Oxford Dictionary increases content with Nigerian words ‘Amala, Nyash, biko’
File Photo: Oxford English Dictionary
… ‘abeg’ is described as an interjection which expresses contextual range of emotions like exasperation.
The Oxford English Dictionary has added several Nigerian-origin words in its latest update, reflecting the growing global influence of the nation’s language, culture and cuisine.
The December 2025 update, released on the OED website on Wednesday, features more than 500 new words, phrases and senses, including internet slang such as “DM”, “brainfart” and “chug”.
Over 1,000 existing entries were also revised, while editors explored the histories of words such as “troll”, “coffee” and “snooker”.
The update includes additions from varieties of English used around the world, including West African English, Maltese English, Japanese English and South Korean English, with OED editors noting the growing global influence of these Englishes.
Among the Nigerian entries are everyday expressions and food items, including “nyash,” “mammy market,” “amala,” “moi moi,” “abeg,” “biko,” and “Ghana Must Go.”
The update included “Afrobeats”, defined as “a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and of jazz, soul, and funk.”
The dictionary describes “abeg” as an interjection used to express contextually a range of emotions, such as surprise, exasperation, disbelief.
“Biko”, originally from the Igbo language, is defined as an adverb and interjection used in polite request or agreement, or to add polite emphasis or urgency: ‘please’.”
“Nyash” is defined as “a person’s (esp. a woman’s) buttocks; the bottom, the backside.”
Also added is “Ghana Must Go”, the popular name for the large, chequered plastic bags widely used in West Africa, whose expression traces back to the 1983 mass expulsion of undocumented Ghanaian migrants from Nigeria.
It is defined as “A large, zippered bag made of durable plastic with a colourful check pattern, often used for carrying one’s…”
The term “mammy market” was recognised as “a market typically run by women, originally found in military barracks but later also in youth service camps and educational institutions.”
In the category of cuisine, the dictionary included “amala”, a staple food made from yam or cassava flour, defined as “a kind of dough made of yam, cassava, or unripe plantain flour, typically formed into a ball and served as an accompaniment to other dishes” and “moi moi”, a dish originating among the Yoruba people, “consisting of beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions, dried…”
The Oxford English Dictionary expanded its lexicon with 20 Nigerian words and expressions in a January 2025 update, highlighting the influence of Nigerian English, Pidgin and street slang on global vocabulary.
The entries include 419, referring to internet fraud. And abi, a common conversational tag.
The additions included everyday terms such as japa, agbero, eba.
