₦airaland Forum

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1. INQUIRE/ENQUIRE: Inquire (inquiry) is a formal inquest ie, by legal, formal institutions and boards and are often documented, while enquire (enquiry) is an informal act of questioning.

2. I'M/ AM: I'm is simply a contraction of "I am" ie, it means I am. Example: I'm washing the dishes.

On the other hand, "am" is on its own a first person present form of "be". Example: I really am sorry for your loss.


3. COMPLEMENT/ COMPLIMENT: Complement means "to complete". Example: He complemented the sweet taste with some added salt and spice.

Compliment means a remark, salutation and (but not limited to) flattery. Example: He complimented her beauty all night.


4. KNOW/ NO: Know means to have knowledge of; whilst "no" is simply the opposite of yes. Example: No, I don't know how to dance.


5. SOURCE/ SAUCE: Source is the origin of a thing, trend, phenomenon, etc. Sauce is often an added flavour to a dish/food.
Example: The source of modernity is Africa.
Example: He uses tomato sauce to consume bread.

6. CEASE/ SEIZE: To cease simply is to stop, while to seize is to confiscate, arrest or withhold.

Example: Pray without ceasing.
Example: Their results were seized by the examination body

NB: Seize should as well not be mistaken for "size"

7. INVISIBLE/ INVINCIBLE: Invisible means "not seen" (it has to do with vision), while invincible means powerful and/or untouchable.

Example: He wore an invisible cloak. It made him invincible against enemy attack.


8. REIGN/ RAIN: Reign means a period of domination, while rain refers to waterfall in drops from the sky (or a large quantity of something)

Example: During his reign, rain ceased to fall. Hence, drought and famine.

9. I (capitalized)/ i: I (when capitalized) is simply the first person perspective, while "i" is just the ninth letter of the English alphabet.

Example: I'm running late.


10. WONDER/ WANDER: Wonder means to be amazed, to wish to know, etc. Wander implies movement, to (mentally, physically or emotionally) move about.

Example: He wondered why the dog kept wandering up and about in the house. It made his mind wander—searching for answers.


11. THERE/ THEIR: There simply is a (physical or mental) location (of something), whilst their is a second/third person pronoun.

Example: Their house is right there.

12. SURLY/ SURELY: Surly infers terrible, ugly, arrogant, etc while surely means definite, positive, truthful, etc.

Example: The surly waitress will surely get little or no customer appraisal.


13. IT'S/ ITS: It's is a contraction of "it is", while its is a pronoun that expresses "belonging to".

Example: Its main property is that it's very coerce and tough, slow but stable.

NB: when in doubt of which to use, substitute with "it is" to see if it fits properly in such context. Same applies for "am" and "I'm".

14. YOUR/ YOU'RE: YOUR is a second person pronoun, while you're simply is "you are".

Example: Your dog chewed on the phone. You're therefore responsible for whatever replacement(s) must be made.


15. QUIET/QUITE: To be quiet is to be free of noise (or disturbance); quite means to a degree or extent of.

Example: The quiet reserved lad over there in suit is quite handsome as well.

Others include: LAUNCH/LUNCH, BREAK/ BRAKE




You can add yours

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PS: I'm not interested in clicking your nonsense. If you can't post the "OMG: 15 Unbelievably Shocking Pictures of Papa Ajasco Looking Dapper that got Everyone Talking Which Broke the Internet. Click to Read More" here, please just rest...because "la click la the entire Internet catch fire". Stupid click baits.

Also, I'm tired of seeing the word "crooner". Be creative. And yes, you're free to copy and paste this on your blog (na una trademark be that). Thank you!


Mods please help me move this to the right section.

15. Unknown Meaning of Words: This guys have defenestrated their sense from their skull so much that they now use words they don't even know the meaning. That's how one of them promoting MMM said "The Vicious Cycle of MMM and its Profitability". Please bros, use some of your MB for some personal sense development (PSD111 for starters).




Me, when I see such senseless post:

14. That Got Everyone Talking/Fans React: "Pictures of Linda Ikeji that Got Everyone Talking". Egbon, please it didn't get me and the other 180 million (sensible) Nigerians who are not interested in your nonsense talking. Please shift. PS: lookup the meaning of react in a dictionary. That's how they'll be posting rubbish upandan





Meanwhile:

13. BREAKING/BROKE: "BREAKING: Davido Just Posted A Picture of His House on IG that Broke the Internet". Some will even say "See Pictures of 14 year old Artist that BROKE the Internet". Please I don't want to see what has broken the Internet. As if the terrible data service I'm managing is not enough, I should now kukuma click so my Internet will now na break

12. Epic, stunning, dapper: To a Nigerian blogger, every reply/response is epic, every picture posted on Instagram is stunning, and every man in suit is dapper. Don't argue with this logic, just get used to it. Next!!!

