B Letter Words for Nigerian English
to Nigerian Translation

Nigerian

Word

Continuous Meaning

ENGLISH

NIGERIAN

 B.

 ba

  isn't it

 baba

  an amiable person {usually a man}

 baba

  any old man older than speaker, term of respect also papa. widespread term for 'father' corresponding to mama for older woman

 baba

  this is another word for father

 baba; mama

  an elderly man or woman

 babangida

  {type of} ulcerated disease

 babanriga

  a kind of long, loose dress for men, especially among the Hausas; {e.g. I really like your babanriga}

 babe

  a term of endearment between women; Girlfriend

 baboon

  derogatory term, foolish person; the animal baboon

 baby girl/boy

  girl/boy friend

 bacha

  temporary shed or building in Africa or Asia?

 back

  to carry a baby on the back In America they don't back their babies as we do here

 back

  to turn one's back on I just backed him and pretended not to see him

 back hand

  bribe

 back hand

  to slap someone with the back of your hand

 back, at my

  behind He was standing at my back

 backyard

  see ikebe

 bad belle

  jealousy or envy

 bad belle

  to hold a grudge/ to envy someone

 bad bush

  place where people who die abnormal deaths are buried or thrown away

 bad gan

  too bad in a good way

 bad mouth

  Speak maliciously about someone.

 bad-belle

  malice, Player hater,

 baddo

  someone who is highly respected or seen as very good at what they do; Someone who commands a lot of respect, power, influence or authority { for example, See as everybodi jus dey hail yu, yu bi baddo o.!; Dat guy na baddo.}

 bado

  a bad person. Could also mean being good in what you do. depends on the context

 badoo

  someone who is extremly bad esp. Socially

 badoski

  same as the word "Baddo". Check "baddo". Means to be a bad/tough guy

 baf

  bathe

 baff

 bath; the process of cleaning ones self. Could be a shower or bath

 baff up

 dress up, especially in flashy clothes.

 baffs

  clothes

 bag

  originally a fifty-kilo jute bag but now commonly used for hundred Naira a bag of money = 100 pounds = 200 naira {I doubt if this is the bag originally referred to! I have thought {but not checked} it was a bag of cowries as an old standard size}

 bag

  to get, especially position, degree or award Adamu has bagged the governorship, He has bagged an M.A. Archaic English sporting terminology. Also in Indian English.

 baggish

 rubbish

 bah

  money

 bakasi

  see ikebe

 bakassi

  booty

 bala

  have sexual intercourse

 balance

  change {for purchase} Give me my balance

 balance

  standing or sitting complacently, apparently unconcerned about anything {used of a person, possibly also of an animal} see her just balancing there feeling cool about herself

 balance

  to give change I will balance you fifty Naira I must give you fifty Naira change

 bam

  something that is good

 Bambara nut

  Bambara groundnut, Vigna subterranea

 bamboo

  midrib of palm frond. Also applied to bamboo proper, though this may be called 'Indian bamboo' to distinguish it.

 bandy

  to bandy about I have no time to bandy with them

 bang

  to have sex

 banga

  fireworks

 banga soup

  a kind of local stew made from boiled palm fruits.

 banger

  popularly knows as knockouts. They are fire crackers blown up during christmas and new year period.

 bani

  a young girl; {street slang for girlfriend}

 banny

 a girl; a person's gilfriend.

 banta

  fierce fight between two people or groups.

 baobab

 baobab tree

  Adansonia digitata.

 baraje

  this can be used to describe something that is spoiled, wrong or bad. [Yoruba Origins]

 barb

  cutting or shaving ones hair. usually refers specifically to cutting with clippers, as opposed to trimming with scissors {I dey go barb my hair}

 barb

  to cut s.o.'s hair She is barbing him Back-formation from barber

 barbing salon

  barber's shop

 barbing salon

  hairdressing salon Viable small businesses... are mostly in such trades as hair dressing and barbing salons, tailoring shops as well as 'pure water' packaging businesses.

 barny

 a girl

 bash

  party or to hit something.

 basket mouth

  a talkative

 batcher

 a wooden plank house.

 bath

  any type of whole-body washing, most often with a bucket Have you taken your bath?

 bath

  to wash the whole body by any method Do you want to bath?

 bathroom slippers

  rubber flip-flops. they are sometimes worn while bathing in general bathrooms {e.g. boarding school} which have no bath tubs {I can't find my bathroom slippers}

 batterie

  First, "batterie", which sounds like "battery", is sometimes used as an alternative word for the theatrical dance called theballet. This NOT physically hitting somebody as "assault and battery"

 bature

  white man shouted at foreigners in northern Nigeria. Also sometimes applied jocularly to albinos. {Hausa}

 baz

  to smoke; Usually a cigarette or marijuana.

 be for

  to have, to possess this moto is for you this is your car

 be with

  to have, to possess it is with him he has it.

