By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D. In what follows, you will find my answers to readers’ questions about the use of the phrases “man of the y...
By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.
In
what follows, you will find my answers to readers’ questions about the use of
the phrases “man of the year,” “gentlemen of the press,” and “President
Jonathan’s vice” (when talking about Vice President Sambo) in the Nigerian
media. I’ve also answered questions about the difference between “beside” and
“besides,” and reproduced an insightful response to the column I wrote twoweeks ago.
Question:
Is
it proper for someone to use "MAN OF THE YEAR" for a woman? I am
asking this because the Champion newspaper in Nigeria once conferred a MAN OF
THE YEAR award on the Nigerian Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah.
Answer:
Not,
it’s not only improper to give a woman a “man of the year” award; it is also
sexist and archaic. The expression “man of the year” is virtually dead in
contemporary native-speaker media English. It has been replaced with the
gender-neutral “person of the year.” TIME magazine, which started the “man of
the year” tradition in 1927, has been using “person of the year” since 1999.
Nigerian
journalism is unfortunately plagued by outmoded patriarchal arrogance as
reflected in the popular notion in Nigerian journalistic circles that
“gentlemen of the press” is the only acceptable way to address journalists.
It’s customary for Nigerian journalists to say something like: “there are no
ladies in the press; only gentlemen.” Well, that’s some male chauvinistic bunkum
that has no place in logic, reality, or current English grammar.
I also see that public officials in Nigeria,
including the president, habitually address journalists as “gentlemen of the
press” during news conferences. That’s so wrong and so unforgivably antiquated.
The phrase “gentlemen of the press” was popular in America and, I think, in
England in the 1920s when men dominated journalistic practice. There is even a
1929 movie by that name.
But
in modern times, at least in environments where English is a native language, no one addresses journalists as “gentlemen of the press.” Journalists
are properly called “members of the press” or simply “the press.” If you want
to be quaint and stilted, you might say “ladies and gentlemen of the press.”
From my inquiries and observations, Americans generally ignore the protocol of
calling out members of the news media during news conferences.
Question:
Can
you say “President Jonathan’s vice” when referring to the Vice President of
Nigeria? Many senior journalists in Nigeria refer to Vice President Namadi
Sambo as “Jonathan’s vice.” Is that correct?
Answer:
It’s
certainly an odd choice of words to refer to one human being as another
person’s “vice.” This isn’t just bad grammar; it’s also muddled thinking. When
“vice” is used as a noun, especially in reference to a human being, it usually
means a moral weakness, a frailty, or a form of evil or depravity. So you can’t
call a human being a “vice.” You can only say a human being has a vice. If you
were to come to America and say “President Jonathan’s vice,” the only logical
and grammatically legitimate meaning that can be drawn from the phrase would be
that you’re talking about President Jonathan’s moral failings. Americans are
unlikely to understand you as talking about Namadi Sambo.
In
the British press, it is usual to refer to Vice President Joe Biden as “Obama’s
deputy.” That’s infinitely more grammatical than saying, as Nigerian
journalists are wont to, “Obama’s vice.” In other words, “President Jonathan’s
deputy” is a better, more acceptable way to refer to Vice President Namadi
Sambo than “President Jonathan’s vice.”
Of
course, Americans don’t use the term “deputy” in reference to their vice
president. They say “Obama’s Vice President,” not Obama’s deputy—and certainly
not “Obama’s vice”—when they talk about Joe Biden.
Question:
What
is the difference between “beside” and “besides”? Or do they mean one and the
same thing?
Answer:
No,
they are different. Beside means “next to” or “at the side of” as in: he sat
beside me in the bus. Beside can also be used to make comparisons as in: while my
brothers think I’m a genius, I look like an idiot beside you.
Besides
(notice the “s” at the end), on the other hand, can function as an adverb to
mean “in addition,” as in “Most people won’t vote for PDP in 2015; besides, it’s
a dying party.” Besides can also function as a preposition to mean “in addition
to” or “as well as,” as in “besides her intelligence, she is also beautiful.”
Or “Besides the PDP, which other party is disintegrating?”
So
“beside” and “besides” can’t be used interchangeably.
Question:
Which
is the correct phrase: “on alert” or “at alert”?
Answer:
It
should be on alert.
Thanks
for your piece on the aforementioned topic. However, you need to have a second
look at your rendition of the Hausa word 'tukuici'.
Although it could mean 'gratuity' as you inferred, it does not include token
given to taxi driver or for services revered in a restaurant outside the normal
fee for the dish served. [I never said it does; I was only drawing parallels
with the meaning of “gratuity” or “tip” in American English].
In
Hausa land where I come from, 'tukuci' simply
means a token given to someone who has been sent by another person to deliver
something valuable to someone. It has nothing to do with age or status of the
person who delivers the message. In other words, 'tukuici' is a token appreciation for the receipt of a worthy
gift. The gift could be a piece of land, textile material, animal, cash,
traditional title, appointment into public office, or even good news. In
particular, it is the tradition of our traditional rulers to give out 10% as
'tukuici' of whatever cash value or farm produce given to them by one of their
subjects.
I
can vividly remember as a child that I didn’t feel excited delivering gifts to
people who did not give commensurate 'tukuici'
for the gifts I delivered to them. Indeed, a number of gift recipients lost
their gift for habitual failures to give out adequate 'tukuici'. It is not uncommon for someone to even negotiate 'tukuici,' especially when it involves
good news. For instance, it is acceptable in Hausa tradition for a chief or a
political leader to deliver news of someone’s appointment into high office
through a third party. The bearer of the good news could easily demand a
specific 'tukuici' before he/she
delivers the message. The method of delivering this kind of message normally
starts with 'albishirika/ki' and the
answer to this is usually 'goro' (kola nut). 'Goro' in the sense it is used
here is metaphorical; it does not refer to your normal kola nut. It means cash
or other valuables.
An
inquisitive child of a good friend once asked my friend the English equivalent
of 'tukuici' and he responded by
saying it means gift, but the child justifiably rejected the meaning. When the
father turned to me for affirmation of what he had told his son, I simply told
him there is no English equivalent for 'tukuici'
for the simple reason that it is not in the culture of the English people to
give out 'tukuici'. Indeed, I am yet
to come across any Nigerian or African language that has the exact equivalent
of the Hausa word 'tukuici'.
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