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POLITICS OF GRAMMAR COLUMN

This column first appeared on Thursdays in the print and online editions of the People's Daily for more than a year. I transferred it to Sunday Trust  (now called the Daily Trust on Sunday), the Sunday edition of the Daily Trust, on May 1, 2011. I stopped the column in December 2018. You will find below links to previous articles that appeared in the print and online editions of the People's Daily and the Daily Trust on Sunday

Many articles that were serialized for two or more weeks have been compressed here as one.  My book, inspired largely by the articles in my column, came out in 2015 and is titled Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World. You can buy it from Amazon by following this link.


1A Comparison of Nigerian, American and British English

2. Why is "Sentiment" Such a Bad Word in Nigeria?


3. Ambassador Aminchi's Impossible Grammatical Logic


4. 10 Most Annoying Nigerian Media English Expressions


5. Sambawa and "Peasant Attitude to Governance"


6. Adverbial and Adjectival Abuse in Nigerian English


7. In Defense of "Flashing" and Other Nigerianisms


8. Weird Words We're Wedded to in Nigerian English


9. American English or British English?


10. Hypercorrection in Nigerian English


11. Nigerianisms, Americanisms, Briticisms and Communication Breakdown


12. Top 10 Irritating Errors in American English


13. Nigerian Editors Killing Macebuh Twice with Bad Grammar


14. On "Metaphors" and "Puns" in Nigerian English


15. Common Errors of Pluralization in Nigerian English


16. Q & A About Common Grammatical Problems


17. Semantic Change and the Politics of English Pronunciation


55. The Arabic Origins of Common Yoruba Words

56. Idioms, Mistranslation, and Abati's Double Standards 

57. Native English Speakers' Struggles with Grammar 

58. Q and A on Nigerian English and Usage Rules

59. Of Yoruba, Arabic, and Origins of Nigerian Languages

60. Language Families in Nigeria

61. Are There Native English Speakers in Nigeria? 

62. The English Nigerian Children Speak (I)

63. The English Nigerian Children Speak (II)

64. Reader Comments and My Responses to "The English Nigerian Children Speak" 

65. Q and A on American English Grammar and General Usage

66. Q and A on Prepositions and Nigerian Media English 

67. Americanisms Popularized by American Presidential Politics (I) 

67. Americanisms Popularized by American Presidential Politics (II)

68. Top 10 Peculiar Salutations in Nigerian English (I)

69. Top 10 Peculiar Salutations in Nigerian English (II)

70. Q and A on English Salutation, Punctuation and Other Usage Problems

71. More Q and A on a Variety of Grammar Usage Issues 

72. Top 10 Outdated and/or Made-up Words in Nigerian English 

73. Q and A on Outdated Nigerian English Words and Expressions  

74. 20 Obsolete English Words that Should Make a Comeback

75. Q and A About Jargon and Confusing Expressions

76. President Goodluck Jonathan's Grammatical Boo-boos

77. How Political Elite Influence English Grammar and Vocabulary 

