King Ifey's Blog

Good morning KIB students. I have to constantly remind you all on Facebook that I have a blog where 50% of the classes I have conducted here on Facebook are documented. You will benefit a lot from it. Without further ado, let us get down to brass tacks. There are two expressions that we usually don't say properly. Live and lets live❌ Live and let live✔ I ran for my dear life❌ I ran for my life✔ or I ran for dear life✔ Regina swam for her dear life when the shark closed in on her.❌ Regina swam for dear life when the sharks closed in on her.✔ Regina swam for her life when the sharks closed in on her✔ These are very little mistakes we usually make when writing on Facebook or speaking to people. Honestly speaking, no one is above mistakes but we all strive to be perfect. I have two mistakes I have been battling to correct for 4 months now. I know the right thing to say, but I tend to use the wrong one first then I woulf immediately realise what I did and feel embarrasse

Okay guys. it is weekend and you ought to be relaxing right now. Some of you will head to their 'stomping ground'  to hang out with friends they met here on Facebook. Actually, I will do so this evening but not at my stomping ground. I don't have any yet in PHCity.😃😃 Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks. ( don't tell me this expression is clichéd.  it is my signature guys😃 So let me teach you expressions for card games and how these expressions have become acceptable idioms. Starting out with a deck/ pack of cards. Americans say 'deck of cards' while Britons say 'pack of cards'. So,  when I get a pack of cards, I deal  three persons in. Note: Deal somebody in means to include them in a card game. but it can also mean to include someone in something other than card game. for example.  He wants to be involved in the business, so I will deal him in. If you are interested in @King Ifey Academy, then contact me and I will deal you in.😉 So,

Good morning KIB students. Thank you for showing immense love to your teacher. Many of you understand how draining it could be for someone to consistently post here on Facebook. I appreciate those who ensure that my bank account doesn't  get flooded with cockroaches😃. Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks. What is a waybill? a waybill is a list that contains  names of people and goods to be conveyed from one location to another. It is that book where you write your name before entering a bus. There is an air waybill, sea waybill etc. Waybill cannot be verbalised. I want to waybill some goods to you❌ If you are looking for a verb to replace  the erroneous 'waybill', here are two genuinely accepted words to use. 1. Freight (verb) transport (goods) in bulk by truck, train, ship, or aircraft. "the metals had been freighted from the city". We freighted the cargo down to Port Harcourt. freight is used when  goods are quite bulky. When goods are less

Good morning KIB students. if you are new and you are following my  daily posts but not really on my friend list, please comment  on this post and I will accept you. KIB means King Ifey's Blog. If you are learning, then you are already a member here.😉😉 Alright guys, Let's get down to brass tacks. Reverse,  rewind and reply. These three words  have a particular direction which is-- going back. I reversed and sped off✔ I reversed back and sped off❌ I sent a letter, he hasn't replied✔ I sent a letter, he hasn't replied. I rewound the film  to that scene✔ I rewound the film back to that scene.❌ 'Plate number' may sound like it's very correct to everyone, but the right statement is ' number plate' Cattle rearer? That is not how Englishmen call it. They call them headsmen, cattlemen, herders    or cattle herders, ranchers (used on someone who rears these animals while they are in a ranch). So, use the English terms. I know we all know the

You are welcome to class my beautiful KIB students. Before  I give you today's scoop let me quickly point out something. This class is solely British.  When I make an analogy and tell you that this is what should be said in British English,  please don't get me wrong. A go-slow is the same thing as a snarl-up or a traffic  jam, but 'go-slow' is recognized as  West African English and it is not British. Let's get down to brass tack my friends. A mall or shopping mall is very much the American version of the British 'Shopping Centres'. So,  if you are a proponent of British English,  you will have to keep changing these words to the right British words and expressions. Spa and Shoprite are all mostly called shopping centres in the UK and mall in the US. Those canned  foods you buy for yourself like chocolate, milk,  margarine,  titus,  tin tomatoes and those in sachets are usually not called provisions when  you are buying them to keep at home and go b

