Nigeria, a country with over 500 different ethnic groups, each with its own language and dialect. However, the one thing that unites all Nigerians is the use of slang. Trust Nigerians to be super creative with the use of slang, our creativity should be studied in higher institutions Lol.
This year has its share of slang, both new and old ones that are still popular. Most of these slangs are used on social media and are mostly extracted from comedies, skits, songs and movies.
This post highlights the popular slang used in 2022, let’s go!
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- Sope Otilo: This can beused if you want to resign from your job in style especially if you are a Gen Z. instead of the usual “letter of resignation. Dear sir/ma…” just send an email to your manager and write “oya sope otilo”. Lol nobody is advising you to resign from your job in this manner oh!, Well, except you would not need their help or a reference letter from them in future, because if you do, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN
- Las las, na everybody go chop breakfast: Burna boy came through for us with this one, the slang popularity came from his song titled ‘Last Last’, now Nigerians have another way to announce their relationship breakup, and their many other rejections.
- Ewee: We bet some Nigerians might have forgotten this. Thanks to Osita Iheme, popularly known as PawPaw, who made the iconic reaction in one of the movies he appeared in. Nigerians express eewe when there are situations that are too tough to handle. Imagine you lying to your boss that you have completed a task and your boss asks you to send it immediately. Eweee!
- Wahala: Wahala for those who don’t know how to use wahala in a sentence. This year, we are sure wahala is one of the most used slangs. You’d hear it in expressions like, “Wahala for who no fine oh”, as a response to someone who’s showing off their beauty.
- Opor: Opor is so popular among Nigerians that it even has a translation: it’s plenty. Nigerians use this when they feel something is in excess, or they’ve seen something at a level they haven’t before. Imagine this: you’re at a party proudly spraying your 500 notes and someone comes from nowhere and starts spraying a 100 dollar note, what’s the first thing you’d mutter? Opor!
- Omo: This is used mostly when you suddenly realize how much your expenditure has been so far or when you think of how far you have come in life. ‘omo i don try oh’
- Shey you dey whine me ni?: Imagine going to a luxury fancy restaurant to have dinner and you are about to take pictures of yourself, then the waiter comes to tell you “oh no, we don’t allow pictures in here due to the privacy of our clients”. What would be your response? Lol we thought as much.
- Lori iro: When someone is feeding Nigerians with lies and they know it, they simply say, “lori iro”. See, you can’t give us bobo and get away with it.
- Help help me, e dey carry me dey go where I no know: You know when something has a direction and at the same time does not have a direction? That’s how Nigerians express that type of thing. When a situation, person or thing is getting out of hand and they no longer understand it, they say that situation is steering them to where dem no know.
- Sapa: A slang word used in Nigeria to describe a state of brokenness and extreme poverty, especially after extravagant spending
- Dey play: It means to continue wasting time; being unserious. It rose to fame on social just recently.
- Sora Fun Obirin : The term was derived from a viral video of an Akure preacher in which he spoke against indecent dressing.
- Japa: “Japa” originated from the Yoruba language and it means to run swiftly. But once you hear “Japa”, it tells you the person wants to travel abroad.
Nigeria is a fun and interesting place to live, you would agree. Is there any slang used this year that we have omitted from this list, oya share with us in the comment section.
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