Oxford Dictionary Adds ‘Amala’, ‘Afrobeats’, ‘Nyash’ and 19 Other West African Slangs

Oxford Dictionary Adds ‘Amala’, ‘Afrobeats’, ‘Nyash’ and 19 Other West African Slangs

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added 22 new expressions from Nigeria and other West African countries to its latest update, further recognising the region’s growing influence on global English usage.

The new entries were included in the December 2025 update of the dictionary, released on Wednesday on the OED website. The update features over 500 new words, phrases, and tenses, alongside revisions to more than 1,000 existing entries.

Among the newly added Nigerian-origin words are popular expressions such as “nyash”, “Ghana Must Go”, “mammy market”, “amala”, and “moi moi”. Other inclusions like “Afrobeats”, “abeg” and “biko” further reflect the growing global acceptance of Nigerian English, Pidgin, and street slang.

According to the OED, the additions highlight the richness and diversity of West African languages and their expanding role in shaping contemporary English. The dictionary noted that Nigerian expressions, in particular, continue to gain international relevance through culture, music, migration, and digital communication.

The update also incorporated new words from other varieties of English, including Maltese, Japanese, and South Korean English, underscoring the evolving and global nature of the language.

Explaining one of the Nigerian entries, the OED said “abeg” can function as both an interjection and an adverb, used “to express a range of emotions, such as surprise, exasperation, disbelief, and others.”

The latest update builds on previous inclusions of Nigerian words in the dictionary, reinforcing the country’s significant linguistic and cultural contribution to the English language.

Full list of new West African additions to the Oxford Dictionary:

1. abeg

2. abrokyire

   

3. Adowa

4. Afrobeats

5. amala

6. ampesi

7. benachin

8. bichir

9. biko

10. domoda

11. dumboy

12. Ghana Must Go

13. hiplife

14. kpanlogo

15. light soup

16. mammy market

17. moi moi

18. nawetan

19. nyash

20. obroni

21. poda-poda

22. yassa