Article archive :: Language Clinic

round up/round off

24/09/2013 11:15

Round up means: 1. gather people together: to gather people or animals together in one place 2. increase number when rounding it: to express a number as a larger, less exact, but more manageable number for ease of calculation e.g. The police rounded up the...

"bogus" does not mean "big"

19/09/2013 10:57

Bogus as an adjective means something/someone fake or deceitful. It also refers to something/someone bad or useless. The word does not have anything to do with being big.

participate

14/09/2013 11:20

All the syllables in the word "participate" are meant to be well enunciated when using it: par-TI-ci-pate not par-tic-pate as most people pronounce it. As is evident, the word "participate" has four syllables not three.

Salon/Saloon

10/09/2013 13:38

One of the definitions of salon is a place for hairdressing or beauty treatments: a commercial establishment where hairdressers or beauticians work, sometimes part of a larger store or a hotel. A saloon is a drinking place: a commercial establishment serving alcoholic drinks to the...

outright/outrightly

02/09/2013 08:30

The word 'outright' works both as an adjective (complete) and as an adverb (completely). There is no word like 'outrightly' in English.

Close Up/Toothpaste

12/08/2013 11:04

Every type of toothpaste is called Close Up in Nigeria. Whereas, a toothpaste is any paste brushed onto the teeth to clean them and protect them from decay. So, Close Up is just one of the pastes. Others are Maxma, Dabur, Sensodine, Oral B, MyMy and Colgate etc.

gigantic

26/07/2013 14:10

The 'g' in the word 'gigantic' is pronounced as that in 'gun'.

To be beaten by rain

26/07/2013 08:45

Grammatically, you cannot be beaten by the rain. The suitable word here is "drench". You say "I am drenched in rain" when you happen to be outside when it is raining. You can also say you are "soaked" but not "beaten" by the rain. Check this: I got absolutely drenched in the rain NOT I got...

"tout" does not refer to thuggery

12/07/2013 12:19

A tout is an aggressive salesperson among its other meanings. The word does not in any way have anything to do with thuggery or vandalism. A tout is not a thug.

in the end/at the end

17/06/2013 15:19

"In the end = finally, after a long time: In the end, I got a visa for Russia. At the end = at the point where something stops: I think the film’s a bit weak at the end.

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