78. Use and Misuse of "Penultimate" in Nigerian and Native English 

79. Top 50 Words Nigerians Commonly Mispronounce  I

80. Top 50 Words Nigerians Commonly Mispronounce II 

81. Top 50 Words Nigerians Commonly Mispronounce III 

82. More Words Nigerians Commonly Mispronounce   

83. Q and A on Nigerian English and Old English Expressions Frozen in Modern English

84. Q and A on Miscellaneous Nigerian English Grammar Issues 

85. Battle for the Simplification of English Spellings

86. Top 30 Common English Words That Are Derived from Names of People I

87. Top 30 Common English Words That Are Derived from Names of People II

88. Top 30 Common English Words That Are Derived from Names of People III

89. Top 30 Common English Words That Are Derived from Names of People IV

90. Between Useless and Useful Tautologies I

91. Between Useless and Useful Tautologies II

92. Q an A on Concord, Archaism and Nigerian English Usage

93. Q and A on Nigerian and American University Terminologies

94. Bad Grammar about Grammar in Nigerian English

95. Multilingual Illiteracy: What Nigeria Can Learn From Algeria's Language Crisis

96. Influence of American English on Nigerian English

97. Patience Jonathan's "Son" and Other Fictive Kinship Terms in Nigerian English

98. Patience Jonathan's Peculiar Grammar

99. Phrank Shaibu: A Shameless, Serial Plagiarist of My Grammar Column

100. Of Phrank Shaibu, Ojiofoh, and What Plagiarism Is and Isn't

101. The African Origins of Common English Words II

102. The African Origins of Common English Words III

103. The African Origins of Common English Words IV

104. The African Origins of Common English Words V

105. Q and A on Nigerian English Grammar and Pronunciation

106. Q and A on English Usage and Idiomatic Translations

107. Q and A on Errors in Nigerian Media English Usage

108. My Favorite Exclamatory Expressions in Nigerian English (I)


109. My Favorite Exclamatory Expressions in Nigerian English (II)

110. Q and A on Grammar, Gender, "Alumni" and "Thuggery"

111. Q and A on Religious English, Usage and Punctuation

112. Useless Repetitions You Should Avoid in English (I)

113. Useless Repetitions You Should Avoid in English (II) 

114. Useless Repetitions You Should Avoid in English (III) 

115. Useless Repetitions You Should Avoid in English (IV)   

116. Q and A on the Grammar of Food, Usage and Nigerian English 

117. Q and A on English plurals, Word Usage and Expressions

118. Q and A on Latin Plurals, Media English and Nigerian English 

119. 25 Black American English Expressions You Should Know (I)

120. 25 Black American English Expressions You Should Know (II)

121. Colloquial American English Expressions I Learned from Malcolm X

122.  Q and A on Idiomatic Expressions, Pronunciation and West African English

123. Q and A on Nigeria's and Anglophone Africa's Strange Political Expressions

124. 12 Most Popular Archaisms in Nigerian English

125. Q and A on Expressions, Usage, and Pronunciation

126. 12 Popular Misusages in Nigerian English (I)

127. 12 Popular Misusages in Nigerian English (II) 

