Incorrect use of common expressions
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The expressions are bear with me and bear me out. People abuse them for various reasons. For one, the two expressions are similar in outlook and so the tendency to confuse one with the other is there.
It is also likely that many people are more familiar with just one of the two expressions and that is what they use every now and then, oblivious of the fact that the way they use it may not be correct.
Now, both bear with me and bear me out are phrasal verbs. That is, they are made up of a verb, bear, and prepositional or adverbial particles.
Examples of other phrasal verbs are sit up, make up, get along, come over, attend to, give up, throw up, etc.
When verbs take on prepositional or adverbial particles, as we have in the above examples, the expressions so formed have different meanings from the meanings of the words that compose them.
For instance, give up means to stop trying to do something, while give in means to agree to do something that you do not want to do.
This means phrasal verbs are idiomatic–they have fixed meanings that do not depend on the words which constitute those phrasal verbs.
Needless to say, bear with me and bear me out are idiomatic and must be used as such.
Since they are two different expressions, they have two distinct meanings, exclusive of the other and so they must not be confused with each other.
Again, since they are idiomatic, they have fixed meanings and users are not permitted to vary those meanings to suit their purposes.
Bear with me means to be patient with me and it is used in a situation where one's actions or inaction seems to delay a process or keep others waiting.
Eg The trotro driver asked his passengers to bear with him as he fixed his tyre.
We have to bear with the new student because he is confused.
On the other hand, bear me out means to show that I am right or that what I am saying is true. It is used with the same sense as corroborate or bear witness to what I am saying.
Eg. My classmates will bear me out that I have not been talking.
If what he is saying is true, the other witnesses will bear him out.
From the meanings of the two expressions and the examples that have been given to show how they are used, it should be obvious to all that one cannot be used for the other.
But it appears that that is what almost everybody who uses bear with me does! People use bear with me when they should use bear me out.
For instance, the other day I heard a leading politician say on radio: Ghanaians will bear with me that the better Ghana agenda is on course.
I think what he meant was that Ghanaians will prove him right that the government was on course. If that is the case, then he should have said: Ghanaians will bear me out that the better Ghana agenda is on course.
While we are at it, note that the past tense of bear is bore, while the past participle is borne.
Meanwhile, bore itself is another verb which means to make somebody feel bored, especially by talking too much; and to make a long deep hole with a tool or by digging.
Eg. Has my brother been boring you with his stale stories?
The drill is strong enough to bore through solid rock.
The past tense is bored.
Bore is also a noun, which refers to a person who is very boring, usually because he or she talks too much.
Eg. I've realised that your brother is a bore.
Bored is also an adjective, which means feeling tired and impatient because you have lost interest in something or because you have nothing to do.
Eg. There was a bored expression on her face.
By Quame Asomaning/Junior Graphic/Ghana
