I
gnorance, they say is not an ex-
cuse, particularly for the adult
and grownup who should know
or find out what is obtainable in
certain environment bordering
on the culture and norms of the peo-
ple in order not to get entangled or fall
victim of the law and be castrated or
rusticated.
Still on stale expressions, “Blueprint”
a noun, ordinarily is defined as a de-
sign plan or other technical drawing
or something which acts as a plan or
model. As in several cases, the English
language borrows or relies heavily on
concrete examples of the physical and
abstract things to heighten emotions or
appeal to our consciences to act. So, of-
ten times as writers we fall back on fig-
ures of speech, anecdotes, metaphors,
similes and imaginative language to
vividly tell our stories or voice our
opinions and ideas.
In whatever manner or form we want
to express our selves we should not for-
get that some of these figures of speech
have been spent over time and there
for are no longer useful in the present
circumstance. As I stated in my open-
ing paragraph, we should avail our
selves of the changes by reading wide
and be favourably disposed to learn
new phrases and words that may keep
evolving from time to time.
As we noted previously, the Shake-
spearian era came and gone with its
style of English just as the Elizabethan
and Victorian period also had their
own kind of English. The twenty-first
century English, on the other hand, we
considers as modern era is straight-
forward and unambiguous. Current
English is mass audience tailored, espe-
cially for those who English is second
language such as Nigeria and other An-
glophone countries.
“Blueprint” is among the family of
fanciful words that crops up when we
intend to write forcefully and imag-
inatively to send the right signal and
create that atmosphere of believability.
But note that “blueprint” is a stale word
that should be avoided like a conta-
gious plague. In its place, “Programme”
or “Scheme” should be preferred. For
instance, one can correctly write, “The
federal government has come out
with a ‘programme’ or ‘scheme’ that
would reduce to the barest minimum
if not totally eradicate poverty at the
grassroots.” One will miss the point
to stick to the stale expression, “The
federal government has come out with
a ‘blueprint’ that would reduce to the
barest minimum if not totally eradicate
poverty at the grassroots.” When next
you write prefer the modern usage of
the word “programme” or “scheme” to
replace “blueprint” now taken as an ex-
pired, weak and stale word.
Surprisingly though, many writers,
journalists and reporters don’t still un-
derstand where to draw the line as they
indiscriminately deploys the phrases,
as it suit them, “man in the street” and
“man on the street.” I watch helplessly
and in total disgusts the confusion that
often trails these commonly used state-
ments on radio, television and newspa-
pers on hourly and daily basis.
Perhaps as a reminder, and for the
umpteenth time, the phrase, “man in
the street” means common people, the
dreg of the society including you and
me who lacks the capacity to positively
influence, in concrete terms, the shape
government affairs should take. Here
the majority may have their say but
the minority who has direct access to
our commonwealth would always have
their way. Unless by divine providence
or stroke of luck and that God butters
one’s bread, in the lay man’s language,
the man in the street is permanently
condemned to the rung of the ladder,
what others call the nadir.
When we speak or write about the
“man in the street” we are referring to
the homeless, beggars and people liv-
ing on the street because they have no
place to call home except on the open
streets and under bridges and flyovers
or stay in some obscured corners of
the city. This set of people depends
largely on handouts and the goodwill
of kind hearted individuals to survive
the pang of hunger and the cold night.
Remember to get the reinvented soft
copy of your e-Book English for Com-
municators: Pitfalls and Blind Spots
on www.englishforcommunicators.
com click on book store and down-
load or go to Amazon.com KDP or on
Kobo click on mike echi account and
download.
