‘Tokunbo, Okada, Mama Put’: 29 Nigerian Words Added To Oxford Dictionary

A file photo of commercial motorcycles now known as ‘okada’ in the latest edition of OED.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has introduced 29 Nigerian words and expressions in the January updates to its glossary.

Although OED’s World English editor, Danica Salazar, announced this in a blog post last week, the news of the latest addition went viral recently.

She said, “The majority of these new additions are either borrowings from Nigerian languages or unique Nigerian coinages that have only begun to be used in English in the second half of the twentieth century, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s.

Some of the words and expressions added to the updated edition of the dictionary include Buka, chop-chop, ember months, Guber, next tomorrow, and tokunbo, among others.

See the full list of the new entries and their respective meanings below:

agric, adj. & n.

barbing salon, n.

buka, n.

bukateria, n.

chop, v./6

chop-chop, n./2

danfo, n.

to eat money, in eat, v.

ember months, n.

flag-off, n.

to flag off in flag, v.

gist, n./3

gist, v./2

guber, adj.

Kannywood, n.

K-leg, n.

mama put, n.

next tomorrow, n. & adv.

non-indigene, adj. & n.

okada, n.

to put to bed, in put, v.

qualitative, adj.

to rub minds (together) in rub, v./1

sef, adv.

send-forth, n.

severally, adv.

tokunbo, adj.

zone, v.

zoning, n.

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