Who’s an ARTIST and how about ARTISTE? Do check it out herein

I have before me a copy of the October 31 edition of the huge Nairobi Sunday tabloid that commands a sizeable readership in Bongo, which has a story on Page 11 entitled, ‘Soldiers, girls and cash: Bittersweet mix that keeps Nanyuki fun but dangerous’, and the scribbler writes in Paragraph 6:

“From bar brawls to prostitution, drink spiking and other crimes, life in Nanyuki ticks all the boxes of debauchery. With a high circulation of money, END MONTH is a period of frenzied activity.”

Nobody has explained to me how the expression “end month” became institutionalised within the English speaking Kenyan fraternity, but there we are! I have mingled with many otherwise superb users of English from Kenya who expressed shock when I suggested to them that the period when a month comes to its climax is not “end month” but “month-end”. Or, more correctly, “month’s end”, this being another way (or the lazy way) of saying “end of the month”.

Back to Bongo where the Friday, November 4 edition of the tabloid associated with this columnist has this Page 4 story: ‘Hopes for insurance policy revived’, in which the scribbler writes in Para 2:

“For many years the insurance stakeholders have been demanding FOR the national insurance policy so that they can provide services in line with…”

Hello; we don’t demand “for” something. We demand something. However, if our colleague felt it could kill her if she didn’t use the preposition “for”, she could go ahead. But then, she would have to rephrase her sentence to read thus:

“For many years the insurance stakeholders have been MAKING demands FOR the (endorsement of) the national insurance policy…”

On Page 8 of the same edition, there is a story headlined, ‘Jasiri women in art support tech access for girls’. The article is about creative women whose drawings and paintings featured at an art exhibition at Msasani Bay in Dar. Therein, the scribbler says in Para 3:

“Jasiri Women showcased more than 15 eye-catching painted and sketched artworks from several female ARTISTES, to raise funds for technology gadgets for young girls in public schools...”

At the expense of being branded fussy, I will differ with our colleague who uses the word “artiste” to refer to creative people who draw or paint things. These, I will underscore, are ARTISTS. Says our dependable Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: “(an) artiste (also artist) is a professional entertainer such as a singer, a dancer or an actor.”

On the other hand, an artist, says Oxford, is “a person who creates works of art, especially paintings and drawings.”

What we learn here is that, while you can refer to a musician like Ali Kiba, as either an artist (i.e. a recording artist) or artiste, you err if you refer to our great cartoonists such as Masoud Kipanya, King Kinya, Nathan Mpangala and David Chikoko as artistes. These four are ARTISTS, period!

So our scribbling colleague’s subjects whose works featured in the art exhibition that was themed, “Go Wireless, Exploring the Pandemics and Technology for Girls’ are artists, not artistes.

And finally, a couple of gems from Bongo’s senior-most broadsheet of Saturday, November 6, which ran, on Page 1, a story entitled ‘Mining sector future is brighter’. Purporting to report on what Minerals minister Doto Biteko said in Parliament recently, our colleague writes in Para 6:

“GIVING the ministry’s achievements, challenges and way forward since independence, Minister Biteko told reporters…”

I will argue that the minister never GAVE the ministry’s achievements, challenges and way forward…rather, (I aver) he OUTLINED these matters.” Or, if you like, “gave A REPORT on…”

Our colleague further reports in Para 7: “Mr Biteko detailed that gold ARTISANAL accounted for 27 per cent of the government revenues…”

The word “artisanal” isn’t a noun; it is an adjective. Which is to say, the minister talked about artisanal MINERS/MINING (not just “artisanal”) accounting for….

Ah, this treacherous language called English!