From “mad oh” to ‘dey play ‘, shey you dey whine me ‘ ‘emi lokan’, we reminisce on the most said slang that Nigerians used to rave and banter with. 

These slang are usually coined from statements said by celebrities, influencers, comedians, and skit makers. The list goes on. Most of these words are usually pidgin English or Yoruba.

This blog post looks at the past trending slang and how they took the spotlight in Nigerian vocabulary, oya e je ka malo (let’s go!!)

Mad oh 

That moment when you hear your neighbour that just got admission into uniben has bought a Benz, your response would be “Ah mad oh”. it was used as a word filler when you don’t know how to respond, mad oh comes in very handy. 

It was also used as a response to something surprising- ’ Jessica and Joseph just broke up because she caught him cheating’- mad ohhhhh.

Dey play 

Your mates are making money and you are sleeping – just dey play! this slang was used to describe someone being unserious and wasting their time. It rose to popularity when influential people would share media of their success and caption it ‘just dey play’, incurring that if you aren’t driving the latest car or earring in dollars you already wasting your time. 

Shey you dey whine me 

Usually, this is said before the battle of fists, as a response to disrespect or see finish, this statement rolls off the tongue of people who are in disagreement with certain things. 

Bro this your fit dey drip – shey you dey whine me. On TikTok, the audio clip of this slang where the singer austine bull surrounded by women in wrappers dancing as he echoes “Shey you dey wine me niiii”, this sound trended for a while most influencers used it for content, thus its popularity.

Woto woto 

Popular in the south-south region of Nigeria, this lip-pucker word is used to relay threats to someone. I go finish am woto woto, the tone, and mannerism that comes when this word is said could send shivers down the spine.

If you talk too much you go collect woto woto

Breakfast

While it isn’t a platter of scrambled eggs and beacon this word was adopted by Nigerians and was used to describe a breakup. you don chop breakfast. The word breakfast was amplified by Nigerian musician Burna Boy with his hit song ‘last last’ with its opening line being -las las e don cast, na everybody go chop breakfast”   

God abeg 

The prince of the streets mr portable who took the crown from the Marlins and gave Trenches life groove brought this slang to the spotlight with a video he released where he was pulling off a Beyonce Rift singing “ god abeg oh, who go help oh”

This is usually said to hope for a better day. An average Nigerian needs to say this at least 3 times a day to deal with the stresses of Naija.

Miracle no dey tire Jesus 

Used to draw humour out of an unfortunate event, miracle no dey tire Jesus is used in many contexts. When you are hungry and your neighbour forgets to lock the kitchen door – that’s when you say… 

Emi lokan 

After waiting for Dacade to rule, you can’t blame President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu for saying this during his campaign speech. Translating to it’s my turn, this slang was any everybody’s mouth as daily banter and it trended on Twitter during the 2023 election period