MY NAME IS vs MY NAMES ARE

|Sometimes ago I did something regarding congratulating newly married couple, that's because I realised that many people make lots of mistakes confidently without having to realise that they are making huge blunder! The problem is that, some stars (celebrities) also make use of these wrong grammatical structures or syntax, but for the fact that it's coming from them, we tend to believe that it's correct. For instance, I did something on double negate sometime back, and in that article, I realised that, it's even the media that make such blunder most, where you hear them say, don't touch that dial, don't go no where! Don't and no are two contradictory negative words which shouldn't be used together. Rather than don't go nowhere, simply say don't go anywhere.

OK, as you may know, it's HAPPY MARRIED LIFE and not HAPPY MARRIAGE LIFE, reason? Read the full article here==>...

There's also this problem about ROUNDING OFF and ROUNDING UP! Please, note that, if you're about completing a task you were on before, it's ROUND OFF, and not ROUND UP that many of us say. But today I'll be dwelling on another topic that has been up for argument for a while which nobody has been able to defend. I'll explain and defend it here with you guys, even call the Cambridge Professor , I'll still stand by it (as though they speak the correct English), lolzz 😂

How on earth is MY NAMES ARE.. correct? That grammar I find it appalling and nauseating. Despite the fact that it has been established several times that ‘My names are…’ is grammatically wrong, a lot of people like our so called stars and celebrities still flaunt it. At different events, I have heard many people say it, usually with exaggerated confidence, when they wanted to introduce themselves. To them, it is better to say ‘My names are…’ than ‘My name is …’ because they have more than ‘a name’. They notionally take into account their first name, surname, middle name and every other one they might have amassed in their sojourn in the entertainment world!

"My names are Maga John Akinpelu” is definitely wrong, because the verb is conjugated for a plural noun phrase but the noun phrase is singular. It would be technically correct to say that “my names are Maga, John, and Akinpelu”, but it sounds very strange, and the fact that you went out your way to avoid the natural, singular formulation suggests that you mean something other than “my full name consists of these three in order”; it might mean that you have different names in different contexts, for instance: “I'm a spy with three false identities; my names are Maga, John and Akinpelu.”

It's for a fact that Africans, especially Nigerians, specifically the Yorubas (that I won't lie) cherish having a wealth of names, you won't blame us, respect is our watchword, by this respect, doing the christening of a Yoruba child, the respect is accorded to every members of the family, small or large, by giving the child a name, Aunty will give hers, uncles, brother, sister, grandparents, parents, etc... Lolzzz... So, you should be expecting a minimum of 10 names for a single child. Some capturing the circumstances of one’s birth, some appealing to one’s heritage, some denoting prayers while some are simply pet names. Well, I won't tell you how many names I've got anyway, #tongueout!.

Akeem Lasisi said, "well, the Nigerian cultural/literary community will quickly remind me that there is the legendary Chinweizu, a cultural activist and author of books that include ‘The West and the Rest of Us’, ‘Decolonising the African Mind’, ‘Anatomy of Female Power’ as well as ‘Energy Crisis and other Poems’.   Interestingly, there was also another younger writer who projected only one name – Ebereonwu. The author of some literary works and producer of ‘Piccadilly’ and some other movies, unfortunately, died in an auto accident in 2007. For one reason or the other, Chinweizu and Ebereonwu chose to bear just one appellation. What is most important, however, is that no matter how many items are in the collection of one’s name, the correct thing to say is ‘My name is…’, not ‘My names are…’: "

It's no matter how long your name is, you neither pluralise ‘name’ in the context under consideration nor do you use ‘are’ instead of ‘is’ even if your name is Ejirooghenechobokowerukevwe Uvuvwevwevwe Onyetenyevwe Ugwemubwem Osas.... Lolzzz


OK, now here is an exception... As I know some of you could have been wondering.

Linguist have somehow reluctantly conceded that there may be one or two occasions the plural structure can be accepted. An instance is if a person parades a real name and an unconventional, a fake or an assumed name like a pseudonym. For instance, if an armed robber with a real name bears a coded name among his or her colleagues, when caught, he can combine the real name and the coded one with ‘are’.
Example, His real name could be Ajanaku Wrington, and his coded name could be Black Mamber. So, to introduce himself,
My names are Ajanaku Wrington and Black Mamber,
Or
My names are Ajanaku Wrington aka Black Mamber.

You would observe that the last example has a semblance of plurality; but then you should note the use of ‘and’ in the structure. It is not like the first example without the conjunction.

Don't ever say,

My names are Ajanaku Wrington Black Mamber.

My names are Jemilah Yusuf (wrong)
My names are Olayinka Olaitan-Kaas (wrong)
My name is Maga John Akinpelu (correct)
My name is Moisturiser Busayo (correct)

There are some writers who write under pen names or pseudonyms. Imagine if they have cause to reveal their dual identity. For instance, like myself, I could either write under my pen/nickname as Collybright or Kola Bright, or Adeshile Bright or Adeshile Adekolajo, or Adeshile Theophilus, the rare plurality may apply.

Hope you know that the renowned dramatist, Prof. Femi Osofisan, has also published several works with the pseudonym, Okinba Launko.

So if he likely want to introduce himself, he could simply say;

My names are Femi Osofisan and Okinba Launko.
Or
My names are Femi Osofisan aka Okinba Launko.

My names are Emmanuel Omiyale aka Manny O'Waters.

My names are Omobanke Soneye and Miss Fallopian.

Aka simply means, ALSO KNOWN AS...

Therefore, aka doesn't apply to nicknames only and sometimes women prefer using "Nee".

Hope you now understand that it is grammatically incorrect to say my names are when you want to introduce yourself in a particular personality.

Using this medium to give my last respect to the Great philosopher, the first Doctor of Philosophy in Nigeria, Prof. Sophie Oluwole. I had the opportunity to glance through your last work where you made comparison of Orunmila and Co to  Aristotle, plato and the rest of them. Rest in Peace my Prof!

Merry Christmas and a happy new year in advance my lovelies!

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