Stella Dimoko Korkus.com: Words Frequently Used In Nigeria Not Found In Dictionary....

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Monday, September 04, 2017

Words Frequently Used In Nigeria Not Found In Dictionary....

Lets learn....






1. *Installmentally:*


This “word” is a favourite of many Nigerians, but, sadly, it simply does not exist. You won’t find it any reputable dictionary. The correct thing to say when “installmentally” comes to your mind is in installments or by installments.





*2. Plumpy:*
Nigerians use “plumpy” when they want to say that someone is chubby or slightly fat. The correct expression is plump.





3. *Disvirgin:*
This particular “word” is used severally on a daily basis, especially by Nigerian men when they intend saying that a woman has lost her virginity to a guy. The correct word to use, however, is deflower, because “disvirgin” is not a word.






4. *Cross carpeting:*
This is a favourite of Nigerian politicians and political analysts alike. They use it when they want to say that a politician has dumped his political party for another party, usually a rival party. The right terms to use when describing this scenario are party switching, defection and crossing the floor and not “cross-carpeting” or “crosscarpeting.”





5. *Go-Slow :*

The word go-slow exists, but not in the way Nigerians use it. A “go-slow,” in the peculiarly Nigerian context, is a situation in which road traffic is very sluggish due to vehicle queues. However, go-slow in the English language actually means an industrial tactic used by employees whereby they intentionally reduce activity, productivity and efficiency in order to press home some demands. When this happens, you say that work in the office, factory or organization is at a go-slow. The correct terms to use when road traffic is very sluggish due to vehicle queues are traffic jam, traffic congestion, gridlock, and (less technically) hold-up, not “go-slow.”





6. *Cunny:*
“Cunny” is not found in authoritative dictionaries, but it can be found in some slang dictionaries. Over there, it is a slang used to refer to a woman’s v**ina. The correct term to use is cunning (which is used to describe someone that is being deceitful or crafty) and not “cunny.”






7. *Opportuned:*
There is nothing like “opportuned” anywhere in the English language, but that has not stopped its blatant use by all and sundry in Nigeria, including journalists and writers. The correct word is opportune. The word opportune is an adjective; therefore it has no past tense. An adjective has no past tense. However, some verbs can function as adjectives or adverbs in a sentence. These verbs are called participles and they do have past tenses. They are not pure adjectives. Examples of participles are fattened, amused, disgusted, mystified, overwhelmed, upset and bored. Be that as it may, opportune is a pure adjective and not a participle, therefore it has no past tense. Opportune means appropriate or well-timed.





8. *Alright:*

“Alright” is a misspelling of the term all right. All right is used when you want to say that something is adequate, acceptable, agreeable or suitable. To hardcore English language linguists, “alright” is not a word. However, its usage is gaining traction and it’s increasingly becoming acceptable. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary – which is considered the gold standard among American English speakers – has recently drawn a lot of criticisms for its permissiveness when it began indexing some otherwise colloquial and street language terms, including “alright.” Most linguists disagree with the gradual acceptance of “alright” as a word by the public and even the media, while those in the minority are “alright” with it.





9. *Wake-Keeping:*

“Wake-keeping” exists only in the imagination of a few English speakers. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as “wake-keeping.” The correct word is wake and not even “wake-keep.” Both “wake-keeping” and “wake-keep” are ungrammatical.




10. *Screentouch:*
This bad grammatical expression gained currency in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries with the influx of made-in-China stylus pen touchscreen not-so-smart phones in the mid 2000s. It was a novelty then; many in Nigeria had not seen it – or even thought such advanced technology was possible – before. So, they looked for a name to call it and “screentouch” came to mind, after all you just touch the screen and it starts working. In case you’ve still not figured it out yet, the correct thing to say is touchscreen and not screen touch

 


There are more words used but not found in the dictionary.....your contribution is welcome.



57 comments:

  1. Hahahaha 😁
    Who grammar epp?...hehehe
    Anyways,I learnt the alright today,oya all right. Others I knew before
    Oyibo wu agbara

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    Replies
    1. I know most of these before. But screen touch, I did not.

      Nice one stella.

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    2. Disvirgin is correct. Google it and it will direct you to a veritable online dictionary.

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    3. Wake and not even kwa??? Who get time 4 dat kind long tin. Ill learn to avoid d word henceforth jor.

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    4. Abi oo, who grammar epp! They shld just include it in the dictionary and stop disturbing themselves chasing bad grammar upandan!

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  2. Hehehe I could relate with a lot of those words.

    Your comment will be visible after approval

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  3. Thanks so much for this, especially for screen touch and alright, we learn everyday




    *Larry was here*

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  4. One can never know it all. Nawa!
    No 9 sounds somehow without d keep abeg.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ada olee way? Trust you are feeling better now.


      DontQuoteMe™

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    2. O na ebe nata Nna! Daalu so!

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  5. The word "LET ME COME AND BE GOING" crack me up big time.Lol

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    Replies
    1. MonkeyNoFineTheTafiaMama4 September 2017 at 13:58

      Me too and *I am in my house come and beat me* these two words gives me orgasm walai😂😂😂

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    2. While we are discussing grammar, 'let me come and be going' is not a word please!!! It is a sentence or phrase. A collection of single words!

