Consider the primary meaning of words before using them

The word 'as' can either be used to make comparison or describe the extent of similarities between two things. Good examples are, 'A Toyota Mark X is not as fast as a Subaru WRX' or 'Betty's skin is as dark-toned as Mary's is'. When used as a conjunction, it expresses a very close relationship between two things appearing at the same point in time or space. Thus, the newspaper headline: 'NASA accuses army as Uhuru opens airport' is wanting. From the above explanation, one wonders; was it at the function and exact time of opening the airport that NASA accused the army of whatever? What connection is there between opening the airport and the army?

Runway and runaway

Admittedly, there is none, and that is why the use of the conjunction 'as' in the headline is misplaced. These were separate occurrences that the writer, in an attempt to cobble up a news story, merely put together.

The mention of an airport evokes images of planes getting airborne and landing. These actions are invariably done on runways. Thus, a runway is that strip of tarmac on which planes accelerate or decelerate ready for take-off or after landing. Often, most writers erroneously refer to that strip of tarmac as 'runaway'. This second word with an 'a' between 'run and' way' is markedly different from runway. Runaway means 'escapee', ' uncontrollable' or 'fugitive'. Hence, 'there is runaway corruption in Kenya' or, 'Runaway Rwandan genocide instigator Kabuga is believed to be hiding somewhere in Kenya".

Further, note the words 'take-off' and 'take off'. The first refers to the action of a plane leaving the ground to become airborne while the second, written as two distinct words, means to run away, leave suddenly or remove clothing. 'Further', at the beginning of this paragraph is used to mean 'in addition to'; in this case, in addition to airports, planes and runways .

There is the other word 'farther' which, in describing distance, can be used interchangeably with 'further', but that is the extent of the similarity. Only letters 'a' and 'u' differentiate the words hence the high chances of confusing the two. Further has more uses than 'farther'. Further is also used to show help or progress. An example is, 'The bursary award helped further his studies'. 'To secure a promotion at work, he had no other option but to further his education'.

Allege

Most newspaper stories feature the word 'allege', which basically means to make unsupported claims. Often, a story would begin with 'it is alleged that so and so did abcd'. The rationale behind this is simple. The reporter removes himself or herself from the claim by quoting other sources, especially where chances of being hit with libel charges are high or in case the story turns out to be false. That way, the source, not the reporter, takes the blame. But newspapers sometimes carry headlines that describe something that is fait accompli, yet proceed to introduce a contradiction in the body text.

Take, for instance, the headline : 'Man who locked parents in burning house in cells' and the story beneath it that read, ' A man who allegedly locked his parents in their house and set it ablaze will remain in custody until next week'. If I had written that headline, I would have used the words 'custody' in place of 'cells'. Of course, the headline is fine as far as it can go, but good grammatical form should be given attention.

Another example of bad form is the caption, 'Students who emerged tops will perform in front of Uhuru'. Is it possible they could perform behind Uhuru, whatever Uhuru is? That sentence is a direct translation from Kiswahili to English 'mbele ya'. Surely, if Uhuru means the president - as Kenyans would know - shouldn't it then be, 'Students who emerged tops will perform before President Uhuru'?

The story that followed that caption read 'curtains come down on the 91st edition of the annual music festival'. Ideally, it should have been 'the curtain falls, or the curtain fell on the 91st edition of the music festival', because the idiomatic expression refers specifically to an activity that has come to an end . 'The curtain coming (falling) down' (not curtains) is ideal for a theatre setting.

Finally, consider the ambiguity in the headline : 'Miguna's running mate dumps him, says his candidate's a lone ranger'. Don't we know Miguna's deputy was a woman? Worse, was Miguna a candidate to his running mate as suggested by the headline?

Mr Chagema is a correspondent at The [email protected]