11. Tribal Tags: This one is most annoying. Why can't you just say "Pastor Gets Stuck in Shrine" rather than "Yoruba Pastor Gets Stuck in Shrine" or "Igbo Policeman Shoots..." or "Meet Ijaw Woman Who Fixes POP Ceiling"? You're a threat to the peace and harmony of Nigeria.

10. ...You Must Do: Do you know the struggles I've been through in life that you'll now be telling me what I must do? You'll now further go on to attempt telling me "10 Things You Must Do Before You Eat Cornflakes". Please face front before I tear you slap.

9. Distorted spellings: Nna please words were created to be used. You can't be writing breasts as "br3@st$" and be thinking you'll soon build your own mansion in "B4n4n4 Ișl@nð". Unserious somebody!






How your "Banana Island" ambition looks right now:

8. List of.. : I just can't with this one anymore








Me when I see such post

7. See Photos: And they go on to present an unrelated picture of an Olympic swimmer to "Pictures of a Man Caught on Camera Drowning". I piirrrry you!

6. Sensational "headlies": Nigerian bloggers can be so sensational, unethical and unprofessional. That's how one said "Godwin Obaseki visits Tinubu in Lagos after Election Victory"(the day after the elections), "SHOCKING: President Obama Says He Loves Jollof Rice". So much lies for a few clicks. Repent my brother, repent!



Your destiny and witches in your village are like

5. OMG: Please leave God out of your nonsense. Mediocre somebody like you.

4. Unbelievable: Then why're you now telling us if you know we won't believe? Please shift!

3. Will Leave You in Stitches: please let me not come and now go and comman click what will now leave me in stitches. I've not budgeted money for that or any of your nonsense.

2. Will Shock You/SHOCKING: Mbok! I'm not clicking biko. I'm not in the mood to get shocked today or any other day. Thank you!

1. This Happened/See What Happened: *heaves a sigh of disgust*This is so annoying that I skip blog posts/topics bearing such cliche. E.g "Woman Buys Tomato from Oba Market and This Happened". They further go on to tell us how she made stew with the tomatoes *sighs*

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The Nigerian peoples are known for their special and exclusive accent that cannot be replicated or flawlessly impression-ed by individuals who are not Nigerian-ground (even Hollywood has tried but failed to replicate it). Although the (ear-orgasmic) Nigerian accent is rated very highly amongst the sexiest accents in the world, most Nigerians (unenlightened though) still prefer to sound unsophisticated by twisting their tongues and noses to sound British or "yankee-fied", without coming to terms that whilst speaking English, what matters most isn't the accent or mode of speech; but the correct pronunciation of simple everyday words (and correct use of intonation), coupled with the simplicity of diction (Obama's various speeches endorse this fact). This "simple" grammatic awareness is what lightly differentiates the educated from the schooled (the bifurcation of formal literacy). Here is a list of a few simple everyday words that are mispronounced by most Nigerians (even those forming "frosh" and "posh" accent and the ones who juggle between the British, American, Jamaican and Ghanaian accent in one sentence (God is on His throne watching you) alone), accompanied with their correct pronunciation (pro-nun-cia-tion)

Fuel/Scarce: 90% of Nigerians mispronounce this as fwel rather than fewyl. The current national "epidemic" has overtime led to the unholy spread of the mispronounced fwel-skar-sea-ti rather than fewyl-skir-city (fuel scarcity)

Chassis: even grammarians mispronounce this word as char-sis, rather than shar-sea.

Beret: A large number of our military brethren and the beret wearing "confraternities" as well as various church choirs across the country are vastly ignorant that their beloved head-gear is pronounced bey-rey and not beh-RET. #NowYouKnow

Sachet: It's pronounced sar-shay and not sa-CHET. The "t" is silent.

Quay: This word is simply pronounced same as you'd pronounce "key"

Illegal: Nigerian artiste, Pepenazi had the one greatest opportunity to educate the Nigerian mass on the pronunciation of this dreadful word (ill-lee-gal). Even Badoo-Sneh couldn't even help out *sigh* (so much for loving the streets).

