CORRECT USAGE OF SOME COMMONLY ABUSED WORDS (3)

CORRECT USAGE OF SOME COMMONLY ABUSED WORDS (3)

          As mentioned last week, we will take Part 3 of our discussion on ‘Correct Usage of Some Commonly Abused Words’ in this edition.

11.  ELIGIBLE & ILLEGIBLE

Eligible is an adjective and it means qualified, suitable, appropriate or entitled.  The noun form of eligible is eligibility. 

Illegible is also an adjective and it means something impossible to read or very difficult to read or unreadable.

Examples:

(i)                Most universities in Nigeria require that candidates have credit grades in at least five subjects at the SSCE or GCE Ordinary level to be eligible for admission.  

(ii)             Electorate without voter’s cards are not eligible to vote.

(iii)           Foreigners who lack eligibility are not usually given residence permit in other countries.

(iv)           Some pre-nursery school pupils write illegibly at the beginning of their educational programmes.

(v)             Many lay-men view medical doctors’ handwritten prescriptions as illegible.

(vi)           Students are encouraged to write legibly as those whose writings are illegible, are more likely to fail in examinations.

12.  MIGRATE, EMIGRATE & IMMIGRATE

Migrate is a verb and it means to travel (especially in large numbers) to a new place to live temporarily.  The noun form of migrate is migration.   Both humans and animals (particularly birds) do migrate.  A person or animal that migrates is called a Migrant. 

Emigrate is a verb and it means to leave one country permanently and go to live in another one.   The noun form is emigration.   A person who emigrates is called an Emigrant.   In another vein, a person who had to leave his or her country permanently, to live in another country, for political reasons, is called an Émigré.

Immigrate is also a verb and it means to come to live in a different country permanently.  The noun form is immigration*.  A person who immigrates or who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently, is called an Immigrant.

          From the explanations above, we can understand that emigrate and immigrate are in opposite directions.  While the person who moves from his or her country to live in another country permanently emigrates, the person who has come into another country to live there permanently immigrates.

Examples:

(i)                Cattle egrets (lekeleke) are migrant birds which migrate to Southern Nigeria during the dry season.

(ii)             Countries with big farming estates usually attract migrant workers from other countries during harvesting periods.

(iii)           Many Africans emigrate out of their countries every year, sometimes going through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea.

(iv)           Our youths should be advised not to foolishly emigrate without counting the cost.

(v)             Do you know that President Barak Obama’s parents were immigrants in the United States of America?

(vi)           Through the visa lottery programme, Canada receives thousands of immigrants each year.

13.  DECEASE & DISEASE

Decease is a noun and a formal word which means a person’s death.  When someone is said to be deceased, it means the person is dead.   When talking of a situation in which a person or people have recently died, the term, the deceased,

is often used to refer to them.

          Disease is a noun and it refers to illness of people, animals or plants, caused by infection.  When someone is said to be diseased, it means such one is suffering from a disease.  The word, disease, is sometimes also used to refer to failure of health.   Figuratively, disease also refers to something that is considered very bad in people or society.

Examples:

(i)                Lady Umuto, the philanthropist, has donated her house to charity; but she would continue to live there until her decease.

(ii)             The Labour Office has requested for the files of deceased civil servants.

(iii)           Malaria is said to be a disease characteristic of the Tropical Region.

(iv)           The pale-looking dog is chronically diseased.

14.   IMPACT & IMPART

Impact is a noun and it refers to a powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person.   It also refers to the force or action of one object hitting another.

In American English, impact is also used as a verb, and in that regard, it means to have an influence on something.

          Impart is a verb, and it means to pass knowledge to someone or communicate information to someone, especially to enhance such one’s knowledge.  It also means to give something a particular feeling, quality or taste.

Examples:

(i)                The impact of the fall of crude oil price is now being felt on the Nigerian economy.

(ii)             The impact of the stone on the windscreen of the car was serious, as it caused total shattering.

(iii)           The Holy Bible tells us that the Apostle Paul imparted scriptural knowledge to Timothy, who was his close companion.

(iv)           Parents have the primary responsibility of imparting morals and ethics to their children, right from infancy.

 

* Immigration is also used to mean both the place and the process of examining people’s (especially foreigners’) passports, visas and other documents to make certain that they can be allowed to enter a particular country.  Thus, we have Immigration Office, Immigration Officers, Immigration Papers, etc.