Oxford Dictionary Adds ‘Nyash’, ‘Abeg’, ‘Mammy Market,’ Others To English Lexicon

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has expanded its lexicon for 2026 with the inclusion of over 22 new expressions drawn from Nigeria and other West African countries, recognising the region’s growing influence on global English usage.

The December 2025 update, released on the OED website on Wednesday, features more than 500 new words, phrases and senses, including internet slang such as “DM”, “brainfart” and “chug”.

Over 1,000 existing entries were also revised, while editors explored the histories of words such as “troll”, “coffee” and “snooker.”

The update includes additions from varieties of English used around the world, including West African English, Maltese English, Japanese English and South Korean English. OED editors noted the growing global influence of these Englishes.

Among the Nigerian entries are everyday expressions and food items, including “Nyash”, “Mammy Market”, “Amala”, “Moi-moi”, “Abeg”, “Biko” and “Ghana-Must-Go”.

The dictionary described “abeg” as an interjection used to express a range of emotions depending on context, such as surprise, exasperation or disbelief.

“Biko”, originally from the Igbo language, is defined as an adverb and interjection used in polite requests or agreement, or to add polite emphasis or urgency, similar to ‘please’.

“Nyash” is defined as “a person’s (especially a woman’s) buttocks, the bottom or backside.”

“Ghana Must Go”, the popular name for large chequered plastic bags widely used in West Africa, traces back to the 1983 mass expulsion of undocumented Ghanaian migrants from Nigeria.

It is defined as “a large, zippered bag made of durable plastic with a colourful check pattern, often used for carrying personal items.”

The term “mammy market” was recognised as “a market typically run by women, originally found in military barracks but later also in youth service camps and educational institutions.”

In the category of cuisine, the dictionary included “amala”, a staple food made from yam flour, cassava or unripe plantain flour, defined as “a kind of dough typically formed into a ball and served as an accompaniment to other dishes”, and “moi moi”, a dish originating among the Yoruba people, “consisting of beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions and other ingredients, then steamed or baked.”

The Oxford English Dictionary had previously expanded its lexicon with 20 Nigerian words and expressions in a January 2025 update, which showed the influence of Nigerian English, Pidgin and street slang on global vocabulary.

That update included everyday terms such as “japa”, “agbero” and “eba”, a staple food made from cassava flour.

Other entries such as “419”, referring to internet fraud, and “abi”, a common conversational tag, were also added.