The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added 20 Nigerian words and expressions to its latest update, highlighting the growing global influence of Nigerian culture and language.
Among the newly included terms are popular words like “japa,” “agbero,” “eba,” “419,” and “abi.” These words, commonly used in everyday conversations across Nigeria, reflect the vibrant mix of Pidgin English, street slang, and cultural expressions unique to the country.
Notably, some entries, such as “japa” and “jand,” are listed as both nouns and verbs in the dictionary. Pronunciation guides have also been added to help non-Nigerians correctly pronounce these words.
The update was announced by Kingsley Ugwuanyi, a Nigerian English consultant to the OED, who shared the news on LinkedIn. He expressed pride in his role in drafting the entries and recording their pronunciations.
“I’m thrilled to announce that the Oxford English Dictionary has officially published its latest updates, featuring an amazing collection of Nigerian English words that beautifully reflect Nigeria’s culture, creativity, and the unique ways we express ourselves as Nigerians,” Ugwuanyi wrote.
He further revealed that users can hear his voice in the pronunciation guides provided for the new entries.
Some of the definitions in the update include:
- “Japa”: The emigration of Nigerians to other countries, especially in Europe or North America, for education, employment, or better economic opportunities.
- “Agbero”: A tout, typically working at car parks and bus stops, assisting passengers and collecting fees from drivers.
- “419”: Fraud, often involving advance payment scams, commonly executed via the internet.
Other added words include “abi,” “adire” (batik), “area boy” (lout), “eba,” “gele” (headgear), “jand” (to travel abroad), “suya” (grilled meat), “Yahoo boy” (internet fraudster), and “Yarn Dust” (to talk nonsense).
The inclusion of these terms underscores the increasing recognition of Nigerian English as a dynamic and influential variant of the English language. It also marks another milestone in celebrating Nigeria’s rich linguistic and cultural heritage on a global platform.
Beautiful one.
Kindly add the following Ijaw / Izon language into the dictionary.
1. Gbolufication meaning heavy fight.
2. Kosekosebility means small and take it little by little.
3. Temeyemo mean spiritual things
4. Ebitare mean love good things
Great news. One hopes that akara, garri, boli, kulikuli, kolo, ankara, etc, would be added soon, too, and that we would stop writing them in italics or inverted commas. After all they don’t write those Italian dishes that we don’t know about in italics, nor try to explain them. Cheers.
This is a good move at the right
direction. İt think we also to add kolo,