128. Q and A on Nigerian English Expressions and Other Usage Concerns 

129. A Socio-linguistic Analysis of Patience Jonathan's Recent Televised Histrionics 

130. Q and A on Grammar of the Nigerian Constitution, Politicians, and Word Formation 

131 A Pragmatic Analysis of "Emir," "Sarki," "Oba" and "Chief" in Nigerian English

132 Why the Nigerian English Phrase "South-South" is Bad English 

133. Top 10 Negative English Words with Positive Meanings 

134. Top 10 Yoruba Names You Never Guessed Were Arabic Names 

135. Re: Top 10 Yoruba Names You Never Guessed Were Arabic Names 

136. 5 Words Native English Speakers Never Ever Use for Themselves 

137. Q and A on Titles, Genericization, and Sundry Grammar Usage Rules

138. When and How to Use "In" and "On" in Some Fixed Expressions  

139. Q and A on Grammar and Usage of Popular Expressions 

140. Q and A on Comparison of Nigerian and Native Varieties of English

141. Top 10 University Student Slang Words in Popular Nigerian English 

142. How Nigerian English May Cause You To Be Mistaken for a 419 Email Scammer I 

143. How Nigerian English May Cause You To Be Mistaken for a 419 Email Scammer II

144. How Nigerian English May Cause You To Be Mistaken for a 419 Email Scammer II 

145. Q and A on Word Usage and Confusing Expressions 

146. Anglophilia and Dying Nigerian Languages: A Personal Narrative

147. New Words in Oxford Dictionaries You Should Know

148. More New Words in Oxford and Other Dictionaries 

149. Q and A on Grammar, Fixed Expressions, Nigerian English and Briticisms  

150. President Jonathan's Awkward Grammatical Miscues on the Campaign Trail

151. Q and A on Nigerian English Learner Errors 

152. Is "Febuhari" Nigerian English's Most Creative Pun?  

153. Q and A on the English Usage of Nigerian Politics and Politicians  

154.  Q and A on Sundry Grammar and Usage Concerns

155. Q and A on Nigerian English Salutations, Pronouns, and Usage

156.  "Corrections" Nigerian Newspaper Grammar Columnists Consistently Get Wrong

157. Q and A on Grammar, Usage, Politics, Election, and Nigerian English

158. Curious Parliamentary Vocabularies in Nigeria's American-Style Presidential Democracy

159. Common Election-Related Grammatical Errors Nigerian Journalists and Politicians Make

160. Popular Expressions English Borrowed from Other Languages

161. From Febuhari to General March for Buhari: Buhari's Linguistic March to Aso Rock

162. Q and A on English Usage in Politics, Elections, Ethnic Descriptions, and Dialectal Variation

163. Q and A on Nigerian English and Gendered Language

164. Guest Column: Incredible Indian English

165. A Grammatical and Rhetorical Analysis of President Buhari's Inaugural Speech

166. "Past is Prologue" and Other Presidential Inaugural Turns of Phrase

167. Nigerian Pentecostal Christian English Expression in Popular Nigerian English I

168. Nigerian Pentecostal Christian English Expressions in Popular Nigerian English II

169.  My Book on Nigerian English is Finally Out!

170. Response to the Critique of My Critique of Buhari's Inaugural Speech

171. Q and A on Titles, Grammaticality of "Treasonable Felony" and Other Expressions

172. Q and A on Nigerian Media English, Usage and, American and British English Punctuations

173. Shakespearean Expressions that Sound Illiterate by Today's Standards 

174. ALTA Language Services' Interview with me on Glocal English

175. Q and A on Idioms and Common Nigerian English Usage

176. How English is Changing Languages in the World

177. In Jamaica, English is a Girlish Language

176. From Febuhari to "Wailing Wailers": Linguistic Creativity Decline of the Buhari Brand

177. Q and A on Nigerian Media English Misusage, Demonyms, and Word Usage

178. Q and A on the Grammar of Titles and Forms of Address

179. 10 Mind-Blowing Facts About English that May Shock You

180. "My Names Are," "Comity of States," and Other "Ministerial Screening" Grammatical Murders

181. El-Rufai's Kufena Hills and Metaphors of Death in Nigerian Public Discourse

182. "Barbing Salon" or Barbing Saloon"? Q and A on Nigerian English  Usage

183. "Academician" Or "Academic"? Q and A on Nigerian English Errors and Usage

184. A Comparison of Everyday University Vocabularies in Nigeria, America, and Britain (I)

185. A Comparison of Everyday University Vocabularies in Nigeria, America, and Britain (II)

186. A Comparison of Everyday University Vocabularies in Nigeria, America, and Britain (III)

187. Q and A on Grammar, Usage, and Naming Conventions in Nigeria, America and Britain 

188. "Body Language," "Screen Touch," "Say Me Well": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage and Expressions

189. Those Annoyingly Fake Trans-Atlantic English Accents at Nigerian Airports

190. Re: Those Annoyingly Fake Trans-Atlantic English Accents at Nigerian Airports

191. Gullah: The Fascinating African-Inflected Black American English Dialect

192. Nigerian and Muslim Personal Names Among the Gullah of Georgia and South Carolina

193. African Words in the American English Gullah Dialect

194. African Words in the American English Gullah Dialect II

195. Ooni of Ife's Strange Theory of the Yoruba Origins of English

196. Why Nigerians Can't Pronounce "Nigeria" Correctly

197. Nigerian Languages Are More Closely Related Than You Think

198. "Premium Motor Spirit Otherwise Known As Petrol" and Other Petrol-Related Grammatical Boo-Boos

199."Ghost Workers," "Dowry," "Johnny Just Come": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

