Guarding goalposts

SAMPLE 1:  “Regarded as one for the future after he guided the goalposts for the victorious Golden Eaglets at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE the 21-year-old Alampasu has since struggled with his fledging career at Portuguese Primeira Liga side, Clube desportivo Feirense…”(My Prayers and Focus for 2019, The Nation, Sunday, 6 January, 2019)

I draw readers’ attention to the verb guided which occurs in the following clause: “after he guided the goalposts.” By “guided” the reporter obviously means that Alampasu was responsible for watching over the goalposts and ensuring that the ball did not go into the net. But is that the meaning of guide? It would be a different thing altogether if we say: “The striker guided the ball into the net.” Or: “The goalkeeper guided the ball out of the dangerous zone.” It should be obvious that the reporter has confused the usage of guide with that of guard.

Now read the following sentences: (1) You can’t drive unless somebody guides you. (2) People should be guided by their conscience. (3) Leaders are expected to guide their followers. (4) Those who commit violent crimes usually refuse to be guided by their conscience. (5) I’m going to the palace; can you guide me? 6) The war was won chiefly through the employment of guided missiles. 7) Pupils are to be guided both by their parents and their teachers. 8) Guided by her mother, the girl memorised many verses of scriptures very early in life. 9) It is the duty of the pastor to guide his congregants in spiritual and moral matters. 10) Inspired by God, emboldened by earlier successes, and guided by the truth and the words of elders, we launched into an adventure that could have claimed scores of lives. 11) I was guided through the crocodile-infested creek by a man who later became my husband. 12) We need an infinitely superior Being to guide us through this voyage called life.

The word guide has been used as a verb in each of those sentences. To guide a person is to show him or her which way to go, the right direction, the best course of action, how to do a thing, etc. This word can also be used as a noun as the following sentences demonstrate: (1) Since I have never lived in this town, I am not a reliable guide here. (2) What you have said can serve as a guide to them. (3) If you want to succeed, make God your daily guide. (4) Unless you have a guide you’ll miss your way. 5) There are important senses in which nature can be our guide. 6) Your lawyer is your guide in legal matters in the same way that your doctor is your guide in medical matters.

A guide is a person or thing that guides’ – that gives direction, shows the way, enlightens. The word also occurs in such contexts as guideline. Whether it occurs alone or as a part of another word, guide always carries the idea of showing direction or giving enlightenment.

There is another noun form you need to learn very carefully: guidance. The following sentences illustrate how the noun is typically used: (1) You must rely on God for your guidance. (2) Before they choose their career, young persons should seek guidance. (3) Children cannot dispense with the guidance provided by their parents. (4) John is studying Guidance and Counselling at the university.

Now guard: The sense of the word guard can be gleaned from the following sentences: (1) Two policemen are detailed to guard the bank. (2) You should guard our interest jealously. (3) God’s angels guard His people. 4) The party secretariat is being guarded by heavily armed policemen. 5) The princess does not like being guarded by security men. 6) The policemen who were assigned to guard the place have been given another assignment.

From those sentences we know that the word guard, a verb, means to protect, keep watch over or preserve. This word is clearly different from guide.

The word can also be used as a noun: 1) Two fierce-looking guards are keeping watch over the palace. 2) A new guard has been employed. 3) The guard was dismissed for breaking into the house he was supposed to be guarding. 4) The guards became the first suspects in the murder case of the former Attorney-General of the Federation. 5) It was a bloody attack in which up to one hundred fully armed guards were killed by dare-devil armed robbers. 6) It was wrong of the guards to have left their duty post for any reason and for any length of time. 7) The armed robbers took advantage of the fact that the guards were not properly armed. 8) Thugs are used as guards by politicians. 9) The guards here are highly paid in view of the dangerous nature of their job. 10) Confronted by well-armed attackers, the guards surrendered without a fight. 11) The First Lady complained that she was not comfortable in the company of her male guards.

From those sentences we could see that a guard is someone who guards. We should carefully distinguish the word guide (and its various forms) from the word guard (and its various forms).

Do not say: *”The soldier is *guiding the bank”, when you mean: “The soldier is guarding the bank”. Do not say: *”The teacher is to give guardiance to his pupils”, when you mean: “The teacher is to give guidance to his pupils”.

Again the word *guidian does not exist in English. What we have is guardian.

A guardian is someone who takes care of a child or a ward. We also talk of a guardian angel – an angel believed to attend to every individual and protect him or her. The phrase *guidian angel does not exist in English. There is indeed no newspaper in Nigeria called *The Guidian; what we have is The Guardian.

Furthermore, we talk of guarded enthusiasm by which we mean that the enthusiasm is limited, restricted or restrained. The expression *guided enthusiasm is unlikely in English since it does not make much sense. But it is possible to have both guided movement and guarded movement.

A person may be accused of making an unguarded statement or talk in an unguarded manner. The adjective unguarded in these phrases means not cautious, thoughtful or careful enough. It is not impossible to have unguided statement. But it is unusual or uncommon.

Another form that commonly confuses beginners is safeguard, used both as a verb and as a noun. It is wrong to spell it as *safeguide. The following sentences make the usage clear: (1) He is safeguarding our interest. (2) He is building relevant safeguards into the system. (3) We are thinking of the ways our interest can be safeguarded.

Notice that *saveguard does not exist in English. Another word that is likely to cause confusion is misguided. A misguided person is one who is wrongly guided. We do not have *misguarded; what we have is misguided.

Furthermore, you guard against an error; you do not *guide against it. A person may be caught off guard and not off *guide.

At any rate, the clause should read: “after he guarded the goalposts.”