Burglar proof and burglary
proof, though one is wrong,
are twin statements that con-
fuse the majority of people
whenever they attempt to engage the
right expression to tell the story of
thieves breaking illegally into a house
to steal its contents. Burglar, a noun,
is associated with a person who com-
mits burglary by entering a building
illegally to steal and if caught he or
she faces the penalty squarely. It rang-
es from short or long term imprison-
ment, community work (service) or
both. Our concern here is however the
misuse of the phrase at any point in
time we want to report the incidence
of stealing or robbery to the listening
or reading audience.
Severally I hear people speak and
write “but for the ‘burglary proof ’ the
thieves would have gained entrance
into my neighbour’s apartment.” You
will be wrong if you are one among
those who speak and write ‘burgla-
ry proof ’ when telling or reporting
the incident of thieves breaking into
someone’s house with intent to steal or
dispossess him of his property. Burglar
proof (not burglary proof,) no doubt,
is the corrugated iron shaped into al-
ternate ridges or forms by the iron
bender or craft man to shield our win-
dows and doors to ward off intruders
and to protect lives and properties.
The right usage of the expression
‘burglar proof ’ should no longer be
confused with ‘burglary proof ’ which
the purists and masters frown at, in-
sisting that it is un-English. So, when
you are reporting about thieves force-
fully entering someone’s building with
the aim of stealing, which is a criminal
offence, ‘burglary proof ’ isn’t it but
‘burglar proof ’ is the correct usage.
You can comfortably report that “the
night marauders broke loose the ‘bur-
glar proof ’ of Mr. XYZ at dawn to steal
his property having discovered that
neither he nor his house boy was in
the house to prevent them from gain-
ing entrance into his apartment.”
Don’t write or speak “the night ma-
rauders broke loose the ‘burglary
proof ’ of Mr. XYZ at dawn to steal his
property having discovered that neither
he nor his house boy was in the house
to prevent them from gaining entrance
into his apartment.” It is unacceptable
and constitutes an abuse and misuse of
the language.
Again, we remind ourselves of the fol-
lowing overused expressions that should
be ignored or dumped in the trash can
and in its place prefer these other ones;
‘a lot’ has become blunt expression that is
no longer exciting because it has come in
contact with many people. Instead write
and speak ‘legions, several, more, many,
a number of persons or things.’ That way
you rest ‘a lot’ which the English purists
see as over laboured phrase that should
henceforth take the back seat.
The ‘actually’ statement has become
roundly abused and overburdened over
time that it has lost its value and should
be spared for the fresher or better ex-
pressions such as ‘the truth is, in fact or
indeed’ at any given time we attempt to
recall and emphasize an earlier statement
or point made. We don’t speak or write
‘advocate for’ rather we say ‘advocate’
when we report that an interest group or
people of like minds or a person of great
standing in the society pushed forward
an idea that can help society overcome
certain ills or advance a particular course
of action. This is even more so when
writing the headlines of a story or news
item. For example, “Teachers in Lagos
state ‘advocate’ better pay for its mem-
bers.” Not “Teachers in Lagos state ‘advo-
cate for’ better pay for its members.
Similarly, the phrase ‘canvass or can-
vasses for’ is wrong talking about chang-
ing the present situation of things for the
better. Rather go for ‘canvass or canvass-
es’ which is the right thing to say in that
situation. One can therefore correctly
write and speak “Former Super Eagles
player, Austin Okpara ‘canvasses’ befit-
ting treatment for retired players of the
national team.” Don’t say “Former Super
Eagles player, Austin Okpara ‘canvasses
for’ befitting treatment for retired players
of the national team.”
Do remember to download the e-Book
English for Communicators: Pitfalls and
Blind Spots direct. Here is the link to the
book store: https//www.englishforcom-
municators.com/book-store/ You can
also connect the link to your facebook,
twitter and Google Chrome. Or go to
Amazon.com KDP and on Kobo click
on mike echi account and download.