200. Popular Everyday English Expressions We Inherited from Shakespeare (I)

201. Popular Everyday English Expressions We Inherited from Shakespeare II

202. Fuel  Price Hike: The Language and Grammatical Illogic of a Regulated Deregulation 

203. Subsidy, Deregulation, Liberalization: Nigerian English's Most Abused Terms

204. "Medicated Glasses," "Food is Sweet," "I want to Ease Myself": Q and A on Nigerian English Expressions

205. "In all Ramifications," "Happy Iftar": Q and A on Nigerian and Global English Usage

206. "Face the Full Wrath of the Law": Q and A on Nigerian, American and British English

207. Surprising Link Between Grammar, Magic, and Nigerian English

208. The Origins of These Common English Words Will Surprise You

209.  Aisha Buhari's Embarrassing Grammatical Infelicities at USIP

210. Aisha Buhari, Grammar Error Types, and Response to Critics

211. "Fatally Wounded," "Declared Wanted": Nigerian Military's Fatally Wounded Grammar

212. Zuckerberg, Facebook, and Why Hausa is a "Unique" Language

213. Transformation of "Change" from God Term to Devil Term in Nigeria

214. "Budget Padding," "Racist Economist," "Tenants of Democracy": English on the Move

215. Top 5 Expressions That Should Be Banned in Nigerian English

216. "Outrightly," "Faithfuls," "Graduands": Q and A on Nigerian English and Learner Errors

217. Q and A on Idioms, Nigerian English, American English and British English

218. Myth of the Decline in Standard of English Usage and Grammar

219. Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year Describes Trumpism and Buharism

220: "Flag Off," "Going Rogue," General Secretary": Q and A on English Usage and Expressions

221. "Titled" or "Entitled," "On a Platter of Gold," "Wide Off the Mark": Grammar Q and A

222. Q and A on American English, Nigerian English and Kenyan English

223. Fascinating History Behind Common English Expressions

224. My Word of the Year? Dalung's "Spended." Here's Why

225.  Top 10 Words That Trended in Nigerian English in 2016

226. No, Petrol Isn't Otherwise Known as "Premium Motor Spirit"

227. Princes, Not Kings, Are Called "His Royal Highness"

228. American Influences in Nigerian English

229. Orwellian Doublespeak About Buhari's Health

230. Black American Vernacular English Expressions You Should Know

231. "Naming Ceremony," "Turbaning," "Disvirgin": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

232. "An Advice," "A Good News": Errors of Pluralization in Nigerian English

233. Why There Are No Native Speakers of Standard English

234. English, Indigenous Language Instruction, and National Development

235. English in Nigeria: India Not an Exemplary Model

236. "Core North," "in the Social Media": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

237. Q and A on the Semantics of "Vice President as Coordinator" and "Chook"

238. "How Was Your Night?" "Antidote to": Grammar and Usage Q and A

239. Pig by Other Names: the Multiple Names for Pig and Pig Meat in English

240. Names for Disguised Alcoholic Drinks in English

241. 15 Words English Borrowed from Arabic

242: Geographic Gentilisms: How We Use Geography to Hide Our Prejudice

243. Soyinka's "Be Rest Assured," "Learned Colleague," and Other Grammar Q and A

244. "English Graduate" or "Graduate of English," Ngugi's Grammar, "Iconoclastic Oba" and Other Usage Q and A

245. "Reason Why," "All right/Alight," "Letterheaded Paper": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

246. Hello Bello: How "Bello" Became Nigeria's Most Ecumenical Name

247. "It's You Who Are": Q and A on Contentious Grammar Rules

248. When and How to Use "in" and "on" in Some Fixed Expressions

249. "Police is Your Friend," "Fire for Fire": Q and A on Nigerian English Errors

250. Old Forgotten English Words We Should Start Using Again

251. Semantic Bleaching in English

252. "Add Weight," "On My Mind": Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

253. "Economy Grows by 1.4%": Grammar Q and A on a Senator's Tweet

254.  English Mumpsimuses, a Senator's Tweet, and Lesson in Tenses

255. "Moslem," "Journey Mercies," "Stayed Blessed": Q and A on Nigerian Religious English and More

