The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has released its 2026 update, adding 22 Nigerian and West African expressions to its pages in a move that highlights the growing global influence of the region’s languages and cultures.
In a post shared on X, the OED announced that out of 279 new words added in the latest update, more than 20 originate from West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
Nigerian expressions newly added include, abeg, Afrobeats, Ghana Must Go, biko, mammy market, amala, nyash and moi moi.
From Ghana, the additions include kpanlogo, light soup, abrokyire and ampesi.
According to the OED, many of the new entries are notable for their grammatical flexibility, functioning as nouns, verbs or adverbs depending on context.
For example, abeg is listed as both an interjection and an adverb, used “to express a range of emotions, such as surprise, exasperation, disbelief, etc”.
The full list of West African additions includes words such as hiplife, benachin, domoda, poda-poda and yassa, reflecting food, music, transport and everyday expressions commonly used across the region.
In 2025, words and expressions such as japa, 419, area boy, yahoo boy, Naija and suya were added to the dictionary, further cementing Nigeria’s linguistic footprint in global English.
Beyond West Africa, the December 2025 update to the OED introduced more than 500 new words, phrases and senses overall, including modern terms like DM, brainfart and chug.
More than 1,000 existing entries were also revised, with editors exploring the histories of words such as troll, snooker and a range of coffee-related terms.
The OED noted that the latest release features contributions from English varieties around the world, including Maltese, Japanese and South Korean English, underscoring the dictionary’s evolving role as a record of global language use.
RN
