We know that for most countries of the world, and even the developed countries; the English Language is a second language; hence it isn’t a mother tongue for most people.
However, while learning to communicate in the universally accepted English Language, learners and even speakers tend to make so much blunders and errors both in the spoken English and the written English.
Today, I briefly took a look at some of the common and popular words used by most English speakers, which do not actually exist, in a dictionary.
1| Wake-Keeping (Wrong)
Among Africans, the word is popular including its ungrammatical variation of wake-keep. It is however a figment of the imagination of the speaker, because the correct form of the word is WAKE, not wake-keeping or wake-keep.
2| Plumpy (wrong)
People often use plumpy when referring to someone who is a bit fat or chubby. The correct version of this word is PLUMP. Plumpy is simply Bad English.
3| Go-slow (Misused and misapplied)
This word is a favourite among Nigerians. Go-slow as a word exists, but not in the context that Nigerians use it. In English language, go-slow refers to a tactic by industrial workers or employees to intentionally reduce productivity, efficiency and activity, in other to make their demands felt. When such a scenario occurs, work in such an organization, factory or office is said to be at a go-slow.
When it comes to referring to traffic situations, especially involving queues, the correct words to use are TRAFFIC JAM, GRIDLOCK, TRAFFIC CONGESTION, and in some technical reference, HOLD-UP, but certainly not the misused and misapplied go-slow.
4| Disvirgin (very wrong….lolz)
Disvirgin is not a word, plain and simple. The word is often used to explain a situation involving a woman losing her virginity. The correct word however, is DEFLOWER.
5| Installmentally (Wrong)
The correct expression that should come to mind when you intend using this word should be IN INSTALLMENTS or BY INSTALLMENTS. Installmentally is a popular word among many Africans, but the word simply does not exist.
6| Crosscarpeting (Wrong)
This is a word made popular by our politicians and political analysts. They use it to express the act of a party member dumping his/her party, for another political party, in most cases a rival party. The correct terms to use in such cases should be DEFECTION, PARTY- SWITCHING or CROSSING THE FLOOR, not cross carpeting.
7| Cunny (Wrong)
When people try to describe someone deceitful or crafty, they tend to wrongly use cunny. In authoritative dictionaries, cunny is not found. In some slang dictionaries it can be found, and it actually refers to a woman’s v**gina, in there. So, the correct term to use when you think of a deceitful person is CUNNING, and not the derogatory slang word.
8| Alright (Mis-spelt)
The word alright is a misspelling of the word ALL RIGHT. When something is acceptable, adequate, suitable or adequate, we tend to erroneously say alright. To major English Language linguists, the word alright does not exist. However, it is gradually becoming acceptable among some English speaking folks. But most linguists consistently frown at its gradual acceptance.
9| Opportuned (Wrong)
There is no such word as opportuned in the English language. However, people still erroneously use it till date. The correct term is OPPORTUNE. It is an adjective, and like all adjectives, it has no past tense. It means well-timed or appropriate
Some verbs however, can function as adjectives or adverbs within a sentence. Such verbs are known as participles, and they do possess past tenses. They aren’t pure adjectives, and examples of such participles are fattened, mystified, disgusted, bored, overwhelmed, amused, and upset.
OPPORTUNE is not a participle, but a pure adjective and therefore has no past tense.
10| Screentouch (Wrong)
Due to the influx of assorted China-made pen touchscreen smart phones in the mid-2000, this bad grammar became quite an expression in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries. The novelty of the not-so-smart phones caught on with many users including the term screentouch - because apparently you just touch the screen and the phone works.
Well, just in case you still belong to the class of those using the modern devices, then the correct reference to the act of flicking your phone screen to elicit a response is TOUCH SCREEN, not the bad grammar of screentouch.
If you’ve been guilty of these bad grammar or bad English and if you know any other examples , then kindly share them and your experience in the comment section below.
