Here is a lightbox poster advertising the contest, whose closing date is 27 October 2009:

 
Slightly over an hour ago, I emailed Stomp my entry. Below is the photograph I sent in with the correction indicated.

The use of the word "usage" in that sentence is wrong. "Usage" means

- a customary way of doing something; a custom or practice;

- the customary manner in which a language or a form of a language is spoken or written;

Near-synonyms for "usage" include: tradition, habit, convention.

I got the above from www.dictionary.reference.com. Checking synonyms is important because it's a way of detecting nuances. In this case, you can see that the word "usage" refers to a pattern of use, not to any particular instance, and the pattern should generally have a normative quality, thus "convention".

From the same site is an explanation concerning the distinction between the words "use" and "usage":

The nouns usage and use are related in origin and meaning and to some extent overlap in their use. Usage usually refers to habitual or customary practices or procedures: Some usages of the Anglican Church are similar to those of the Roman Catholic Church. It is also commonly used in reference to language practices: English usage is divided in the pronunciation of aunt. Use refers to the act of using or employing (something): She put her extra money to good use. Perhaps in the belief that it is the more impressive term, usage is sometimes used where use would be more natural: Has your usage of a personal computer made the work any easier?

The last example is borderline at best, and unacceptable if one is strict.

The use of the word "usage" in the contest poster is beyond borderline. The context will tell you that contestants should be looking out for exceptional, particular instances of bad English. These would tend to be one-off errors as opposed to standard convention. This being the case, the appropriate word is "use", not "usage". 

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Like all languages, English does not have precise boundaries between right and wrong. While grammar is relatively straightforward to learn because grammatical rules are generally codified, idiomatic usage is much harder to acquire, and even among native speakers, can be a source of dispute. Yet idiomatic usage is important to communication because it adds subtle layers of meaning to superficial words. In other words, certain expressions, by convention, carry nuances not apparent from the words alone: The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Take another sign we see in many underground metro stations:

I would aver that "Let me come out first" should correctly read: "Let me get out first"; alternatively, "Let me out first". That's because "come out" has connotations that are not relevant to the situation depicted -- that of alighting from a train.

"Get out" is the general expression that means: To make an exit from some place.

"Come out" is not for general use, as it implies that where someone is currently situated is a wrong or inappropriate place to be; it may connote a place that is restrictive and unsatisfactory. It has the implication that one ought to leave that place. In other words, there is a value gradient between staying where one is, inside, and getting out of that place.

For example, a father may say to his toddler, "Bobby, the kennel's no place to be. Come out of there." There is, in this example, the additional connotation that the speaker wants the listener to join him on the (better) external side, of a certain "here".

In the example of alighting from a train carriage, there is no value differential between being inside and outside the train; it is not a given that one ought to be on one particular side. Secondly, the speaker is the one wanting to make the move, not one inviting someone else to do so, thus the implicit reference to the "here" that the word "come" implies, is lost, and is thus strange.

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These examples show how much an uphill task it is to improve English in Singapore. The problem stems from the fact that very few here are native speakers. With assiduousness, we can learn the vocabulary and the grammatical rules, but the subtleties of idiomatic usage can only be acquired if one is immersed among people who use the language idiomatically. And we don't have that environment in Singapore. The compensatory route is to read, but that might be too much to ask for in this day and age.

© Yawning Bread