The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has included Nyash, Mammy Market, among other Nigerian words and expressions in its latest update, expanding its lexicon.
More than 500 new words, phrases, and tenses have been introduced in the OED’s December 2025 update, while over 1,000 existing entries have been revised as part of its quarterly review process.
The update was announced on Wednesday via X by the OED and features widely used Nigerian and West African terms connected to food, music, everyday speech, markets and pop culture, highlighting the increasing global influence of African languages on English.
Catherine Sangster, author and OED Head of Pronunciations, says the update marked an important development in how pronunciations are documented across different varieties of English.
“With this update, we introduce a new model for the transcription of Maltese English pronunciations; this is the nineteenth World English pronunciation model in our collection. We also celebrate a decade of OED having spoken pronunciations, which were first added in December 2015,” Sangster said.
She explained that the dictionary has further expanded its pronunciation features, including the use of multiple audio files where necessary, adding that new pronunciations were also recorded for several West African English entries included in the update.
Among the newly added Nigerian entries is abeg, which the OED notes can function as an interjection or adverb “to express a range of emotions, such as surprise, exasperation, disbelief, etc.”
Another addition is amala, a staple Nigerian food, defined as “in Nigerian cookery: 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.”
The update also formally recognises Afrobeats, described as “originally: a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and of jazz, soul, and funk”.
Other Nigerian entries from the 2025 list were area boy, Yahoo Boy, Yahoo, Naija, suya, kobo, Edo, Kanuri, jand, janded, cross-carpet and cross-carpeting.
Also included are the following Nigerian and West African expressions: Ghana Must Go, biko, Mammy Market, nyash, and Moi Moi, words commonly used in everyday conversations and cultural contexts across Nigeria and Ghana.
Earlier updates from OED on Nigerian words included popular terms such as japa, agbero, eba, 419, and abi, words closely linked to Nigerian street language, food culture, migration discourse and internet slang.