Good morning KIB students. Since we love drama,  I  have decided to also teach through drama. Let's get down to brass tacks. Nne and Ada. Nne: How do you do, Ada. Ada: (smiles) How do you do,  Nne. Nne: I am fine my dear except I did not have a good night rest. Ada: um, Nne,  I didn't enquire about your wellbeing. Nne: But you asked how I was doing. Ada: I was just replying the greeting.  The expression isn't about you telling us about your health. It is a formal greeting for people who are just meeting for the first time.  Anyway,  I hope you have  recuperated from that sickness. Nne: Yes, Ada: oh so your doctor has given you a clean  bill of health? Nne: bill kwa?  He didn't give us any bill. Ada: (shakes her head in disappointment ) honey,  If you have been given a clean bill of health,  it means your doctor has certified that you are healthy Nne: oh that.  Yes,  I have a clean bill of health. Ada: So now that you are better,  will you attend King Ifey

Today's class will be absolutely lit. Good morning KIB students. You are welcome to class. Today, we shall look at animals and what their flesh could be called. Let us start with chicken. Chicken is the general layman's term for the species Gallusgallus domesticus. (domesticated fowl). The meat gotten from chicken is most specifically called  chicken too. In some cases, the meat of chicken can be correctly called fowl or poultry. Fowl ,according to Oxford  dictionary, is the flesh of domesticated birds as food; poultry. It means that the flesh of turkey, goose, duck etc can be called fowl. "a stew of various meats and fowl". Fowl isn't just a chicken. A Fowl can also be a turkey or a goose(plural: geese). A hen is a female chicken. A cock is a male chicken. In American English , a cock is also called a rooster. A young male chicken is called a cockerel . A castrated male chicken is called a 'capon'. Some native speakers believe that any meat

#ComeToClassWithKingIfey #WrongEnglishWeSpeak #Bath Nigerian English is good. We can advocate for it to be recognised anywhere around the world. My class is for people who want to learn British English and American English. An expression that is wrong in American English might be right in British English and Vice versa. It is common for Nigerians to say I want to have my bath. Have you had your bath? It is common for Americans to say. I want to take a bath. Have you taken a bath? It is common for British people to say I want to have a bath. Have you had a bath. Whatever you feel comfortable with...good for you. If pidgin English is the best, then say. I won baff...period and full stop. Finally. Sachet is pronounced as SAshei .  With a silent 't'. Alright? Say...sachet water. Genre is pronounced ZHONra or JONra Zh represents the consonant in viSion. O represents the vowel in (not) a represents the schwa sound. J as in Jug. ( btw, u peepuu dinor use to shia

If your teacher had taught you that  'raise your hand' is wrong,  just know that you have been wrongly schooled. You can say 'raise your hand'  or 'put up your hand'.  Meanwhile,  'raise your hand' is more frequently used. 'raise up your hand' is tautology . "Have you seen a movie? " The 'see' here implies having sat in a Theatre/cinema to watch a movie.  It is still correct to say one watched a video.  I mean,  who were these people who began teaching these wrong English expressions.  Bogus doesn't mean 'oversized' rather it simply means 'untrue' By the way...  'Extreme end' and 'extreme limit' are correct expressions. They are boldly written in the dictionary.  Ask Professor Joy Eyisi,  she will tell you that these expressions are  proper English expressions. Those of you that are keen on correcting me, please do.  I am here to learn as well.  That's why I have you here. I love

Today's class will be quite snappy because I need to go take a cup of tea with the Duke of Edinburgh. *winks* So,  let's get down to brass tacks. Maneuver(used by Americans) is spelt  #MANOEUVRE  by Britons. So,  Nigerians,   I guess you know your spelling now. We do everything British... LOL It is not pronounced as  (manova) neither is it pronounced as (manovre). It is correctly pronounced as (ma'nu:va) where 'a' represents the schwa sound. / məˈnuːvə/ Yesterday,  as I read my news,  I saw 'quit notice'. After I finished reading that part,  I felt mortified.  I felt like I made a big mistake. I thought it was a typographical error . Early this morning,  I saw Bolaji Oke post.  It reads "Nigerians,  it is not quick notice,  rather it is #QUIT NOTICE. I flew to Google. I surfed  and couldn't find 'Quick notice '. I guess you probably know this along time ago.  Anyway,  we all live to learn. I learnt the correct one just this mornin

