WETIN BE "PIDGIN"?
As noted in the last post, one of the things I've enjoyed learning about most during my time in Nigeria (aka. "Naija" or "9ja") is the form of "pidgin" English that people speak in casual settings. Pidgin is a great language; it's expressive, humorous, adaptable, and so deceptively complex that my knowledge of it is still only sufficient for very simple conversations, after more than a year of avid amateur learning.
When I asked one of my Nigerian friends to describe pidgin he called it "English, but flipped on its head," which I think is a good way to look at it. Pidgin uses mostly english words (or adaptations of english words, such as "dey" for "do") plus some words from the tribal languages mixed in, and with different sentence structures and word choice, for example:
This one no be pidgin!
When I asked one of my Nigerian friends to describe pidgin he called it "English, but flipped on its head," which I think is a good way to look at it. Pidgin uses mostly english words (or adaptations of english words, such as "dey" for "do") plus some words from the tribal languages mixed in, and with different sentence structures and word choice, for example:
"Wetin you dey talk?" for "What are you saying?"
"Abeg, make we go chop." for "Please, let's go eat."
"Abeg, make we go chop." for "Please, let's go eat."
"Me self, I dey laugh, o!" for "I laughed."
"No wahala." for "No problem." (Hence, the url of this blog.)
The word "chop" can mean "to steal" as well as "to eat". For this reason, people will say quite literally that "politicians are eating our money." The words "now?" and "abi?" are also added to the ends of sentences to indicate a question:
"No wahala." for "No problem." (Hence, the url of this blog.)
The word "chop" can mean "to steal" as well as "to eat". For this reason, people will say quite literally that "politicians are eating our money." The words "now?" and "abi?" are also added to the ends of sentences to indicate a question:
"Wetin dey do you, noooow?" for "What are you doing?"
"Holdup dey for road, abi?" for "There's a traffic jam on the road, is it not?"
Note that this use of "now" means that you have to say "now now" if you actually want something now. Other words are often duplicated for emphasis as in "small small boy." Perhaps the two most useful words of all are "oga" for chief/boss/man and "oyibo" for foreigner or white person, which are pronounced "o-GA" and "oyibO" respectively. "Chairman" is also an acceptable substitute for oga, while an oyibo like me can been addressed as "Mr. White", "James Bond" and "Captain America" at various times.
DIGRESSION: Note that these names often have nothing to do with where you are actually from. Don't take it personally. A surprising number of Nigerians have a tough time distinguishing between the ethnicities of pretty much all non-Africans. I once had the following interaction with a well-meaning taxi driver:
Taxi Driver: Sir, I want to go to your country, but I need a visa.
Me: Which country is that?
Taxi Driver: China!
Me: Sorry oga, can't help you there.
Similarly, random people often ask me if my Indian housemate is my sister, despite seemingly undeniable differences in our skin tone, facial features, eye and hair color, height, and basically general appearance. However, If you think this is a sign of ignorance or find it hard to believe that people could make such errors, you may want to ask yourself if you can consistently distinguish between Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo people (I still can't) or between west and east Africans. Didn't think so. DIGRESSION OVER.
One confusing phrase in common usage is "Well done!" which is used as a greeting, especially for people who are "on the job", and applies irrespective of whether they are actually doing anything, or doing it well. It takes some time to get used to not asking "For what?" when people greet you on your way into the grocers.
Another personal favorite is the exclamation, "Kai!!!" which is basically a much better version of words like "drat!" or "darn!" - a swear word for people wishing to avoid actual swearing. A single "Kai!" (pronounced like the greek letter "chi" in "chi-squared") conveys frustration or anger, while several Kais in quick succession: "Kai!Kai!Kai!" express something closer to exasperation or despair.
ALSO KNOWN AS...
Some associations are more complex, such as the use of "4-1-9" for a scam or fraud. This apparently originates from the legal code, Section 419 presumably, that was put in place to address the infamous "advance fee" internet scams originating from the country.
