For some of you with limited knowledge of American military, let me point it out that the copyright owner of "Devil of Ramadi" are the Iraqi insurgents. Chris Kyle was a Navy Seal with four tours in latest Iraqi wars, and 255 kills to his credit. He was so deadly that the insurgent named him "Devil of Ramadi", and put a bounty on his head. Considering what I'v read about plagiarism, I see it deadlier; hence, the need for my type, who picked overriding interest in literature after graduating with B.Tech., to be enlightened *** Having devoured more online news, thanks to our internet fidlers -- genuine or fake -- my lexicon piled up from those sources. I want you guys to let me know if the instances below can be ajudged plagiarism. In an instance, LarrySun wrote "a man of receding hairline, and pot-belied" in his comic hit, Coffin of Error. Now, if I write "a man of receding hairline, but not pot-belied" in my work, do we refer to this as plagiarism? *** Also, Wole Soyinka, in one of his press releases wrote "... severed head of Innocent Akaluka, a grim memento of a fanatical horde who, having abducted him from a police station where he had been taking shelter, danced through streets with their trophy on a pole". If 'a grim memento of a fanatical horde' now appear in my works, do we call it plagiarism? NB: I used *** to mean paragraph, because the phone I used in typing these can't insert it.

Instead of using another person's expressions, a writer can easily coin his.

In one of my short stories, I felt uncomfortable using the expression 'popped her cherry' because the story itself revolves around 'cherry', and also partly because the idiom itself seemed to me like a cliche; surely, thirdly, someone must have coined that idiom...and evidently using it might not really constitute plagiarism though, I still felt like coining my own idiom that would still pass a nearly similar message. Hence, my use of 'plucked her petal' instead of 'popped her cherry'.

Understood. Now I want to ask, are expressions found in media, unlike published works, copyright materials? Vanguard wrote, "Obafaye, the man behind 'my oga at the top' mantra". Now, if I write "Pquare, the originator of 'do me' mantra, is it an offence, or just sounds unoriginal of me? LarrySun, I hope you know me. I contacted a publishing firm to know their terms before they can agree to publish a work, they said the work must pass through their editorial table before they can determine whether to publish it or not. That's why I'v not contacted you about that work, 'Water under the Bridge', I told you about in my mail to you. I need your advice. I'v uploaded its unedited version, prologue for a start, in Nairaland, but I'm giving it a second thought.

Yes, I know you. I remember your e-mail messages. I will go and read that prologue after posting this reply.

Truly, I see nothing wrong in the matra-ish; it depends on what you are writing. But you should know that the style of writing used in newspaper articles may be slightly different from that employed in fictional narratives.

I also once made an allusion to the popular Nigerian hip-hop duo in one of my works, and I felt no guilt whatsoever by so doing.

LarrySun:
Ariel was a young man of twenty-four years, and single. He was a man who lived a quiet life; created a lone world of his own and lived by the rules. He made his own bed each morning, brushed his teeth twice daily, did his own laundry and washed his dishes. He rarely did anything out of the ordinary, except write. Even in secondary school, all those girls who liked bad boys; which, strangely enough, seemed to be most of them, thought of Ariel as a nerd for his chivalrous personality, or even thought of him not at all. If they could see him now, writing a novel, they wouldn't swoon on him and become giddy with desire, they wouldn't even throw their panties at him as if he were a superstar; as some ladies did at the P-Square concert the week before. They would simply roll they eyes, boo and hiss at him. He would appear to them more boring than he initially was back in high school. None would even take a sneek-peek at what he had written. He knew that before girls like those ones both in high school and higher institution would swoon over guys like him, the sun would rise in the west, tiny babies would grow beards, Pasuma would win the Grammy, and a honest man would become the President of Nigeria. Well, each man has a cross to bear. At least he hadn't been born with a hunch-back or suffered strabismus.

Merry Christmas, sir.

LarrySun:
Yes, I know you. I remember your e-mail messages. I will go and read that prologue after posting this reply.

Truly, I see nothing wrong in the matra-ish; it depends on what you are writing. But you should know that the style of writing used in newspaper articles may be slightly different from that employed in fictional narratives.

I also once made an allusion to the popular Nigerian hip-hop duo in one of my works, and I felt no guilt whatsoever by so doing.


Merry Christmas, sir.

Merry Xmas to you, too. Your writtings and Ishilove's woke me up to start what I really want in life.