The creative or casual writer has a way of piling up words or adjectives to create that vivid impression or picture on the minds of his or her audiences. They come in different forms and styles that it takes more than a cursory look to get the right words or phrases in their proper places to be understood and avoid ambiguity. For the beginner and even for the experienced writer, it is always advisable to double check, never to be in a hurry and ensure that whatever information you are sending out are rigorously scrutinized, and if possible, give it to some other person to go through.
Who knows there might be serious errors in the grammar, facts and even spelling mistakes he or she will help you correct. After all the old maxim, two heads are better than one tells it all. And so, the expressions “Per Excellence,” wrong though, and “Par Excellence” competes side by side, if what I see and hear at regular intervals are anything to go by. Or that many people, as is often the case, assume that the prefix “Per” or “Par” mean the same thing and so can be used interchangeably at the convenience of the writer? How wrong you are to think that way! As I said earlier (not like I said), never take things for granted in the spoken and written words.
One of the commonest riot acts read to the journalist and the reporter goes something like this: when you are in doubt of any particular word or phrase you intend to use while filling in your report strike it out and go for the synonym that could best express your thoughts. As we say in the newsroom, time is of essence. You must meet or beat the deadline in reporting events that are timely. To understand properly the noun “par” and preposition “per,” and the usage in expressing our opinions, let’s look at it from the definition of the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary to enable us recognize the word and the context in which to use them to avoid the mix up that exposes our ignorance of the language.
We can correct these mistakes if we make extra efforts, and above all, painstakingly glance through the plenty of reference materials at our disposal. For example, the English Thesaurus, the dictionary, Daniel Jones (on pronunciation), the Encyclopedia among others, comes handy if we must get it right and avoid making, what I call silly mistakes. The prefix “Par,” quoting the dictionary, could mean a normal level of standard in commerce-par of exchange. We are however, concerned with the second definition-above par, at a premium, something more than normal value.
So, we can correctly write or speak of “par excellence” when describing someone who has attained certain feat beyond the normal. Simply put, it is a tag often associated with one’s outstanding performance in office or professional calling. One will correctly write or speak of “Pa Dominic is a musicologist par excellence.” In other words, Pa Dominic has performed above board with exceptional qualities. Conversely, the preposition “Per” is defined by the dictionary to mean out of every (something), two per thousand, sixty kilometres per hour, as per this or as per that. “According to,” “as per usual” are also permissible construction.
One will also be right to speak or write “The truck travelled at 60 kilometres per hour on the Lagos-Ibadan Express way.” Now that you know avoid the mix up between the preposition “per” and the noun “par.” They mean different things. You can now download the ebooks, Reporting for Radio and Television: A Pratical Guide, English for Communicators: Pitfalls and Blind Spots, The General Overseer-god In The Holy Temple. Click here pay and download: https://paystack.com/pay/ efcbook, https://paystack.com/pay/ eminemcom, https://paystack.com/ pay/over