 beans

  cowpeas Vigna unguiculata

 beat

  to strike, hit {but not necessarily violently}, to fall {rain} If you do that again I am going to beat you. I'm going to beat you {but could be just a token blow} Take care or rain will beat you. also used for rain, even when it is falling softly

 beau

  boo or beautiful

 beautiful and handsome

  school have been taught that "beautiful" is the adjective of choice to describe good-looking women and that "handsome" describes a good-looking man. That's largely true. A woman is described as "handsome" is she is "fine-looking" in a dignified way, a reference is being made not to her face, but to her physical proportions. Beautiful, handsome, lovely, pretty refer to a pleasing appearance. A person or thing that is beautiful has perfection of form, color, etc., or noble and spiritual qualities: a beautiful landscape, a beautiful woman. Handsome often implies stateliness or pleasing proportion and symmetry: a handsome man.That which is lovely is beautiful but in a warm and endearing way: a lovely smile. Pretty implies a moderate but noticeable beauty, especially in that which is small or of minor importance: a pretty child.

 bebescout

  too forward

 bebeto

  too forward

 bedsheet

  sheets I will put bedsheet for you I'll put sheets on your bed.

 been-to

  a person who has returned to Nigeria after a long stay overseas {e.g. the way he speaks, everybody knows that he is a been-to}

 been-to

  s.o. who has 'been-to' Europe or America this been-to is now a big man. perhaps now becoming archaic

 beer-beer

  {also see bia bia} Beard

 Beetle

  Volkswagen car I get Beetle. Volkswagens were made in Nigeria and imported from Brazil long after they disappeared in Europe

 before nko

  it was expected

 beg

  to plead, beg, but used in more trivial contexts than in Standard English. Also in the sentence tag, I beg. Do not do this thing-o, I beg!

 beg beg

  One who always begs

 Belgian

  good quality second-hand item also Belgium; practice of importing second-hand cars and now other goods from Belgium

 belle

 this means stomach

 belle full

  full, from eating to your heart's content. Not able to eat more.

 bend down

  a form of second hand attire

 bend down boutique

  fairly used clothes for sale. Its usually spread on mat for passers by to buy. see orkrika

 bend down select

  2nd hand clothing sold by the roadside

 beniseed

  sesame, sesamum indicum there are two species of beniseed, white and black. black beniseed is sesamum radiatum {Benue seed}

 benji

  money

 bent-back

  hunchback

 berekete

  abundant, plentiful, in excess

 berry don black

  a way to express that there's enough money...

 berry never black

  a way to express that you're not wealthy enough yet.

 beta

  better

 betta

  good times; improvement

 bia bia

  beards.

 bicos

  because

 bicos why

  the reason is?

 bifor bifor

  long time ago

 bifor nko

  What did you expect?

 bifor-bifor

  Long time ago.

 big dowry wife

  wife married under the big bride-price system; This is a system typical of the Niger Delta, where on payment of a large brideprice the husband's family has rights over his wife's children.

 big eye

  greedy

 big man

  a rich man

 biko

  An igbo word meaning please

 biko

  please

 bin

  pidgin word which is used in different ways to indicate that a verb is in the past tense.

 bingo

  this is a generic name for a dog.

 biro

  from the well known producer of ball point pens; Bic: biro

 bisko

  Biscuit

 bitterleaf

  mucilaginous leaf, used to make draw soup. We enjoy bitterleaf soup Vernonia amygdalina

 bizzy body

  someone DAT gossips a lot. Someone that get into others business

 black

  dark-skinned; That boy is very black. N.B. The colour distinctions are very clear in relative context. For example, to say That black boy came to visit you will be clear to the speaker who is choosing one from a set of visitors, but may refer to a distinction invisible to outsiders. opposite fair

 black blacky

  a dark person

 black Guarea

  trade name for Guarea thompsonii

 blackout

  power-cut

 blast scatter

  fire, attack or shoot with full force and no hesitation

 blindman

  blind man; Blindman can often be seen begging outside the mosque used as a category like 'policeman'

 blocos

  this word refers to the male genitalia, specifically the scrotum balls.

 blokkus

  scrotum

 blom blom

  blom blom is a balloon

 blom blow

  Balloon

 blood tonic

  patent medicine of unknown composition, purporting to 'strengthen' blood and fight off disease.

 blow

  sex

 blow

  speak, talk

 bluetooth

  to send something invisibly.

 bluff

  to swagger, show off; That boy is just bluffing. { of young men}

 bo

  my friend; Love {Pidgin}

 boa constrictor

  large python

 bobbie

  breasts {particularly sexually arousing ones}

 bobby

  breast, boobs

 bobie

  big breast for a woman, striking breast

 bobo

  trendy guy

 bobozee

  Cassava chips

 bobs

  rather formal for Bros; Brother; Guy; Bobo; Ol boi or other exclamation.

 bodi dey inside clothe

  I'm surviving

 boil beans

  Not giving a damn, not showing care {used in southern nigeria, esp edo state and delta}

 boju boju

  Hide and seek game

 boku

  plenty

 boku

  plenty, surplus

 boli

  roasted plantain. it's a popular snack eaten with groundnut or hot oil.

 bolo

  fool; silent person.

 bololo

  hairless; bald.

 bom boi

  a baby boi

 bomboy

  a male child. Also a male adult who behaves like a child or who is not man enough.

