Oxford Dictionary Adds ”Chop-chop, Danfo, Mama-put, Tokunbo and 25 Other Nigerian English to Its New Update

The Oxford English Dictionary was recently updated and 29 Nigerian words, slangs and expressions made it to the new update. The new addition and update was announced in a blog post on the dictionary’s website.

The post also explained that some of the added words were borrowed, while others were invented as new words or phrases. The post added,

“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,”

Below is a list of the Nigerian words added to the updated Oxford English Dictionary:

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.