Jev

The word “could” expresses possibility or hypothetical ability, not certainty. “I’m so hungry I could eat an elephant” is an example of hyperbole. The use of “could” does not make the statement absolute. “Pregnancy feels like a death sentence” would be a comparable figurative expression. The phrase “feels like” is important because it makes the statement subjective. It describes an experience rather than establishing an objective fact. However, “Pregnancy is a death sentence” is an entirely different statement. It is grammatically a declarative statement. The word “is” directly equates pregnancy with a death sentence. It presents something as a fact rather than describing how it feels. Taken literally, it suggests that pregnancy inevitably leads to death, which is factually incorrect. "Is" can still be used in metaphorical statements like "Life is a journey” But "Life is a journey” is a reasonable metaphor because life involves progression through time, ageing, experiences, and different stages. “Pregnancy is a death sentence,” even if intended as a metaphor, is still an unreasonable comparison because there is no stage of pregnancy at which a woman inevitably experiences anything comparable to dying. For instance, if pregnancy involved a stage where every woman fell into a coma for a certain period, the metaphor would have a more reasonable basis. Consider another metaphor: “This job is a prison.” That comparison makes sense because everyone working at that job is confined to a particular space for a certain period, just as prisoners are confined within a prison. The point is that a metaphor should have a reasonable basis for comparison. Simply calling something a metaphor doesn't automatically make the comparison logical or appropriate. I'm beginning to think the Nigerian Supreme Court's inability to properly interpret the word “and” as used in our Constitution wasn't entirely due to corruption. Judging by how I've seen educated Nigerians interpret and respond to statements written in plain English, I'm starting to believe that some of those justices genuinely couldn't comprehend it either.