Several Nigerian words and expressions have been officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary, underscoring the expanding global influence of Nigeria’s language, culture and cuisine.
The latest update, released in December 2025 and published on the OED website on Wednesday, introduced more than 500 new words, phrases and meanings drawn from different regions of the world.
According to the editors, the update reflects the growing impact of global varieties of English, particularly West African English, as everyday expressions from the region gain wider international usage.
Among the Nigerian additions are popular slang, food names and cultural expressions, including “nyash”, “mammy market”, “amala”, “moi moi”, “abeg”, “biko” and “Ghana Must Go”.
The update also recognised “Afrobeats”, which the dictionary defined as “a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and of jazz, soul, and funk.”
Providing insight into the new entries, the OED explained that “abeg” is an interjection commonly used to convey emotions such as surprise, disbelief or frustration.
“Biko”, derived from the Igbo language, was described as “an adverb and interjection used in polite requests or agreement, or to add polite emphasis or urgency: ‘please’.”
The slang term “nyash” was defined as “a person’s (especially a woman’s) buttocks; the bottom, the backside.”
Also included was the well-known travel bag popularly called “Ghana Must Go”.
The dictionary linked the phrase to Nigeria’s 1983 expulsion of undocumented Ghanaian migrants and defined it as “a large, zippered bag made of durable plastic with a colourful check pattern, often used for carrying one’s belongings.”
The expression “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.”
Several Nigerian dishes also made the list. “Amala” was described 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.”
Meanwhile, “moi moi” was defined as a dish with Yoruba roots, “consisting of beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions and other ingredients.”
Beyond new additions, the OED said the update revised more than 1,000 existing entries and revisited the histories of familiar words such as “troll”, “coffee” and “snooker”.
Editors added that the growing presence of Nigerian expressions in the dictionary reflects how everyday language from the country continues to cross borders and shape global English.
