YOUR DEAR LIFE?

Common Errors In English with Samuel Alimi

Last week, I searched diverse authoritative dictionaries to confirm the entries of the verb ‘skip’ and its connection with the noun ‘mind’. Erroneously, many English users misuse the word by stating that something ‘skipped’ their minds. A communication expert once asked on his status,”Is your mind a rope?” Why would anything skip your mind?” I found it so hilarious. When I introduced the lesson to my audience on WhatsApp, one of them sent an appreciatory message for the opportunity to learn through the platform I created.

The question is, “what is the correct word?” Well, there are two options. You can use ‘slip’ or ‘escape’. Below are the example sentences related to the accurate verbs in Cambridge Dictionary to validate this discovery:

I am sorry I forgot your birthday- it just slipped my mind.

I meant to tell you that he’d phoned, but it completely slipped my mind.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary:

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It completely slipped my mind.

Consider the following sentences:

Mr Bala, I forgot to attend your wedding anniversary. It skipped my mind; I am genuinely sorry. (Wrong)

Mr Bala, I forgot to attend your wedding anniversary. It escaped my mind; I am genuinely sorry. (Correct)

Mr Bala, I forgot to attend your weddin anniversary. It slipped my mind; I am genuinely sorry. (Correct)

A diction-coach who teaches in standard primary and secondary schools across Nigerian states posted a piece of information about the word ‘trouble’ on Monday. A particular student complained about her colleague who bullied her in class. In her bid to retaliate, she informed the teacher that the student was looking for her trouble. Wow! Of course, many learners are not aware that ‘looking for my trouble’ is an wrong expression. The pronoun ‘my’ is invalid and unacceptable in the sentence in Standard English. Therefore, the student should have said, “She was looking for trouble’. No one should personalize trouble. It is an idiomatic expression that should not be altered.

Dear Life or My Dear Life

I had a gory experience with over ten cultists during my teaching practice in one of the private secondary schools in Ogun State. I needed to have my breakfast, so I decided to visit a restraunt. About five minutes after, they arrived with their weapons which disorganized the entire community. Everyone scampared for safety, particularly because of the death of the members of their rival groups. Did I run for my dear life? No. I ran for dear life.

The idiomatic expression “run for dear life” does not require the preposition “dear”.

During the last presidential election, Ngozi ran for her dear life after the ballot box was hijacked. (Wrong)

During the last presidential eelction, Ngozi ran for dear life after the ballot box was hijacked. (Correct)

Be mindful of the right expression!

An Accident or Accident?

One of the noun we usually ignore its article is ‘accident’ when we are referring to the unfortunate incident, which may be fatal or ghastly.

While travelling to Owerri, the students had accident. (Wrong)

While travelling to Owerri, the students had an accident. (Correct)

Whenever you are referring to one accident, add the right article, which is ‘an’.

Other expressions are written below:

Unfortunately, I almost had an accident while travelling home last December.

What is an accident?

Cast a Vote or Casted a Vote?

One of the viral grammatical blunders I heard during the general elections was ‘I casted my vote’. Even guest speakers confidently use the non-existent word. English is  not a straight-forward langauge; there are too many exceptions. So, the rule that states that the past tense of ‘cheat’ is ‘cheat’ contradicts the rule that emphasizes that the past tense of ‘cast’ is ‘casted’. As a matter of fact, its past particple is also ‘cast’.

Study the following sentences:

Have you cast your vote?

Segun, Emmanuel and Mohammed have cast their votes.

My friend had cast his vote before I arrived.