mehn! making sense

german007:

A lot of people make this common mistake of using "am" to replace "I'm".

Example "Am Okay" "Am at your house" "Am driving".

Instead of "Im Okay" "I'm at your house" "I'm driving"

 

God bless you. Almost everybody i know make that mistake. At a time i got confused myself as to whether Am used in place of I'm is the correct thing. Thanks for pointing that out.

@OP, thanks for creating this thread. Think this is one of the best and educative thread i've seen on nairaland of recent. All we see these days are all crappy topics.

This thread is educative! However can someone tell me which is correct amongst these three

1. Pigin English.[/b]

2. Pigin English Language.[b]

3. Pigin Language.[/b]

", did you steal my copy of "Mastering English", [b]

Mark Zuckerberg

Net Worth: $6.9 billion
Source: Facebook
Age: 26

The Harvard dropout and Facebook CEO was the biggest percentage gainer on this year's Forbes 400 list and the unwitting star of box-office hit "The Social Network." Last month he agreed to donate $100 million to Newark's troubled schools.

I Have never seen a thread as educative as this. Keep it up!

* Subscribes *

@ Ezegozie "I Have never seen a thread as educative as this. Keep it up!"

educating

Omo_Tier1:

This thread is educative! However can someone tell me which is correct amongst these three

1. Pigin English.[/b]

2. Pigin English Language.[b]

3. Pigin Language.[/b]

", did you steal my copy of "Mastering English", [b]

I think Pidgin is a language already.

So, Pidgin English would be correct.

bookmarked

Another very regular blunder is, using "Be rest assured" instead of "Rest assured"
E.g. You can be rest assured that I will find you the best SUV's at the most competitive prices" Whereas, the correct phrase should be; You can rest assured that I will find you the best SUV's at the most competitive prices.


   

@Ola Olabiyi

I don't if you've done this one already; the poser;

he packed the car

or

he parked the car

Which is right?

@faithin9ja, the correct one is parked.

nice one nadneth, then;
let's try

the booth of the car

or

the boot of the car?

which one is right?

faithin9ja:

nice one nadneth, then;
let's try

the booth of the car

or

the boot of the car?

which one is right?

The boot is right.

Answers to POSERS.

'This is very unique': This is a dicey one. And, opinion is still divided on this. 'Unique', 'infinite' and 'great' are in the same category. As a paradigm, 'unique' is an ABSOLUTE. It means 'one of a kind'. But, is it gradable? If not, then, I don't see the point of a modifier. An adjective can, to me oo, be positive, comparative or superlative. OK, what about modifying an absolute in order to achieve a superlative form. A real poser! In the past, this was impossible. But, trust those eggheads, they have found a way around this conundrum. Abi, sorry, poser. I respect Oxford University boffins and I have to agree with them on this. Na their language, abi now? The use of a modifier is NOW possible.

Somebody should have disagreed (the sort I really want, backed with reason(s), of course) when I examined 'GREAT' on this thread. According to these boffins, 'greatest' is now allowed. Great, then. They are, however, still silent on 'very great'.

'He is the worsiest enemy of the country': The correct form is : He is the worst enemy of the country. 'Worst' is the superlative of 'bad. As an adverb, sha, it is the superlative of 'badly', too. It is also a VERB. Thank you, Ileke.



'The bill must be settled as at when due': The correct form is : The bill must be settled as and when due. It is an IDIOM. It refers to something 'happening in the future'.

Thank you @all

slap1:

The first poser is correct. However, it is not in every case that the adjectives 'very' and 'unique' go together. They may only be used when 'unique' is used to describe something VERY SPECIAL OR UNUSUAL. E.g: She has a very unique voice. This is MY own answer, I may not be totally correct.

Thanks, bro.

parki:

nobody cares about english abeg. you guys should get on with something else.

You are right, bro.

thanks guys. this is great, very educative educating. seriously, i just learnt that now. thanks!. pls, Ola what about the english language txtbook you promised.

Pennywise:

@OP
My own contribution is from an English lecture I had a long time ago (GS001) about not ending a statement with a proposition or something of the sort- like 'where are you at'?

Unfortunately, the lecturer was young, sexy and too fine. I was distracted from begining  to the end. Can you throw more light on this pls

It's possible, ma. JUst imagine how many sentences you have ended with 'beneath' and 'throughout'. These words are prepositions.

Ujujoan:

Just curious, what are you? A Professor of English

Uju, prof ke? Who born me, sef? Make you no allow those people with Emeritus/Emerita catch me o. Just a bit curious, then.

Ujujoan:



LOL @ Ola

You are paranoid sha . . .

