2 months ago
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Often, people have cause to say ‘a shout-out’ to others especially on radio. It could be at other informal settings where someone is greeting or appreciating others not in the audience. The important thing is that they want to greet in the stylish way, so that although ‘a shout-out’ is an informal expression, it is increasingly becoming popular in public communication. Unfortunately, the word’s grammatical features are often abused.
Consider the following, for instance:
Shout-out to all my fans out there.
A shout-outs to all my fans out there.
Shout-outs to all my fans out there.
A shout-out to all my fans out there.
The first point to note is that ‘shout-out’, which is usually hyphenated, is a countable element. As a result, it requires an article — ‘a’ or ‘the’ — when used in the singular sense. When pluralised, the ‘a’ is then eliminated. The implication is that the first two clauses above are inappropriate while the last two are correct. It is either ‘a shout-out’ to someone or ‘shout-outs’ to them:
Shout-out to all my people in London. (Wrong)
The musician gave a shout-outs to all their fans in London. (Wrong)
A shout-out to all my people in London. (Correct)
The musicians gave shout-outs to all their fans in London. (Correct)
A special thanks?
A colleague at the Abiola Ajimobi Technical University, Kola Mohammed, on one of the institution’s platforms, not long ago highlighted the tricky nature of the shout-out expression alongside those derivable from ‘thanks’. Note that, like ‘congratulations’, ‘thanks’ is a plural word that does not collocate with ‘a’:
A special thanks to the representatives of the local government chairmen in the state. (Wrong)
Special thanks to the representatives of the local government chairmen in the state. (Correct)
For all you have done for us in the club, I must express a special thanks. (Wrong)
For all you have done for us in the club, I must express special thanks. (Correct)
Between ‘congratulations’ and’ felicitations’
Both words are largely synonyms when used as nouns. They are employed to rejoice with someone, wish them happiness or praise them. More importantly, you should know that, like ‘congratulations and ‘thanks’, ‘felicitations’ is plural in the situation:
I hope Mrs Sabinus will extend my felicitation to her husband. (Wrong)
I hope Mrs Sabinus will extend my felicitations to her husband. (Correct)
‘Felicitation!’ From the entire staff of Moonshine Limited. (Wrong)
‘Felicitations!’ From the entire staff of Moonshine Limited. (Correct)
Felicitate, not felicitate with!
Lastly, I recall that, in 2022, we discussed the fact that ‘felicitate’ does not need the preposition ‘with’ to make sense. In other words, ‘felicitate with’ harbours redundancy and is thus wrong. It is like saying ‘congratulate with’:
I congratulate with John on the occasion of his birthday. (Wrong)
I felicitate with John on the occasion of his birthday. (Wrong)
They congratulated with the doctor on the birth of his third child. (Wrong)
They felicitated with the doctor on the birth of his third child. (Wrong)
I congratulate John on the occasion of his birthday. (Correct)
I felicitate John on the occasion of his birthday. (Correct)
They congratulated the doctor on the birth of his third child. (Correct)
They felicitated the doctor on the birth of his third child. (Correct)
