29/09/2025
🌍 The Funny Side of English in Nigeria
Ever noticed how some English words take on a special flavor in Nigeria? 😅
For example, the word “cohorts” in the dictionary simply means a group of people, like classmates or colleagues. But here, you’ll mostly hear it in crime stories: “the suspect and his cohorts…”
Same with words like:
Cabal -always about politics 🏛️
Sycophant - political flatterers 🙌
Stooge -a puppet 🤖
Godfather -not your mentor, but power play 🎭
Notorious - never just famous, always criminal 🚨
It’s not that the words are bad , it’s just the way our media and everyday speech have shaped their meaning. English is flexible, and in Nigeria, we’ve given some words our own unique spin.
✨ Maybe one day we’ll start using them in their positive sense again. Imagine telling your friends: “me and my cohorts from uni are planning a reunion!” 😂
Language is culture and that’s what makes Nigerian English so lively and interesting.
👉 “So it’s not just Nigeria- everywhere, English wears the color of the culture speaking it.”