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    3. My favourite is "I am coming" when someome is walking aaway from you.

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  6. anonymous to bahd4 September 2017 at 13:14

    Rubbish!

    Issa wawu somtin.

    Na we own language, the Chinese get money pass UK and US, dem no dey speak engrish. Abegi!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Learn n stop blabbing. Ehn hope say blabbing dey dictionary sha.

      Delete
  7. Wow I am guilty of the word screen touch. Others I know of already.

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  8. There are a lot of them but na only few I go fit remember as no be English I study for school and we 'unlearn to learn' everyday;

    * pepperish is wrong, it's peppery, tricky & not trickish.
    *indicate using your car indicator as in signalling and not trafficate (there's no such word).


    Jesus sure loves you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wait o so it's no longer Trafficator..issorait

      Ha before they told it was Trafficator instead of Traffigator 😀😁😀

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    2. There is something like trafficator so there is something as trafficate.

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  9. Lol... Nigeria is rich in Linguistic ...most are coined from Pidgin English

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  10. Nice one! Esp that of 'wake keep', so many people don't know it's wrong.

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  11. Bathing----its wrong,no such word as I am bathing,also I am taking my bath or having my bath is wrong,its either I am having a bath or taking a bath-----Greediness-GREED,My Stomach is paining me--wrong! Stomach ache,upset or churning

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  12. Wow! Thanks o am guilty of Alright.

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  13. Very nice and helpful piece. Just a little comment on the word "severally." It exists in the English language but tends to be used in the wrong context in Nigeria.

    "Severally" is not a synonym for such expressions as "several times," "frequently," "regularly" etc. Instead, it refers to individuality or separability. For example, it is correct to say: "although Ada and Obi are joint-owners of the apartment, rents are paid to them severally." This means that Ada and Obi receive rents individually and not jointly. This is the proper sense of "severally."

    By contrast, the use of "severally" in the article (in the discussion of the Nigerian coinage "disvirgin") is contextually incorrect. For the sense sought to be conveyed in that sentence, "frequently" or "regularly" are more appropriate words...

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  14. Honestly I always say we should have our own English specifically for us. most we conform to the language passed down to us by the British? Mist western counties that got their English from the bristish now have their own custom made English.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Is this the original Ezenmwanyi or someone new with the name? Please respond

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  15. No english word like 'Kundus' and 'Ponyor'....



    DontQuoteMe™

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  16. MonkeyNoFineTheTafiaMama4 September 2017 at 13:57

    Awon grammatical police how body ? Hope you guys ain't guilty of this 😂😂😂😂😂

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  17. Good to learn something new 😎😎😎

    LEP😛

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  18. Expantiate.. Nigerians use this a lot. There is nothing like expantiate in English. The correct word is EXPATIATE. Take note.

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  19. And you are asking why we are not among the best English speaking African country??

    Please let me come and be going before I write another wrong grammar.. 😁😁😁😁😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are not, doing my masters in the US my grammar was a big issue

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  20. #Don't ever tell someone to "stop crying" or to "stop being upset". We all have a right to feel*

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  21. Nice one....we are Sharing,Learning And Growing.

    #OlajiWrites

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  22. If there are not found in any dictionary, they should be added. Simple.

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    Replies
    1. Hahahahahaha after all new words are added daily

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    2. Thank u oh, at least we understand them well

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  23. The right thing to say is "Funeral Wake".

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  24. Learnt some new stuff today... thanks Stellz

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  25. stella No. 2 plumpy is in dictionary. it is an adjective. just like trumps covfefe is not a word nor in dictionary dats how dis words make it into dictionary.

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  26. Nice post.
    Honestly there are people I read their sentences and I begin to pity them.

    What is "jealousness"? Aarrrrrggghhhh.
    What is go and "on" the light?
    Jeez!

    I always imagine, the kind of schools attended and the grade of teachers. I don't correct, I just stare.

    Nigeria we hail thee.

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  27. My 2 kobo on this matter:

    Every so often, it feels to me like as a race, once the Oyinbo people do not validate anything we are doing, we often just feel the thing we are doing is inferior. There are several examples of things we lost over time, which Oyinbo resurrected and now have taken ownership of.

    If these are words we have "invented" or "evolved" and fully understand, then we should have these formalized. Believe me, if America, UK or Australia used one of these words and a large enough population of any of these countries' people use those words, they become accepted as part of their language (by the way, remember that what is called American English and British English have marked differenced and Americans never allowed the British tell them the British version is superior, both became the main stream, inspite of Americans being originally from Britain). My people, this is how languages evolve. Should the language construct of some 60 million people from the UK, for example, supersede that of 180 million in Nigeria. It is about time we start to realize we have a place and a voice and start putting it to good use instead of waiting for the Oyinbo man to validate everything we do. We need to see the good in ourselves and promote it!

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  28. English is really hard.Thanks stella.

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  29. Those that say temporal instead of temporary.
    Formal instead of former.
    Propostpone instead of postpone.
    And there's nothing like pokenoser.
    It's nosey parker.

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  30. Dont forget "Traffickating"

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  31. Insultive should be on that list.

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  32. i have been using disvirgined for over 20 years now and you want me to change it? Oya how much are you going to pay me? If you like correct am that one too.

    ReplyDelete

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