Often, the majority of people gloss over certain statements that could best be described as an aberration by the English purists, or at best display what I call I don’t care a hoot concerning the spoken and written word. Tell them from now till heavens knows when, that they are spreading toxin in the bid to sound impressive and they would ignore all entreaties and do as they like. To them, or the non-conformists, the rules binding the use of the language can arbitrarily be flouted or abused without remorse or given a second thought. But we all know that they can’t convince or fool those who are well grounded in the spoken or written English. In other words, those who care take pains to double check their grammar if they are wrong or right, even contextually, or otherwise. Such expressions that have been roundly abused, one of them stands out and that is the reason I choose to give it the urgent treatment it deserves to dissuade the writer or speaker nursing the idea of engaging it to tarry a while and use the correct statement.
The almighty un-English phrase, that cannot even be found in a standard dictionary, or approved reference books, is the much harassed and abused local coinage, and given legitimacy by the local pastor, ‘upliftment.’ The masters of the language have out rightly refused to shift grounds, insisting that the bastardisation and flagrant abuse of the language should be resisted by all means. That is why they are never tired of pointing out mistakes and inconsistencies that often trail the widely spoken language. Again, I would go a step further to explain or give detail about the correct usage of the phrase to convince the doubting Thomas, and may be educate the masses that are still yet to correctly engage the expression ‘uplift,’ or ‘uplifting.’
They would rather fall into the temptation of copying, wrongly though, their local pastor who under the influence of the holy spirit, as some of them claim, would spit out ‘upliftment’ to mean the uncommon blessing that would come the way of the miracle seeking persons, who are favourably disposed to experience it. The statement ‘uplift,’ just as some of the reference materials consulted explained it, is a transitive verb that also possesses the past and past participle, ‘uplifted,’ while the present participle is ‘uplifting.’ ‘Uplifts,’ the dictionary further said is the third person present singular. To break it down still for our understanding, the verb ‘uplift’ is to spiritually lift somebody; to help somebody attain a higher intellectual, moral, or spiritual level, or improve the living conditions of somebody, the dictionary explained.
There is nothing wrong for the pastor to spiritually uplift someone through prayers and counselling. Spiritual uplift or uplifting is the correct usage. Spiritual upliftment is incorrect and should therefore be dropped. It amounts to abuse and misuse of the language if one insist on recycling it. Staying with the verb ‘uplift,’ aside from raising somebody’s spirit or make somebody feel happier, it can also mean to physically lift something or object. Also to increase; an increase in the value or amount of something. Having explained in detail the word ‘uplift’ and how one can employ it to send the right message to the reading or listening audience, I don’t expect the mistake and home grown English, upliftment to take the place of the present participle, ‘uplifting,’ accepted as the standard English. Similarly, the expression ‘parley,’ commonly used by the journalists and the reporters these days has also suffered from abuse and misuse. ‘Parley’ is not just any discussion, the masters and purists of the language insist. Properly speaking, ‘parley’ is a discussion of terms in dispute with an enemy or opponent. To now write or speak, for example, ‘in a parley with the Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture,’ the journalist is sending the wrong message, implying that the Commissioner had a discussion with an enemy. One can correctly write or speak, ‘in an interview with the Lagos State Commissioner of Agriculture…