Bomb: 99% percent of Nigerians mispronounce this word by including the "b" (at the end) whilst pronouncing it. The "b" is silent.

Chalet: This word is pronounced shar-ley and not char-LET.

Tomato: too-may-toe is the pronunciation. Practice and correct this pronunciation when grocery shopping.

Okra: this popular pod is fondly pronounced ok-roh. It's correct pronunciation is in fact ok-ra (English dictionaries confirm this).

Vitamin: This word is an acronym for Vital Mineral(s), thus breeding vy-ta-min (vitamin) and not the mispronounced vee-ta-min.

Divorce: I hear lots of individuals mispronounce this word as die-vorce. It is in fact pronounced dee-vorce.

Arena: It is pronounced ar-ree-na and not ah-reh-na.

Vehicle: Even the elite fail to pronounce this word (vee-he-cle) couth-ly

Democracy: Hmmm! Where do I start from? Howbeit, this very popular word/concept has been mispronounced in varying context and degree by all manner of individuals all over the world. This people's political concept is pronounced dee-mo-cracy. The pronunciation of the "de" sounds like that of "deliver"

Qatar: This oil rich Middle-Eastern nation is pronounced ka-tar not kwa-tar. Football pundits please take note.

Meme: The culture of picturising humour laced with rib cracking and brain teasing text has become a widespread internet sensation. The 9gags and Twitters have made this trend popular amongst the internet folk. Thus, this "culture" is pronounced meem or mim and not maym as widely pronounced.
#MemeHistory will give you good laugh.

Naira: We even go as far as mispronouncing our national currency. It's simply pronounced nai-ra, not neh-rah or any other incorrect variation.

Plumber: The "b" is silent.

Debt: This word has same pronunciation as death. The "b" is also silent.

Realist/idealist: ree-list/ idee-list. Political elites and "feel-amongs" are also guilty of mispronouncing these words. My professors back then were not left out too.

Ebola: With the way most Nigerians (including the sensitising health practitioners) mispronounced this word, you'd think it is (or was) an air borne disease (thank God it wasn't). This "persona non gratia" is pronounced ee-bow-la, and not air-bow-la.

Sword: In pronouncing this word, the "w" is silent.

Wednesday: The " D " is silent as well. It's pronounced more like wens-day.

October: Oc-to-ber is not pronounced ork-tow-ber.

Main road: It beats my imagination why people mispronounced this word as meh-road (when they're not bleating goats). It is simply MAIN-road and not MEEH-road. Same goes for Third MAIN-land Bridge. That aside, please observe all traffic laws when driving. Let's make our (main) roads safe.

Brothel: bruh-ttle

Hotel Suit: I've over-time heard persons (from even entertainment event jingles on TV) mispronounce the "suit" in "hotel suit" (eg Eko Hotel and Suit) same as they pronounce the bodily garment-cover. The "suit" in "hotel-suit" is simply and sweetly pronounced sweet.

Trafficator: The word traffi-CA-tor is widely mispronounced as traffi-GA-tor. That aside, please always make use of your trafficator/indicator when making turns (even on lonely roads) whilst driving.

Chewing gum: Even big girls and aunties still mispronounce it as chin-gum. Are you using it to gum your chin? I'm sure chewing-gum isn't a hard word to pronounce.

Pant: Please, I beg, it's not pronounced pynt, it's simply pa-nt. Haba! (habatically)

Oil: Even our honourable emeritus grammarian from the moth city is guilty of mispronouncing this word. It is pronounced oyl and not oyel.

Machete: ma-sher-ti is the correct pronunciation, and not some other way you might pronounce it.

Often: ofen (the "t" is silent).

Valium-Five: this sedative is called Valium-Five, not volume five.

Celebrity: This popular word is pronounced sea-leh-brity and not cer-leh-brity.

Theory: Even professors and English academics often fail to intonate this word correctly. The intonation eliminates the "o" in it whilst pronouncing it. Thus, it sounds more like thee-ry and not thio-ry.

Chicago: In one of my favourite songs off from our beloved African Mama, she mispronounced this popular city as chee-ka-go (even the featured artiste from East Africa did same). That got me thinking as to how many other Nigerians (and Africans alike) pronounce it like she did. Thus, making it have a place on this list. The city (in Illinois, USA) is pronounced she-cargo and not some other incorrect pronunciation.

Champagne: sham-pain.


#NobodyIsAboveMistakes
God bless Nigeria.



*modified* the correct and incorrect pronunciations are in italics. I can't tell why it's not reflecting as such

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