English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
CATACHRESIS
Don’t be seen around such bad person; he is a *radical* (Popular Nigerian English)
Don’t be around such bad person; he is a *miscreant* (standard).
While someone who behaves badly and does not obey rules is called a miscreant or a villain, a radical is a person who supports great social and political change:
Fela was a *radical* all his life (standard).
That man is never happy. I think he is a *sadist* (Popular Nigerian English).
That man is never happy. I think he is *depressed/mournful/heartbroken* (standard).
A sad person is not a sadist. A sadist is a person who gets pleasure, sometimes sexual, by being cruel to or hurting another person:
Some women are living with *sadists* as husbands (standard).
GAB
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