TwoCents | DITTO - by Queensley Okon

Last weekend was an amazing one for me as I had a great time at Deeper, a program organized by Celebration Church every year and boy, was it wonderful One extraordinary thing for me was one part of the preachings of Pastor Emmanuel Iren where he examined how people love to complicate religion by the use of big words, maybe to sound sophisticated or whatever and that is what inspired this post So today, we would look at words that really don't mean what you think they do.1. BOGUS This was the word Pastor Iren had mentioned and everyone burst out laughing but the reality is the same everywhere. For the longest time, it was pushed that bogus means "big, enormous" and till tomorrow, I don't understand how it was a generally accepted term. I was always mixed because the term was used for "fake" and "big" and I never researched why. For those who are unclear, bogus means fake or fraudulent, so correct your diction today.2. ANTICIPATE I'm sure you are just confused but stay with me When you use the word anticipate, you are saying, you are preparing ahead or looking forward to. It means you already know your destination or at least have an idea. It is not wishful thinking like we have always used it in some contexts. For example: I employed new methods in anticipation of increased sales A wrong example would be : I anticipate an attendance of eighty people. At this point, you are guessing or estimating, you really don't know how many people would come and there is no preparation following it. So, you could have correctly said : I estimate an attendance of 80 people at most.3. DEFECTIVE Defective is mostly left for inanimate objects. You cannot call a human being defective but deficient, that is, the person lacks basic skills you need. A defective machine lacks basic important components. 4. ARBITRATE When using arbitration, you are imbibing neutrality. Since it is mostly used in conflict solutions or legal cases, that would be our focus An arbitrator makes a final decision which every party involved has to accept. This party is usually neutral and often well- respected But people mostly mistake arbitration and mediation In mediation, it entails there is a middle man, who is trying to make both sides see the clearer picture. This person or people mostly do a lot of negotiation and there is no telling where the decision would end 5. GERMANE I think people who just love the English language tend to test the extent to which they can get away with a lot of things and that happens with this word Germane means something interesting but not critical to a discussion. Like a discussion about marketing strategy which veers into the next staff retreat. The retreat is germane but at that point, isn't adding anything to the marketing discussion. 6. LITERALLY Gen Z people have twisted this word so much so it lacks substance when used. Literally is used when you want to speak of something without using figures of speech. In simple terms, it means "actually" So, when you are mouthing off and yelling, "I literally just told him to do it", please know that you are speaking gibberish. Thank you sir and ma Gen Z7. WAIVER/WAVER Well, maybe it is the "I" but I wonder why this mistake occurs. A waiver is giving up a right to make a claim on something To waver means to hesitate or hold back You sign a waiver but you can also waver in signing Do you see the difference? One is a document, another is an emotional response. I would let you digest these now, because more would be coming. I hope you learnt something today? Tell me which one surprised you

Other insights from Queensley Okon