Nope, we say “note with CONCERN.” By the way the noun “concern” means anxiety, worry. It also means a matter of interest or importance to someone.
Now if you ask me, I’d rather we avoided appending superfluous qualifiers when reporting what is said by senior-most leaders. When a president, for instance, takes note of something, that’s it! Don’t hype it.
The other day, a scribbler for a reputable daily wrote in his intro para that the President has issued a TALL ORDER to RCs to properly supervise the expenditure of Sh160 billion released for construction of classrooms. Why not, simply, “issued AN ORDER?”
We risk shooting ourselves in the foot when we venture to apply colour in hard news reportage. So, beware!
On Page 5 of the tabloid, there’s a story headlined, ‘Invest in mobile science labs to curb shortage, say scientists’. Therein, the scribbler writes in Para 3: “According to Basic Education Statistics –2021, at least 5,379 Biology laboratories were needed in ALL secondary schools in 26 regions.”
There’s a problem with qualifier “in all”. Why, the scribbler is unwittingly telling readers EVERY secondary school in the 26 regions requires 5,379 Biology labs, which would, of course, be ludicrous!
How about rewriting the sentence to read thus: “…at least 5,379 Biology laboratories were needed for THE (not all) secondary schools in 26 regions.”
Finally, something from Bongo’s senior-most broadsheet of Saturday, October 1. In a Page 2 story entitled, ‘Innovation Initiative Programme kicks off’, the scribbler purports to quote a CEO as saying: “I have been training people how to play A guitar…”
Hello; you don’t play ‘a’ guitar or indeed, any other musical instrument. Rather, you play THE guitar, THE flute, THE piano, etc, etc.
Ah, this treacherous language called English!