E be like, Uju. I need a therapist.

shadrach77:

this thread is quite interesting - but it is ironic that the header of the thread is grammatically wrong
NB: error and mistake are the same thing - see the meaning of error below:

er·ror
   /ˈɛrər/ Show Spelled[er-er] Show IPA
–noun
1.
a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech: His speech contained several factual errors.
2.
belief in something untrue; the holding of mistaken opinions.
3.
the condition of believing what is not true: in error about the date.
4.
a moral offense; wrongdoing; sin.
5.
Baseball . a misplay that enables a base runner to reach base safely or advance a base, or a batter to have a turn at bat prolonged, as the dropping of a ball batted in the air, the fumbling of a batted or thrown ball, or the throwing of a wild ball, but not including a passed ball or wild pitch.
6.
Mathematics . the difference between the observed or approximately determined value and the true value of a quantity.
7.
Law .
a.
a mistake in a matter of fact or law in a case tried in a court of record.
b.
writ of error.
8.
Philately . a stamp distinguished by an error or errors in design, engraving, selection of inks, or setting up of the printing apparatus. Compare freak1 ( def. 5 ) , variety ( def. 8 ) .

Also please note: it should be english language not english - The word English can be used to describe a native of England hence, you need to use the word 'language' in this particular situation

'Errors and mistakes': Thanks, bro. 'Error' is just more formal, sha. Great job, sir.

'English language': I disagree, sir. 'English' refers to the people. 'English' also refers to the language.

Eg. I am Yoruba. I also speak Yoruba.

Check your dico, sir.

Ola and Jarus,
Could you please help shed light on this. I have noticed more than a handful of people use these phrases, "pray tell" or "pray, do tell" in conversations. How correct is this use?

Common errors: the use of
Been instead of being
Seen instead of seeing

Also, people say," ghastly accident, fatally wounded but survived, fatal accident but is recovering in the hospital" etc (you can give other examples) I think I know the right uses but would appreciate it if you could help pick them apart for the benefit of all.

Babzilla:

I also noticed that most Nigerians dont know the meaning of blackmail. to them blackmail means to speak ill of someone [ or something] so its not uncommon to hear some one go like ' I hate her, she blackmails me a lot'

Thank you.

blank:

Love this. I am subscribing.

ocephraim:

mehn! making sense

mystikal:

* Subscribes *

igbanbajo:

bookmarked

@All, thanks.

omo_to_dun:

Good afternoon folks,

To say that I have learned a lot from this thread would be an understatement, but since I cannot express my feelings more articulately, I will settle for it. I am a junior studying computer science and writing has always been an activity I utterly and almost completely detest, especially when it has to do with analyzing archaic papers by authors who, I believe, were drunk or had lost touch with reality. However, I have since realized that, if at all I want to succeed as a student and later in my professional career, I will have to suck it up and concentrate on being a better writer, at least one who can churn out college-level papers.

I just find it boring when there are no numbers in the books I am reading or when I forced to look through the windows of the authors as opposed to having tangible objects which can be examined and also whose nature are not subjected to debate since they can be empirically verified.

I admire stan1 and ola. You guys are not only good writers, but you also understand the grammatical terminologies of the words you use. "Gerund", "Adverbial Phrase" ke? Chei, Olorun ma je!

Amongst the courses I am currently taking is one called introduction to philosophy and we are studying Descartes' Meditation. I have never in my entire life been this confused. I have taken a bunch of upper-level Math, Physics, and Computer Science classes; I have even rubbed shoulders with post graduate students, but when I am in an HSS class, I am a complete dunce. Imagine the professor asking me, "What do you think was on the author's mind?" "I be witch? How I go take know dat one now?", I immediately and rhetorically answered the Professor(in my imagination, of course).

Once again, Ola, I salute you.

Hey, o ga oo. Thanks, oo.

denzel2009:

I think Pidgin is a language already.

So, Pidgin English would be correct.

Abi o, it is a language.

Question for Ola,
Have the words, 'cheater' and 'hater' been added to the english language hence making them correct? I learned to say you are a cheat but with the american influnce on the english language people say, cheater and hater now and I wonder if that's correct.

must_a_far:

Ola and Jarus,
Could you please help shed light on this. I have noticed more than a handful of people use these phrases, "pray tell" or "pray, do tell" in conversations. How correct is this use?

Common errors: the use of
Been instead of being
Seen instead of seeing

Also, people say," ghastly accident, fatally wounded but survived, fatal accident but is recovering in the hospital" etc (you can give other examples) I think I know the right uses but would appreciate it if you could help pick them apart for the benefit of all.

Guys, una dey try oo.
I had to do some research.

Pray tell : old use; archaic. I think it means 'please' (as a surprise).

Do tell: I'm not sure here. A bit peculiar. I think it means 'really', 'imagine'.

must_a_far:

Question for Ola,
Have the words, 'cheater' and 'hater' been added to the english language hence making them correct? I learned to say you are a cheat but with the american influnce on the english language people say, cheater and hater now and I wonder if that's correct.

Cheater: Correct but of North American origin (American influence).

Hater: Correct

I want tpiah on this thread. I respect her a lot. Sorry o, mai darling, Ileke.

Incorect: He's an i[b]gnorant[/b].

Correct: He's an ignoramus/ignorant person.