Prince,
I don't even reach for a dictionary. My phylosophy is that if i have to go to
all that trouble to grasp a message that could have been presented in a
simple and understandable manner, and if the writer has to create such a
jumble of words for whatever purpose, then they are creating an unnecessary
obstacle and i, like most folks just do not have the time to wade through it.
Jabou
In a message dated 1/29/00 1:57:52 PM Central Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<< TO ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE GAMBIA LIST
"If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant.
If what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains
undone."
I am extremely sorry to begin with Confucius, but the way things are going
with some of the contributors to the Gambia List is seriously worth
addressing. Some are of the conviction that they are so good in their
command of the English language that they should impress the List with
words. Words that make readers to run for a dictionary.
The questions are; is it an art of good writing or is it just to show-off?
We all know what we contribute to the List and we do that for people to
understand us. But when one writes, "Perchance you were lost in the
labyrinth of my prose", as in a posting meant for Jabou few days ago, I
asked myself whether this writer had any intention to be understood. The
Gambia List, to my understanding is a forum and not a symposium and as such
should be a place for all Tom, Dick and Kumba, where academic pretension is
totally out of place.
In my observation, some of the writers of what I call "sheer Poepi-Nak"
have forgotten that they are not English but Gambians. They ignore the fact
that they are writing in an "foreign" language, and not wanting to know that
the English Language is only the language of their intellectual make-up and
not their emotional make-up. We, as Gambians, are all somewhat bilingual,
we write something in a language that is not ours things that are mentally
ours. I challenge anybody on this List to tell me in English, (in 3 words)
with all shades and omissions and in the same thought-movement the meaning
of the phrase "Katta utti Goal". There are 9 or 10 English words to define
the single Gambian word "Suttora or Suttoro". The thought-movement of such a
word in a Gambian language carries more weight than all English words for
it.
The most appalling aspect of some of these writers, is their tendency to
coin new words or give their own meaning to an existing one. Which made me
to call them Humpty-Dumpty journalists. With, 3 dictionaries and 2 thesauri,
I can hardly find some of the words they use. Words that do not exist in the
English Language thereby causing a rush for dictionaries and the constant
complain of headaches by members of this "Cyber-Vous". Another intolerable
style of their writing is their attempts to make nouns out of verbs that do
not have a noun, by adding "-ability" to the verb, thus producing horrible
words like "Publishability". They turn verbs to nouns by adding "-ise" (e.g.
Contextualise). These people consider themselves TOO educated to use simple
phrases like "worth publishing" or "to put in/into context", not thinking
that some of there readers might be Crab Island School dropouts. Below, I
have listed some of the "Poepi-Nak" I have read on this forum and I have
tried to give sensible meaning to some of them. Comments in bracket are
mine.
1. Banjulian = Wa-Banjul
(What would you call somebody from Talinding Kunjang? I guess Talinding
Kunjangian.)
2. Deleterious political = harmful politics
3. Transmogrified = transform
4. Legerdemain = trickery
5. Unbridled recalcitrance = unchecked defiance
6. Stygian depths = low depths
(Some of us are not versed in Greek Mythology)
7. A scintilla of evidence = jot of evidence
8. Publishability = worth publishing
(A non-existent English-like word. Coined by the writer)
9. Choke-full of allegations = full of allegations
(The adjective choke-full is archaic and only used by some old Aku women)
10. Cynical imbecility = very stupid
11. The vacuous aggrandized theme = empty but lofty theme
12. To the point of ad nauseaum = to the point of disgust
(This writer thinks ad nauseaum is the singular for ad nauseam)
13. A retrogressive of inversion of priorities
(I don't know what this writer means)
14. Espousing political expediency = adopting political advantage
(There is an element of politic in expediency)
15. Any historical disquisition = Any discussion of the past events
16. The trammels of military-civilian-dictatorship = the shackles of.
17. A new-fangled political process = new-fashioned political process
18. The veracity of his allegations = The credibility of his allegations
19. Believability = credibility
20. Without any tangibility = without any proof
21. Contextualise = put in (into) context
22. Amateurishness = Naivete, Inexperience
23. Applicability = Suitability, Aptness
24. Discombobulating spectacle = ?????????
(I honestly do not know what the first word means. Can someone please tell
me?)
26. Unflappability = ???????????
(I can't find this word in my dictionaries)
27. Phantasmal forlornness =
(Phantasmagoric lonesomeness WOW!)
The writer who wrote "My presumption of your believing Jallow's allegations
was not necessarily indicative of certainty or believability on your part,
about Jallow's account" is not worth to be read.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Prince Coker
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