Here is another sentence
construction that
many regular writers
and the casual ones
indulge in, “What the
future holds in stock for our youths?”
Against the backdrop of uncoordi-
nated policies or lack of it by the gov-
ernment to put in place a scheme that
would see the youths perform better
in their chosen careers. Unfortunately
that is the way many of us speak and
write. To put it correctly, we take
stock of inventory in our offices or
shops where articles, furniture, other
home appliances and consumable
items are kept as point of sale for
the buyer. We also take stock of our
performance.
The mix up never ceases because
we lack the capacity either by design
or sheer ignorance to differentiate
between the nouns, ‘Sock’ which
implies, according to the Oxford dic-
tionary of current English definition,
supply of goods or materials available
for sale, to stock up something, and
‘Store’ that houses or holds equip-
ment, foods and different types of
goods. We can also talk of storehouse,
a building used for storing goods.
To vividly paint our arguments and
opinions to the listening and reading
audience, we borrow heavily from the
concrete things we see around us or
turn to the abstract rather than phys-
ical things to elicit action or rouse
curiosity, as I noted in my earlier
English lessons. The onus, as lawyers
would tell us, lies on the individual to
use these physical things and abstract
ideas to paint the correct picture or
tell our story better and to the under-
standing of the masses we intend to
educate, inform and entertain.
So, the statement “What the future
holds in stock…” as I hear the majori-
ty of people speak or read in the pages
of newspapers is incorrect, instead
prefers and correctly write and speak,
“What the future holds in store for
our youths.”
The ‘store’ in this context, meta-
phorically speaking, paints a clearer
picture of a house, shop or a build-
ing where goods or materials are
stocked or piled up for sale and that is
exactly what we are referring to here
or meant to say or portray. We can
therefore correctly write and speak,
“What the future holds in store for
us or for our generations yet unborn
can only be determined by our action
or inaction towards building a better
and enduring society.” Keep off the
wrong expression, “What the future
holds in stock…” It is unacceptable
and smacks of mental laziness.
Still, we can now dovetail to another
set of weak, wordy and redundant
phrases that adorn our newspaper
pages and fill the airwaves severally.
Three of such statements stand out
here. “Examine critically,” “The way
in which,” and “In the same way as.”
Most of us never stop writing, “Ex-
amine critically,” when we can simply
write, ‘Examine,’ ‘Study’ a situation
or events as they unfold. As I did ob-
serve before now, we tend to burden
our write ups with those extra lug-
gages that tend to slow us down. We
can do without them and still make
our feelings known in one functional
word. The verb, ‘Examine’ can stand
alone without the attachment and
adverb, ‘critically.’ The three syllable
word, ‘Examine,’ or two syllable word,
‘Study’ would do and sounds simpler
and stronger.
Another phrase that suggests
long-windedness, “The way in which,”
can be cut down to the livelier, but
just one word, ‘How,’ simply describes
in what way and by what means we
carry out our activities or perform
our duties.
“In the same way as,” expres-
sion, still in the group of stale and
redundant words, thrills us that
much. But we can sound better if we
speak and write “Such as,” and leave
out “In the same way as.” Always
be guided by the popular axiom,
KISS-keep it short and simple, the
golden rule religiously observed
in the newsroom by the editor, the
journalist or the reporter if we must
be understood and avoid ambiguity.
You can now get the e-Book version of
English for Communicators: Pitfalls and
Blind Spots on www.englishforcom-
municators.com click on book store and
download. Also available on Amazon.
com KDP and on Kobo click on mike echi
account and download.
