Avoid using colloquialism in formal communication

Last week’s column touched on malapropisms. More humour was presented within the week when a guest on a TV talk show insisted that the National Super Alliance presidential candidate Raila Odinga was still ‘on the run’ in regard to the October 26 repeat presidential election.

What he meant to say was that despite having categorically stated he had withdrawn from the October 26 presidential election, Raila’s name was still on the ballot hence, technically, he was still in the race.

However, to be ‘on the run’ is to avoid arrest, possibly for some wrong doing. I am not sure Raila was avoiding arrest at the time, or even now. ‘In the running’ means to remain in contention as Kenyatta indicated he would for the presidency, regardless of the shenanigans by the opposition. ‘Out of the running’, on the other hand, means to pull out of a contest.

Colloquialism

Having examined metaphors and idiomatic expressions in previous columns, let’s now take a look at colloquialism.

This is a form of language that is informal; non-standard. Expressions like, ‘bug off’ (keep off), ‘go bananas’ (get mad) ‘gonna’ (going to) ‘Wanna’ (want to) “dunno” (I don’t know) are colloquialism.

These expressions are largely associated with American English that came into being circa 17th century when the British colonised America.

Notably, there are spelling differences between British and ‘Americanised’ English. While the British would write ‘labour’, ‘theatre’, ‘metre’, the Americans write ‘labor’, ‘theater’, ‘meter’.

The compiler of the Webster dictionary, Noah Webster, is accredited with this differences in spellings.

Both forms have taken root and are applicable. Most media houses, however, prefer the British version of the English language.

During commercial breaks, it has become common to hear television news anchors and program presenters say; ‘ I will be back in a bit, don’t go away’, By all accounts, ‘be back in a bit’ (‘be back in a little bit’), are informal expressions.These expressions have been around for a long time, and while its usage wouldn’t raise eyebrows or lead the listener to a wrong conclusion, good form demands that we avoid them in formal day to day communication.  Unnecessary brevity, and a peculiar type of laziness have in a way led to the distortion of the English language.

Brevity

One only needs to look at the type of abbreviated language commonly used in writing short text messages (sms) or in conversations on social media to appreciate the extent to which we are ‘Kenyanising’ English.

While colloquialism in informal communication among friends need not raise concern, outside this setting, it should be avoided. Because television is a generational interface, it would be more acceptable to say; `I will be back after a short while or I will be back in a few moments’.

In addition to that, another news anchor was heard saying “they have been given the green light to go ahead and prepare”.

To be given the green light simply means to be allowed to proceed with an undertaking. It is basically the same thing as being permitted to ‘go ahead’.

To use the two expressions in one sentence is to unnecessarily repeat oneself. Nevertheless, it should be appreciated that oratory is not a walk in the park. Quite a number of disadvantages come with it. A word, once uttered is not retrievable.

Neither can one edit the spoken. The best would be to offer an apology or make a clarification. It is therefore easy to single out a number of grammatical errors while listening to oral delivery, especially with the myriad televised political debates.

This is an intriguing aspect but I have noted that situations in which one has to express a lot in a short period of time, often under pressure while trying to recollect all the salient points of an argument are not good for coherence.

 It gets worse when tempers get frayed. On the other hand, writers have the leisure of editing their work in peace and at their own pace.

A writer who gets caught in too many errors is just lethargic, but you will still find some errors that a cursory glance cannot easily detect, like; John found himself in ‘unchartered waters’ instead of ‘uncharted waters’ and ‘police shooting at unharmed’ demonstrators instead of ‘unarmed’ demonstrators.

Mr Chagema is a correspondent at The [email protected]