I remember the robust interaction I had last year with an airport official at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

I'd arrived two hours earlier for a scheduled 9-oclock flight.

At the check-in counter, this smartly dressed lady asked ME:

"Can I see your INTERNATIONAL passport?"

"I don't have any international passport o. I only have a passport," I responded jokingly.

You know say I sabi look for (grammar) trouble anywhere I go!
*wide toothy smile. ���

The lady had a happy and cheerful disposition.

She smiled and repeated, "Let me have your international passport."

I handed over my flight ticket and Nigerian passport.

And an argument ensued between us whether the correct thing to say is "international passport" or simply "passport".

The lady proceeded to lecture ME on the rightness of INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT and the wrongness of PASSPORT.

"I've been working in this airport for many years," she concluded. "This thing is called INTERNATIONAL passport!"

A few of her colleagues at nearby check-in counters nodded in affirmation and looked at ME funny.

A few passengers in others queues nodded and murmured their support.

Because I'd arrived very early, there weren't any passengers on my queue.

So, I proceeded to give a free lecture on grammar and usage to the lady and other people listening.

I informed the lady that INTERNATIONAL passport is incorrect because it's a tautology.

Tautology is any wastage of words, that is, any unnecessary repetition of a lexical item or word without making your meaning CLEARER or MORE FORCEFUL.

There's nothing like international passport in Standard British English (SBE). International passport is peculiarly Nigerian English (NE).

The adjective, international, isn't needed to qualify passport. Passport is passport, okay?

I challenged the lady to google the phrase, international passport.

I also challenge you, my dear friends, to google it. You won't find international passport in any reputable dictionary (Cambridge, Longman, Collins, Merriam Webster, MacMillan).

For instance, according to Longman dictionary:

Passport is a small official document that you get from your government, that proves who you are, and which you need in order to leave your country and enter other countries.

What's the point here?

Passport is a travel document issued primarily for the purpose of national and INTERNATIONAL travels.

There's no need for the adjective, international, in passport.

"Why then, does everyone call it international passport?" The lady asked.

I answered:

It's because of what's referred to as fossilization of error.

"What?"

"Yes, fossilization of error. Are you on WhatsApp?"

"Yes!"

She gave ME her WhatsApp number.

I googled fossilization of error on British Council Teaching English site and sent the link to her WhatsApp.

NB: The link is at the end of this lecture/post.

I clicked on the link and the following popped up:�

"Fossilization refers to the process in which incorrect language becomes a habit and cannot easily be corrected.

Errors in general take time to correct but a fossilized error may never be corrected unless the learner sees a reason to do so, e.g. if it is seriously hindering communication.

Teachers can help learners notice their fossilized errors..."

LINK �
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/fossilization

Prof

Grammarnazi1

All these won't matter in Heaven.