The sub head in a newspaper article in relation to the proposed downtown transportation centre announced by the Prime Minister read, 'No Place for loafters'.

I was shocked, but in my heart I knew that the articulate Mr. Golding could not have, even on a bad day, made that utterance. I read further and it quoted the PM as saying, "It will not be a lair for loafers."

So the quotation is correct in English, and the subhead is strictly Jamaican 'loafters'. If we are operating in an English medium then the agentive, the 'doer' of the verb 'to loaf' which means 'to idle one's time in aimless loitering' must be 'loafer', not 'loafter'.

Award

A reader has asked me to look at the use of the word, 'award'. It is both a verb (meaning to give or grant officially as a prize or reward), and a noun (something awarded). As a verb it is both transitive (can take a direct object, and intransitive (does not need an object). Hence, "Mary James was awarded at the function," and, "the trophy was awarded to Mary Jane," are both perfectly valid. If you are not comfortable with the intransitive use of the verb you could opt for, "Mary James was given an award."

For questions and comments, email:speechcoach_ja@yahoo.com.