Your toilet that uses water  is actually not called a 'water cistern'. Here is why. Water cistern or cistern is  a reservoir for water in the house.  They supply water to  bathrooms and kitchens. Usually, here in Nigeria, most people  call water cistern over-head tank. The toilet in your house is called a flush toilet. It means water is used to flush wastes from it. When it is a toilet you can sit on,  it is appropriately called 'western toilet' Also,  those toilets can be called 'water cistern toilets' and not 'water cistern'. You call them water cistern toilets when a conduit supplies water to the flush toilets through a cistern. People don't go about defecating in water cisterns. LOL. Water closet is the outdated name for a flush toilet. Just like prostitute is the outdated name for a whore. The class is done and dusted. Toodles

Listen! Oh I forgot I meant to say Read! Now, guys, this is absolutely important. Sometimes we neglect learning the usage of verbs and their collocations with prepositions. These mistakes can make you say something bad to someone without you knowing you have actually done so. Let's look at this short drama. Mary: Mum, my friend Ada wants to leave now. Let me see her off to the gate. Mum: okay sweetheart. Be back soon. Mary: yes mum. Ada:  did you know you just told your mum that you are forcing me to leave the house by chasing me away to the gate? Mary: hey gawd, how do you mean please? I wanted to say that I am accompanying you to the gate to bid you farewell . Ada: if that is the case, then you are actually seeing me out. 'See out' means to go to the door or gate with someone to say goodbye to then when they leave. Mary: really? What have I been speaking bikonu. But I hear native speakers use 'see off' in a context that doesn't mean 'to force

Good morning KIB students. I hope you all had a good night rest?😏😏 Well, let me start by saying that 'some certain' is unobtainable in English language. I have already mentioned that there are tautologies that have made it to dictionary and have become generally accepted. e.g plenty big enough, extreme end, extreme limit, little bit, tad bit etc. For more information on this, please check out some older classes. Right here. Also, I am not the originator of brass tacks and 'done and dusted'. No I am not😂. I may have helped a lot of you out with these expressions. I feel happy when I look at my news feed on Facebook with these expressions about to drown me. Alright, enough of all the talk. Soon somebody will say Ifey is talkative. He can talk the hind legs off a donkey.😂 So, let's get down to brass tacks. I will take a look at the simplest verb that makes many learned men sound so  unintelligent. Do you know the word? Yes. It is the word 'do'. Do,

We are starting on a clean slate  today guys. Good morning KIB students. I don't need to ask how the weekends were for all of us. Gory images everywhere on social media, but we shall get through that. Your Tisha cannot even be controversial for one second...LOL. I saw people I have never seen before break out of their cocoon to come shut me up for posting somebody's ideology about 'secession'. Then again, the use of 'oneness'  on August 6th ,2017 was seen as hideous as it derogatorily  connotes 'the half of a yellow sun'. My apologies to the students who felt bitter about that. The post was was ill-timed and that made people interpret it as 'immature'. So let's get down to brass tacks. Contractions. Yes, contractions. Why do we fail to use these contractions well? I am is reduced to I'm . Those who use 'am' should stop using it. 'Am' cannot stand on its own. If it can, then 'is' and 'are' can. Thos

How was your night? When do you use this expression?☝🏿 The aforementioned expression is not wrong at all. It is obtainable in all English dialects, but the truth is, they have various contextual meanings in these dialects. Native English speakers can ask these following questions a. How was your day b. How was your weekend c. How was your evening d. How did your Christmas go? Etc. When someone asks you these questions, he expects you tell him the activities that happened during the period mentioned. In the same vein, when a native English speaker asks ' how was your night?' . He obviously knows  you didn't sleep at all and he isn't asking if you had a good night rest. Maybe you went to club at night or a night party or vigil or you work at night. People can enquire about your night. Maybe you are a student, and you read all through the night, I can ask you. Dear, how was your night? You can reply ..'I spent it burning the midnight candle". So, i

