Education
Oxford English Dictionary Adds 22 Nigerian Words, Including “Japa” And “419.”
Nigerian words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as part of an update.
The new vocabulary captures the vibrant street manners and Pidgin English that are quickly becoming popular throughout Africa and beyond, as well as the daily life of the typical Nigerian.
The new entries showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity while reflecting demographics and ethnic nationalities.
A few of the entries are both verbs and nouns. For example, Japanese is regarded as both a verb and a noun in OED. Jand appears in both parts of speech as well. To assist non-Nigerians who are interested in learning the dictions, the entries this time also include pronunciations.
On Tuesday, January 7, Dr Kingsley Ugwuanyi, an OED consultant and passionate supporter, posted the additions on LinkedIn.
He claimed that OED editors employed corpora to identify words that are more commonly and extensively used nationwide.
He clarified that frequency, broad usage, age (usually words that have been in use for 0–10 years), and the words’ social value are among the factors.
“This time, I not only draughted most of the words but also had the incredible opportunity to provide their pronunciations,” Ugwuanyi wrote on LinkedIn. When you browse the OED online and click on the pronunciations, you will hear my voice bringing these words to life.
OED added 29 Nigerian-specific entries in 2020, such as “danfo,” “okada,” “next tomorrow,” and “mama put.”
The new terms added in 2025 are listed below:
1. 419
2. Abi
3. Adire
4. Agbero
5. Area Boy
6. cross-carpet /cross-carpeting –
7. Eba
8. Edo
9. Gele
10. Jand (noun)
11. Jand (verb)
12. Janded
13. Japa (noun)
14. Japa (verb)
15. Kanuri
16. Kobo
17. Naija
18. Suya
19. Yahoo
20. Yahoo Boy
21. Yarn Dust
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