10 COMMON WORDS NIGERIANS USE EVERYDAY, BUT WHICH DON'T EXIST
Many people speak English as their first language. It is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world.
Nigerians are very good at a number of things and one of them is
inventing their own version of English which has become popular
overtime.
Some of the words and phrases we use often cannot be
found in the dictionary. Some are words you picked up from others and
they have become quite a norm.
It is not only the uneducated
folks that are guilty of using these wrong words as the very educated
Nigerians also use the English language inappropriately.
Below are words Nigerians use that don’t exist in the English dictionary.
1. Go-slow: When Nigerians say go-slow, they mean congested traffic,
which is wrong. The meaning of go-slow in the English dictionary is, a
form of industrial action in which work or progress is deliberately
delayed or slowed down.
2. Disvirgin: This word is used on a
daily basis by many Nigerians when they intend to say a woman has lost
her virginity. There is no word like disvirgin. The correct word to use
is deflower. Disvirgin simply does not exist.
3. Trafficate:
Nigerians use the word to describe a situation where a driver indicates
to other drivers that he/she wants to take a turn. It is used so often,
that it has started to sound like proper English.
4. Flashing:
Every Nigerian knows “flashing” to mean when someone calls your mobile
phone and cuts off before you answer. The word ‘flash’ is so common
among Nigerians and its used at least once daily by many. Flash has
different meanings but none has anything to do with a phone call. The
word doesn’t exist in that sense in English.
5. Installmentally:
Don’t be tempted to use the word ‘installmentally’. Though it sounds
correct, it isn’t. There is no such word in the English dictionary as it
exists only in the Nigerian edition of English language. The correct
thing to say is ‘in installments’.
6. Opportuned: What exists in
English dictionaries is ‘opportune,’ without ‘d’ at the end. Opportune
means ‘timely’ or ‘well-time, especially convenient or appropriate for a
particular action or event. Opportuned is only common in Nigerian
English.
7. Cunny: This is a word which Nigerians use to describe
someone that is being deceitful or crafty. The right word is cunning
not cunny.
8. Next tomorrow: Most Nigerians generally use “next
tomorrow” but there is not such word as next tomorrow. Instead you
should say, “a day after tomorrow."
9. Packer: Nigerians probably
got the word from pack. The right word is dustpan. Since dustpan packs
dirt, Nigerians like to call it packer.
10. Pepperish: It is
common to hear Nigerians describe a meal that has too much pepper in it
as pepperish. The proper word should be ‘peppery’. No native English
speaker uses the word pepperish” to describe the burning sensation we
feel from eating pepper.
Which of these words are you guilty of?
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