How was your night? When do you use this expression?☝🏿 The aforementioned expression is not wrong at all. It is obtainable in all English dialects, but the truth is, they have various contextual meanings in these dialects. Native English speakers can ask these following questions a. How was your day b. How was your weekend c. How was your evening d. How did your Christmas go? Etc. When someone asks you these questions, he expects you tell him the activities that happened during the period mentioned. In the same vein, when a native English speaker asks ' how was your night?' . He obviously knows  you didn't sleep at all and he isn't asking if you had a good night rest. Maybe you went to club at night or a night party or vigil or you work at night. People can enquire about your night. Maybe you are a student, and you read all through the night, I can ask you. Dear, how was your night? You can reply ..'I spent it burning the midnight candle". So, i

Good morning KIB students. Let's get down to brass tacks people. 1. You don't write exams except you are the examiner. The person  being examined,  sits for exam or takes an exam. It is wrong to say 'I wrote Waec  in 2004' rather you say 'I sat for waec in 2004' or 'I took Waec in 2004'.  'sat for' is used in Britain while 'take'  is used in the US. 2. 'Where did you school' is wrong. 'I school at Uniport' is also wrong. To school (verb) means to educate,  to teach.e.g of its usage.  a. I am  being schooled on  Facebook by a radio personality, King Ifey. b. You will be properly schooled on the use of English at King Ifey Academy. c. I just got a job to school people at Uniport. (you have become a lecturer). When  someone says he schools at a particular school.  I feel like he is saying he teaches there. You can say. I attend Uniport. I study at Unizik.  i am getting/being schooled at Unilag. In case you are asking

Good morning KIB students. I think today is the best day to discuss this issue which hugely affects Yoruba people. If you are Yoruba,  you may have heard the 'H factor'. I cannot understand why it happens mostly to Yoruba people.  Whenever an 'H' is necessary at the beginning of a word,   they usually omit it. Whenever a word is meant to start without an 'H' letter, that is when you see 'H' in all its glory. These issues aren't something hard to work on. Yes they are not hard at all. You know why?  Because you can pronounce the  'H'. The problem with most Yoruba people is just 'misplacement of the /h/ sound. I understand this struggle because before I turned 13, I didn't know three sounds at all.  I didn't know /r/ , /ch/ and  /dzh/ or (J) sounds.  I always replaced them with /l/, /sh/ and /zh/ respectively.  It took me months to conquer it and it is taking me forever to maintain it. So today, I will help you with the H fa

I love all the new students in my class. You guys are awesome by the way. 😀😀 Today. I want to give you a better expression for saying that 'you know something very well'. #Offhead? There is nothing like offhead. 'I know it off head' is wrong. #Offhand? What does offhand mean? It mean without previous thought or consideration. Just like saying 'on the spur of moment' , 'immediately', 'spontaneously'. So, do you just know something offhand? No...not at all. You can say something offhand, do anything offhand but then it seems weird to say ' I know the answer offhand'. It is normal 'to say the answer offhand'. Do you get my drift? People don't know anything spontaneously, rather, they  say what they already know, spontaneously. Now to the final expression #HaveSomethingOffPat? It means to know something or be able to do something perfectly; be perfect master of something . So rather than say, I know it offha

Good morning beautiful earthlings. I've got another surprise for you today.  If you think that the grammatical blunders we are used to here in Nigeria are finished,  think again. I haven't even gone half way yet.  And as the days go by,  I always stumble upon something I never knew before. Yesterday I wrote  my 4th poem centred  on Child abuse and rape.  It's obvious  many people aren't keen at understanding poetry.  The truth is,  that's where people get to express themselves more with  tons of imageries and metaphors. I may start a class soon where we can discuss literary devices for literary appreciation. Devices  that can give you poetry and your prose the soul that it needs. Anyway,  without further ado, lets get down  to brass tacks. You don't  say I don't take him serious Say I don't take him seriously. Serious is an adjective while seriously is an adverb. The use of 'not quite long'  to show the brevity of time is wrong. 1. It