Oxford Dictionary Includes 6 Food-Related Nigerian Terms In Latest Update

January 24, 2020 Margaret Agwu

The Oxford Dictionary has officially added 29 Nigerian English words to the dictionary, 6 of which are the food-related words buka, bukateria, ‘to eat money’, chop, chop-chop and mama put.

Credit: The Art of KB

Nigerianisms are unique, colloquial terms usually coined directly from our mother tongues in English, none so apt as ‘to eat money’ which translates directly from Igbo as ‘I ri ego’.

In the official release notes from the Oxford English Dictionary Blog, they shared an interesting insight into the etymology of some of these words:

One particularly interesting set of such loanwords and coinages has to do with Nigerian street food. The word buka, borrowed from Hausa and Yoruba and first attested in 1972, refers to a roadside restaurant or street stall that sells local fare at low prices. Another term for such eating places first evidenced in 1980 is bukateria, which adds to buka the –teria ending from the word cafeteria. An even more creative synonym is mama put, from 1979, which comes from the way that customers usually order food in a buka: they say ‘Mama, put…’ to the woman running the stall, and indicate the dish they want. The word later became a generic name for the female food vendors themselves—Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka notably includes a Mama Put character in one of his works.

OED, Nigerian English Release Notes

We’ve always been a bit apologetic about our food names; it's a Nigerian thing to look down on regional names for food as “local”. These words existing in the English dictionary does not make a case for bad grammar; in fact, it’s not about grammar at all. Rather, this is about staying true to the informal terms that have evolved from a union of our indigenous languages and English, especially in conversation.

So while we may not be able to use "chop" in an official document because it's colloquial, we can continue to use them in everyday conversations without shame.

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Food is regional, that’s why we have “pasta” and “sushi”, both names from their native origins. It’s almost like putting a tag on your food: no matter where it goes, it always has an origin story that cannot be separated from its culture.

Nigerian food is the next big wave on the international culinary front. We cannot be so preoccupied with renaming our food because it doesn’t sound good to us that their identities are completely stripped away. Our food names should be a proud declaration of their origins.

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While ewa agoyin, amala, fura, akara, and okpa have not made it to the Oxford dictionary, they still hold their own and their names are valid. There's no need for designer English names like ‘Cassava flakes’ for garri, or ‘bambara nut cake’ for okpa. Being recognised by the English dictionary is good, but it shouldn’t become the standard for accepting our local food names the way they are.

We don’t need to change the names of our food and peculiar translations to English in a bid to bring contemporary meaning to local food and food elements. If we build a food culture that is proud of its Nigerian roots instead of pandering to western influences, we can truly put our stamp on the world's culinary scene.