The Oxford English Dictionary has included several words of Nigerian origin in its latest update, reflecting the increasing global influence of Nigeria’s language, culture and cuisine.

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

According to the dictionary, over 1,000 existing entries were also revised in the update, while editors examined the histories and evolutions of words such as “troll”, “coffee” and “snooker”.

The update features new additions from different varieties of English spoken around the world, including West African English, Maltese English, Japanese English and South Korean English, with editors acknowledging the growing global impact of these forms of English.

Among the Nigerian-origin entries are commonly used expressions and food-related terms such as “nyash”, “mammy market”, “amala”, “moi moi”, “abeg”, “biko” and “Ghana Must Go”.

The update also included “Afrobeats”, which the dictionary defines as “a style of popular music incorporating elements of West African music and of jazz, soul, and funk.”

The Oxford English Dictionary describes “abeg” as an interjection used to express, depending on context, a range of emotions including surprise, exasperation and disbelief.

“Biko”, which originates from the Igbo language, is defined as an adverb and interjection used in polite requests or agreement, or to add polite emphasis or urgency: “please”.

“Nyash” is defined in the dictionary as “a person’s (esp. a woman’s) buttocks; the bottom, the backside.”

Also added is “Ghana Must Go”, the popular name for the large chequered plastic bags widely used across West Africa, a term that traces its origin 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 one’s…”

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.”

Under cuisine-related entries, the dictionary included “amala”, a staple dish made from yam or cassava flour, defined as “a kind of dough made of yam, cassava, or unripe plantain flour, typically formed into a ball and served as an accompaniment to other dishes”.

It also added “moi moi”, a dish originating among the Yoruba people, described as “consisting of beans ground into a smooth paste, mixed with peppers, onions, dried…”

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

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

Other Nigerian expressions added at the time included 419, referring to internet fraud, and abi, a common conversational tag used in everyday speech.