The last edition asked the reader to use certain words in sentences to demonstrate correct usage.
Many thanks to Khaleed Tijani, who provided responses, which we will examine presently.
Fallout: Khaleed says:
“Unemployment fallout is the rampant cases of kidnapping.”
This is almost a perfect use of fallout, but for the absence of an apostrophe with the word unemployment (like this: unemployment’s). His usage demonstrates a good understanding of what the word means and how it should be used acceptably. His usage is a lot better than the following:
(a)..The clamour for regional economic integration . . . is a fallout of the internalization of regionalism without compromising the federal health of the heterogeneous entity.
(b)..CAN is entitled to run its affairs its own way, even if it must brace itself for the negative fallout of its action. .
The author of (a) above certainly ‘does not mean exactly what he has written, using the noun fallout. Obviously an advocate of regionalism, he seems to have misused the word to mean outcome, a welcome outcome at that. But the meaning of fallout is the exact opposite of that. Fallout is “the adverse results of a situation or action” (Oxford Dictionary of English/AmazonKindle, cited in “Pop” Errors).’ Kindly note also that “fallout is a mass noun that should never be determined by the article a.” To make ourselves clear we reconstruct the sentence, thus:
The clamour for regional economic integration . . . is an outcome of the internalization of regionalism without compromising the federal health of the heterogeneous entity.
In the correction, “the misused noun phrase a fallout has been suitably replaced with an outcome, which seems the logical intention of the writer.”
Read Also: Sundry Misusages XIII: Ensue . . . plus more
Specimen error (b) above “is a wrong usage from another angle. Negative fallout is repetitious and verbose; it is an over-kill. See the meaning of fallout in the preceding example, which shows that fallout is inherently a negative outcome, and therefore does not need the modifier negative.” So, we simply say:
CAN is entitled to run its affairs its own way, even if it must brace itself for the fallout of its action.
Far-fetched: Reader Khaleed posits:
“Nigeria becoming a developed nation in the next ten years is far-fetched.”
This is correct usage. It is not so with the statement below:
The implementation of UNSCR 3525 is still far-fetched, as there is no concrete achievement to show for all the efforts to promote its laudable aims.
Because ‘the meaning of far-fetched is “difficult to believe” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary), it is an unsuitable adjective here. From the lamentation that follows the misused adjective, it seems that the intention of the writer is to convey the message that the implementation of the UN Security resolution is below par, that is, below expectation, a non-starter or extremely disappointing. Substitute far-fetched with any of these, and “now, you are talking” (apology to Etisalat)” (“Pop” Errors in English).
Fatal: On fatal, here is Khaleed’s contribution:
“Not detecting cancer is fatal to its cure.”
Khaleed’s usage may not have demonstrated a clear understanding of the meaning of fatal as well as its correct usage. Consider that the adjective fatal is normally used to describe a disease or accident that causes death, and see that it is not meaningful to think of late detection of cancer as capable of causing the death of its cure. Cures don’t die; they may fail. Then, Khaleed’s intended message is that late detection will impede cure. A similarly serious misusage is:
The mission provided air medical evacuation support for five officers injured in a fatal car accident while withdrawing from the conflict area.
When people are only injured in an accident, do not describe it as fatal, because it is only when lives are lost in it that you can correctly call it fatal. The accident in question “was just ghastly; otherwise it would have been corpses that were evacuated, not injured officers.” Because no lives were lost, correct usage is:
The mission provided air medical evacuation support for five officers injured in a ghastly (or serious) car accident while withdrawing from the conflict area.
Fast-track/Fast track: These related terms were set in the light exercise to test the reader’s understanding of the difference between them in nature and usage. Below is Khaleed’s usage of one of them – fast-track:
“The fast-track path to economic development is to invest heavily in infrastructural development.”
Clearly, Khaleed understands the character of fast-track, hence the usage as an adjective. Yes, fast-track is an adjective, while fast track is a noun. But fast-track can also be a verb and can be used as such. These highly-nuanced distinctions were apparently lost on someone else who wrote as follows:
All echoed the CJ’s remarks and added that the court would institute a mechanism to fast track the disposal of commercial disputes.
‘The writer of the sentence has wrongly used fast track the noun instead of the verb, apparently oblivious of the hyphen in-between the two words in the verb form of the word. That hyphen makes all the difference between fast-track the verb and fast track the noun. To fast-track is to make something happen quicker than usual, and a fast track is “a quick way to achieve something”’ (“Pop” Errors in English). Obviously, the writer intended to use the verb form of the term; the correct approach, therefore, is to apply the hyphenated verb form, namely: fast-track. Here is what we mean:
All echoed the CJ’s remarks and added that the court would institute a mechanism to fast-track the disposal of commercial disputes.
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