Transportation
It’s Official! Okada, Danfo, Tokunbo, 26 Others Are Added Into Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary adds Okada, Danfo, Tokunbo, 26 Others into its latest update
Some few years ago, when you write Okada or Danfo in any international journal, you are likely to be penalised except if you add the meaning to it, now all this won’t be necessary as these words are officially accepted into the English world.
The Oxford English Dictionary has added 29 Nigerian words and expressions in its January 2020 updates to the dictionary.
In a blog post on Oxford English Dictionary’s website, the OED’s World English editor Danica Salazar said some of the words were borrowed while others are coinages.
Related Post: Are These The New Cabs To Replace Okada And Keke Napep In Lagos? (Photos)
According to her, she said, “The majority of these new additions are either borrowings from Nigerian languages or unique Nigerian coinages that have only begun to be used in English in the second half of the twentieth century, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s,”
Below are some of the new Nigerian words and senses in the January 2020 update :
okada, n.: “In Nigeria: a motorcycle which passengers can use as a taxi service.”
danfo, n.: “A yellow minibus that carries passengers for a fare as part of an informal transport system in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria. Also as a…”
tokunbo, adj.: “Denoting an imported second-hand product, esp. a car.
Other non-automotive Nigerian words like Mama put, Kannywood, Buka and K-leg were also added in its latest updates.
The OED publishes four updates a year. The next update comes up in March 2020
We hope to see other automotive Nigerian words like Marwa, Keke NAPEP, in the nearest future.