The ManicaPost
Have you heard a song, may be several songs with ‘the reason why’ as part of the lyrics? What about friends, teachers and loved ones who use the two words reason and why at together?
Examples:
The reason why she is not present is . . . she is ill in hospital.
He refused to tell me the reason why he was not going to school.
Is that the reason why you are not forgiving your wife?
The three sentences above are examples of how ‘‘reason’’ and ‘‘why’’ are used together. And that is wrong! The error is Pleonasm I wrote about last week. Foolish or unreasonable emphasis! The moment you say, ‘‘the reason’’ you mean ‘‘why’’. That is what the word ‘reason’ means. It means ‘‘why’’. So you are actually saying, ‘The reason reason she is not present . . . ’ ‘Or ‘‘He refused to tell me why he was not going to school.’’ Ridiculous, isn’t it?
Have you heard people calling out a cell phone number like 0773 001 701 in the following way: Ough Seven Seven Three, Ough Ough One, Seven Ough One? I have heard this . . . many times! A cell phone number is made up of figures . . . right? But if you say, ‘‘Ough’’ . . . that is not a figure. That is a letter of the alphabet. The figure whose shape is the letter (O) is ZERO, Not Ough! So the correct way of calling out the cell phone number is . . . Zero Seven Seven Three, Zero Zero One, Seven Zero One. It is that simple.
Do you ever spell the word ‘‘good’’ in the following way: gee, zero zero dee, do you? If that is ridiculous, it is equally ridiculous to say, ‘‘Ough Seven Seven Three, Ough Ough One, Seven Ough One.’’
Finally, ‘‘impregnating someone!”All the words we add . . . ing to are instrumental verbs. This means they are action words. And . . . ing suggests that the action is in the process and continuing . . . like walking, eating, writing, speaking. You will recall the Tense is called Continuous Tense. This is what it means.
The action…is in the process and continuing. So when you say ‘‘Farai Daviro impregnated the school girl’’ are you suggesting the process as well? Are you referring to the action? If so, that is indecent, is it not?
The action or process which must be private and unmentionable must remain quiet . . . inconspicuous as it must amongst all civilised speakers and decent people. Therefore it is indecent to say some man impregnated a woman. It is against English decorum and decency. It is animals . . . bulls . . . he-goats and dogs that impregnate their animal wives. Mazvinzwawo here? Purutanayi Chingezi mani . . . musaite hasha! Tendai kufunda nekufundiswe Chiyungu! Do not be stubborn! Do not be angry! Simply learn!
If you say, “The poor school girl is now pregnant. Her Literature teacher is responsible,’’ do you see how you have avoided ‘‘impregnating’’ the girl? Or maybe you say, “Her Literature teacher made her pregnant . . . she fell pregnant . . . she was made pregnant,’ . . . do you sense the decency in the language …than crudely, offensively or vulgarly saying, ‘He impregnated the school girl’? As if he was using a tool or weapon to ‘impregnate’ her with . . . and as soon as he is done, she instantly becomes pregnant. That would certainly be ‘‘impregnating someone.’’ But is that what happens?
May be I have failed to succinctly explain why it is wrong to refer to the process of making a woman pregnant as ‘impregnating’ someone.’’ If you have found my desperate attempt to explain this error, do not be disheartened. Simply know that it is indecent to talk about ‘impregnating’ a woman.
That is enough for another week. Enjoy learning these common errors. They will go a long way to distilling or upholstering your English language.
