The Oxford English Dictionary has added several Nigerian words and expressions to its latest update, highlighting the growing global reach of Nigeria’s language, culture and food.
The update, released in December 2025 and published on the OED website on Wednesday, includes over 500 new words, phrases and meanings from different parts of the world.
According to the dictionary editors, the update reflects the increasing influence of different forms of English, including West African English.
Among the Nigerian words newly recognised are common expressions and food items such as “nyash”, “mammy market”, “amala”, “moi moi”, “abeg”, “biko” and “Ghana Must Go”.
The dictionary also included “Afrobeats”, which it defined as “a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and of jazz, soul, and funk.”
Explaining some of the Nigerian entries, the OED described “abeg” as an interjection used to show different emotions, including surprise, disbelief or frustration.
“Biko”, which comes from the Igbo language, was defined as “an adverb and interjection used in polite requests or agreement, or to add polite emphasis or urgency: ‘please’.”
The word “nyash” was defined as “a person’s (especially a woman’s) buttocks; the bottom, the backside.”
The popular travel bag known as “Ghana Must Go” was also added. The dictionary traced the expression to the 1983 expulsion of undocumented Ghanaian migrants from Nigeria 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 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 food category, “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.”
“Moi moi”, a popular Nigerian delicacy, was defined as a dish originating among the Yoruba people, “consisting of beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions and other ingredients.”
The OED said the update also revised more than 1,000 existing entries and explored the histories of familiar words such as “troll”, “coffee” and “snooker”.
Editors noted that the inclusion of Nigerian words shows how everyday language from the country has crossed borders and become part of global English usage.