256. Boss Mustapha and Silly, Ungrammatical Titular Vanity among Nigerian Politicians

257. "Pregnant for a man," "Spinster," "Thuggery": Nigerian English Q and A

258. Hausa-Speaking Northern Christian Names: An Onomastic Analysis

259. Re: Hausa-Speaking Northern Christian Names: An Onomastic Analysis

260.  The Self-Isolation of Native English Speakers

261. Soyinka's "K-leg" English and My Word of the Year

262. A Case for "Flashing to be in Dictionaries

263. In Defense of Tautology in English

264. Gullah: An African-American English Dialect No One Understands

265. Kafiri, Saitan, Ogbomosho: Strange Personal Names Among America’s Gullah People

266. African Words in America’s Gullah English Dialect (I)

267. African Words in America’s Gullah English Dialect (II)

268. “Who is Fooling Who?” Q and A on Popular Usage Errors

269. “Emir of Yorubaland”: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Term“Emir”

270. Top 10 Usage Errors in Nigerian English (I)

271. Top 10 Usage Errors in Nigerian English (II)

272. A Critical Grammatical Analysis of Buhari’s “Lazy Youth”Comment

273. Nigerian and American English Clash in Fake Pro-Buhari Trump Quotes

274. No, “Mosque” Doesn’t Come from “Mosquito”

275. “Sannu da Shan Ruwa,” or “Eku Ongbe,” is Untranslatable into English

276. Buhari’s Democracy Day Speech is a Grammatical Embarrassment

277. Nigerian Words and Expressions that are Untranslatable into English

278. Response to Defenders of Presidential Grammatical Boo-Boos

279. Menace of Fake Incomprehensible English Accents at Nigerian Airports

280. English Words that Make Nigerians Say the Opposite of What They Mean (I)

281. English Words that Make Nigerians Say the Opposite of What They Mean (II)

282. Vocabularies for Party Switching in Other English-Speaking Countries

281. Do We Lose Our Emotions When We Speak English as a Second Language?

282. English Words that Make Nigerians Say the Opposite of What They Mean (III)

283. It’s “Academic,” not “Academician” Q and A on Nigerian English Errors and Usage

284. Nigerian English Words You Won’t Find in Any Modern Dictionary

285. Touchscreen, not Screen touch, number plate, not plate number: Nigerian English Q and A


286. “Tribe” and “Detribalized” are Derogatory Words

287. "Barbing Salon,” “On a Platter of Gold” Not Standard English: Q and A on Nigerian English Usage

288. How Buhari is Changing Nigerian English  (I)

289. How Buhari is Changing Nigerian English (II)

290. Some Guidance on the Use of the Prepositions “on” and “in”

291. “Mesu jamba,” a Slur against Ilorin People, is a Linguistic Fraud

292. “Working Experience” “Request for”: Q and A on Grammar, Usage, Expressions

293. “Mesu Jamba,” the Question of Etymological Fallacy, and Other Reactions

294. Atiku and the Meaning of an “Orphan” in English

295. Three “Misspellers” that Mystify Me

296. Recent Grammatical Howlers of Nigerian Politicians

297. Germans Are More Crazy About Titles Than Nigerians Are

 298. Who Should be Called a "Dr"? A Physician or a PhD?

299. Nigerian Lawyers Misunderstand “Learned Colleague”/“Learned Profession”

300. Impeachment Does NOT Mean Removal From Office

301. Impeachment: Response to an Ill-informed Law Lecturer called Sylvester Udemezue

302. Lionheart’s Oscar Rejection and Place of English in Nigerian Identity

303. Google as "goggle" and WhatsApp as "whatsUp": Illiterate Pronunciations in Nigeria

304. Why Hausa is a Fascinating Language

305. 7 Coronavirus Grammar Lessons

306: Why Do Nigerians Call "Fufu" "Swallow"?

307. It is “as of” NOT “as at”


2 comments

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  2. Thanks for putting up all these useful resources for learning grammar. This page is resourceful enough to teach me all I need to learn English.

    ReplyDelete

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