POPULAR NIGERIAN SLANGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

I'm from a country where we take almost everything as a joke and people find creative ways to be sarcastic. We mostly come up with slangs that better describe our moods or emotions.

These words mostly do not make sense in their literal form but 90% of us understand the hidden meaning behind them. Most of these slangs can be used in various situations. I'll be sharing some of the slangs and few ways we use them

Ps: they are pronounced as spelt.

Ma Fe Jo pami
This literally means don't kill me with your talks. However, people use it in different situations. For example when we are in an argument with someone and we just want them to stop talking. We say "I agree with you, ma Fe Jo pami". It's mostly used to dismiss a conversation we find irrelevant or meaningless.

E choke
This is used when an event or statement leaves one dumbfounded. You literally cannot believe what just happened. For example, you tell someone you just got an airdrop of $50k, they are in shock and you say "e choke". Meaning I know you find it hard to believe.

Dead the matter

This is mostly used when you have a beef with someone and you try to explain the situation to another person. The person could be like "just dead the matter", in other words, It doesn't matter if you're right or wrong just let it go.

Perish that idea
This is used when a person is entertaining a thought that is literally impossible to achieve. I could tell a friend, "I want to go to New York next week". We are both aware that with the current state of my bank account I cannot afford to do that, so she could reply by saying "perish that idea". In other words, we both know it's impossible.

Gbogbo wa la ma je breakfast

Mostly used to say everyone will experience a particular thing, either good or bad. If someone is celebrating a pump in the price of their coin, another person who hasn't had any pump could say "calm down, gbogbo wa la ma je breakfast". In other words, this thing will go round, I may not experience it today or tomorrow, but surely I will experience it.

Na ment?/Na ment
This particular slang could either be a question or a statement. It is mostly used when someone is acting out of line. We say "na ment?" To ask if the person crazy and "Na ment" to say this person is definitely crazy.

There are some others I didn't mention, these are just a few. The ironic thing is most of these slangs could either be offensive or said comically. It depends on the context and the circumstances it's been used.

I had so much fun writing this, I hope you had fun reading too.

Thanks for stopping by ❤️