Then there's "Dundee", an insult for someone who is foolish or incompetent, which supposedly originates from a long-ago series of nationwide exhibitions matches played by Scottish football club Dundee United, in which the visitors were summarily thrashed by their Nigerian opposition, and evidently failed to impress all around.
GHANA MUST GO!
However, the most interesting name I've heard is the one given to reusable plastic carrier bags of the sort that are often sold at supermarkets nowadays. I learned the name for this item the hard way when, shortly after getting to Nigeria, I went to Wuse market in Abuja to buy some random household stuff. (Sponges were required. It's a long story, involving three very unfortunate frozen chickens.)
I had seen other people walking around the market with reusable bags, and after about 10 minutes had accumulated enough items that I figured a bag would be useful. So I asked the shopkeeper if he had any of the "good plastic shopping bags." Silly me.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but this particular individual didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about, although he was not about to let such trivialities prevent the successful conclusion of a sale. After several false starts we found a place that was selling them, and my shopping companion looked at me with dismay and said, "This one na Ghana-must-go."
The term "Ghana-must-go" originates from 1983 when, in a fit of populism/jingoism, Nigeria's then-leader Shehu Shagari ordered the immediate mass expulsion of more than a million Ghanians living in Nigeria. (Nearly 30 years later, I think it's fair to say that this extraordinary action yielded no appreciable benefit to Nigerians. Take note, "anti-immigration" people.) To quote no less an authority than Harvard University's Radcliffe Quarterly: "In their rush to flee the country, these refugees turned cheap bags of woven plastic into makeshift luggage. A bag of this sort is now commonly referred to in Nigeria as a “Ghana must go.”
Aside from their surprising durability and cheapness, another praiseworthy feature of the Ghana-must-go is that their rectangular shape and low profile makes them ideal for accommodating large quantities of stacked banknotes. (One regularly-sized one supposedly accommodates exactly 10,000,000 naira in N1000 bills) Naturally, a pidgin phrase has evolved - to "carry ghana-must-go" - which describes the process of attempting to unduly influence public officials with a thoughtfully packaged bag of monetary instruments. This way, should the recepient decide to buy a new Land Cruiser Prado, or simply wish to depart the country at speed, it will be no wahala.
Btw the hilarious "Stuff Nigerian People Like" blog has a good post on Ghana-must-go:
http://www.stuffnigerianpeoplelike.com/2009/08/31/ghana-must-go/
Note that this use of "now" means that you have to say "now now" if you actually want something now. Other words are often duplicated for emphasis as in "small small boy." Perhaps the two most useful words of all are "oga" for chief/boss/man and "oyibo" for foreigner or white person, which are pronounced "o-GA" and "oyibO" respectively. "Chairman" is also an acceptable substitute for oga, while an oyibo like me can been addressed as "Mr. White", "James Bond" and "Captain America" at various times.
This is me in Nigeria.
DIGRESSION: Note that these names often have nothing to do with where you are actually from. Don't take it personally. A surprising number of Nigerians have a tough time distinguishing between the ethnicities of pretty much all non-Africans. I once had the following interaction with a well-meaning taxi driver:
Taxi Driver: Sir, I want to go to your country, but I need a visa.
Me: Which country is that?
Taxi Driver: China!
Me: Sorry oga, can't help you there.
Similarly, random people often ask me if my Indian housemate is my sister, despite seemingly undeniable differences in our skin tone, facial features, eye and hair color, height, and basically general appearance. However, If you think this is a sign of ignorance or find it hard to believe that people could make such errors, you may want to ask yourself if you can consistently distinguish between Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo people (I still can't) or between west and east Africans. Didn't think so. DIGRESSION OVER.
One confusing phrase in common usage is "Well done!" which is used as a greeting, especially for people who are "on the job", and applies irrespective of whether they are actually doing anything, or doing it well. It takes some time to get used to not asking "For what?" when people greet you on your way into the grocers.
Another personal favorite is the exclamation, "Kai!!!" which is basically a much better version of words like "drat!" or "darn!" - a swear word for people wishing to avoid actual swearing. A single "Kai!" (pronounced like the greek letter "chi" in "chi-squared") conveys frustration or anger, while several Kais in quick succession: "Kai!Kai!Kai!" express something closer to exasperation or despair.
