Sunday, September 27, 2026

‘Moi-moi’, ‘mammy market,’ ‘amala,’ other Nigerian words added to Oxford Dictionary

Nigerian entries and expressions, including ‘nyash,’ ‘mammy market,’ ‘amala,’ ‘moi moi’, ‘abeg’, ‘biko’, and ‘Ghana Must

• January 8, 2026
Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary [Credit; Britannica]

More than five hundred new words and phrases including ‘DM’, ‘brainfart’, and ‘chug,’ have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

The latest update includes additions from across the world, featuring words from West African English, Maltese English, Japanese English and South Korean English.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are 349 new senses, 279 words and 31 new additions to unrevised entries.

Words such as ‘DM,’ ‘brainfart’ and ‘chug’ were featured in the new update, while the dictionary editors revised the histories of words, such as ‘troll’, ‘coffee’ and ‘snooker’.

Nigerian entries and expressions, including ‘nyash,’ ‘mammy market,’ ‘amala,’ ‘moi moi’, ‘abeg’, ‘biko’, and ‘Ghana Must Go,’ were among the new words.

In the new update, the word ‘Afrobeats’ was defined as “a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and jazz, soul and funk,” while the word “abeg” considered an interjection was used to describe a contextual range of emotions.

“Biko,” an Igbo-derived word, was recognised as an adverb or interjection meaning ‘please,’ while ‘nyash’ refers to a person’s (especially a woman’s) buttocks.

The phrase ‘Ghana Must Go’ defined as ‘a large, zippered bag made of durable plastic with a colourful check pattern, often used for carrying’ was also added to the update.

The term ‘mammy market,’  another new entry, refers to “a market typically run by women, originally found in military barracks but later also in youth service camps and educational institutions.”

Two food items, amala and moi-moi, were also added to the dictionary.

‘Amala’ was defined 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” while ‘moi moi’, was described as “beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions, dried.”

Other entries such as ‘419,’ ‘abi,’ ‘japa,’ ‘agbero,’ and ‘eba’ also made the list.

The Oxford English Dictionary is updated four times a year to include revisions to existing entries and addition of new words.

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