ALSO KNOWN AS...
Home cooking.
New pidgin words are often borne out of their association with something. Naturally, some of these are prominent brands names such as "Gala" for a sausage rolls, or "Indomie" for ramen/instant noodles. I realized I had been in Nigeria for a while when, after stopping at a traffic light on my way to work one morning, I started casually shouting "Gala! Gala!" to the street vendors. Naturally, they understood right away, and I had my breakfast in no time. Had I been shouting for a "Sausage roll!" instead, I would have been greeted with the sort of confused but sympathetic smiles that you give a child when it says something slightly stupid.Some associations are more complex, such as the use of "4-1-9" for a scam or fraud. This apparently originates from the legal code, Section 419 presumably, that was put in place to address the infamous "advance fee" internet scams originating from the country.
Then there's "Dundee", an insult for someone who is foolish or incompetent, which supposedly originates from a long-ago series of nationwide exhibitions matches played by Scottish football club Dundee United, in which the visitors were summarily thrashed by their Nigerian opposition, and evidently failed to impress all around.
With that mascot, I can't say I'm suprised.
GHANA MUST GO!
However, the most interesting name I've heard is the one given to reusable plastic carrier bags of the sort that are often sold at supermarkets nowadays. I learned the name for this item the hard way when, shortly after getting to Nigeria, I went to Wuse market in Abuja to buy some random household stuff. (Sponges were required. It's a long story, involving three very unfortunate frozen chickens.)
I had seen other people walking around the market with reusable bags, and after about 10 minutes had accumulated enough items that I figured a bag would be useful. So I asked the shopkeeper if he had any of the "good plastic shopping bags." Silly me.
Maybe I was just unlucky, but this particular individual didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about, although he was not about to let such trivialities prevent the successful conclusion of a sale. After several false starts we found a place that was selling them, and my shopping companion looked at me with dismay and said, "This one na Ghana-must-go."
Aside from their surprising durability and cheapness, another praiseworthy feature of the Ghana-must-go is that their rectangular shape and low profile makes them ideal for accommodating large quantities of stacked banknotes. (One regularly-sized one supposedly accommodates exactly 10,000,000 naira in N1000 bills) Naturally, a pidgin phrase has evolved - to "carry ghana-must-go" - which describes the process of attempting to unduly influence public officials with a thoughtfully packaged bag of monetary instruments. This way, should the recepient decide to buy a new Land Cruiser Prado, or simply wish to depart the country at speed, it will be no wahala.
This is what $200,000 looks like.
Btw the hilarious "Stuff Nigerian People Like" blog has a good post on Ghana-must-go:
http://www.stuffnigerianpeoplelike.com/2009/08/31/ghana-must-go/
In Guinea, a francophone country, they say, "Il a bouffe l'argent" when someone's embezzled money. Literally, "He ate the money."
ReplyDeleteAnd in Sierra Leone/Liberia, if you don't speak much French/English/whatever, but you know a little, you say, "I speak French small." Or even, "I speak French small small."
Nice try with the Pidgin English, but your translations are generally off.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Warri, the home of pidgin, so I'll help a bit.
"Wetin you dey talk?" for "What is your story?" or "what do you have to say?"
"Abeg, make we go chop." for "Please, let's go eat." - Correct.
"Me self, I dey laugh, o!" for "I am finding it funny" Used with Sarcasm.
"No wahala." for "No problem." (Hence, the url of this blog.) - Correct.
Here are a couple for your toolbox:
Na we own - It belongs to us.
Hand meet am - He got his comeuppance.
Yawa gas - Incredible confusion, chaos, serious trouble.
My guy, land - Telling a friend to come for something pleasant.
Famous usage of "yawa gas" - during an English class, students were told in turn to summarise a sentence telling their older brothers to come to their aid with all urgency, because they had fallen into bewilderingly serious trouble at school that required some backbone to fix. All the students came up with various long winded and complex summaries, but the Warri boy came up with just four words; "Bros land! Yawa gas!" :)