 Bomboy

  form of address to plump and healthy {male} child Also used to refer to a child, e.g. How is Bomboy?

 bon boy

  this is the name give to a woman that gives birth to a male child

 bone

  look serious/mean

 bone

  to frown or to forget about something or someone

 bone that side

  forget it

 bonga fish

  a kind of blackened dried fish used to prepare local soups; Fool

 bongo

  it is a new word for Nigeria see naija; The word Bongo is derived from Bongo drums or bongos which are percussion instruments made up of two small drums attached to each other; It is also an antelope specie, found in the Western or Lowland Bongo, there are herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest {I just dey come from bongo.}

 bonz

  to be fresh, beautiful; Very good

 booze man

  drunkard

 borku

  plenty, lots

 born boy

  male infant

 born-again

 born-again Christian

  a fundamentalist type of Christian who rejects all compromise with other religions. According to the predilections of the speaker this can be a simple description or extremely scornful. N.B. can have a plural 'born-agains'

 borrow

  to lend; Borrow me this money

 borrow leg

  to flee from trouble.

 borrow pose

  Showing off with stuff that is not yours.

 bosun

  an extreme suegbe

 bottom

  worst; But it's the bottom men that make the leader the worst men become leaders

 bottom power

  sexual might {of women} for favouritism

 bottom power

  influence gained by a woman or homosexual through sexual favours

 botty

  trendy version of ajebutter. refers to someone who has been over-pampered. someone from a wealthy family {that girl na real botty, she no sabi wash plate}

 bow leg

  Childhood disease caused by deficiency of vitamin D and sunlight associated with impaired metabolism of calcium and phosphorus {thank God, I no get Bow Leg}

 bow na u

  means you amaze me

 boy

  any male.

 boy yoyo

  a poser; Guy that is trendy, hip and likes to show off

 boy

  house-servant; from Hindi bhai 'servant' but re-analysed as English 'boy', hence its counterpart 'girl'

 boys' quarters

  usually a row of small rooms behind a large house where houseservants or younger relatives live. Abbreviated to BQ

 braga

  someone who shows off or a booster {me i no dey braga or you to dey braga}

 branch

  to turn aside, to divert to {when on the way to somewhere else} I am going to branch at his house.

 bread

  one Naira give me ten bread! the fall in the value of the Naira has meant that this is now of limited use, but used for 'money' in general. It may always have been mainly student slang. prob. cognate with 'bread' for money.

 breadfruit

  edible fruit.

 breadnut

  edible fruit; Contrasts with breadfruit - no central stone

 breaklight

  shadow

 brideprice

  payment by a man to the parents of his wife at marriage or before technical anthropological term, but also in common use in Nigeria.

 brikito

  British or english

 bring

  to hand over {money}; Bring money! A common conclusion to a bargaining session.

 bring

  to turn back on {electricity} ; Power holding or NEPA {Nigerian Electricity Power Authority} has brought light again.

 brocade

  type of cloth; guinea brocade

 broda

  Brother

 broda-broda

  Nepotism

 broken

  short for Broken English

 Broken English

  pidgin English in contrast to 'Queen's English'

 brokkus

  part of the male private part, Scrotum

 brokos/prick

  penis

 brokoto

  Cooked cow's foot.

 brokun

  broken english, pidgin english

 bros

  {clipped form of} brother {not neccessarily biological}

 bros

  brother

 bros

  brother

 bros

  Brother; Someonoe that is trying to feel among but is excluded from a coversation or a circle of people {Dat guy na my bros; E be like say Chukwuma na de number one bros for this side}

 bros fighting

  When you get into/ join a fight and you dont even know what it is about.

 bros laffing

  When someone is laffing at something they dont understand in order to feel among.

 bross

  It can be said when talking to or talking about a person(male)

 brother

  actual brother or male of the same generation in an extended family. Applied by extension to those of a comparable status in ethnicity religion, politics etc.

 brother dash me

  hand-me-down, clothes passed on from another generation of a family

 brown envelope

  symbol of bribe

 brusai

  flirt

 b-side

  referred to as Benin City

 buba

  loose blouse {Yoruba}

 buba

  Traditional nigerian blouse

 buka

  a small building alone the road side where people go to eat. canteen

 buka

  street restaurant {Hausa}

 bukateria

  a cafeteria, canteen, or simple eating-place.

 buketeria

  street restaurant humorous extension of buka {Humorous blend of buka + cafeteria}

 bukka

  roadside restaurant see: mamaput

 bulala

  Horse Whip see: koboko

 bullet

  See arrow (entry too)

 bullet

  small screwed-up piece of paper flung across an exam hall containing answers to questions, used in University of Port Harcourt but there may be alternative forms in other universities

 bun

  any small soft cake

 bunk

  house

 buran tashi

  Aphrodisiac

 buredi

  bread

 burnt rep

  short for "burnt reputation"; used to mean that one has been disgraced, or ones reputation has been lowered {why you wear this kind cloth come party, you don burn your rep be that}

 burst out

  to come out onto take this bush track and you will burst out onto the Onitsha road {especially roads or rivers}

 bush

  rustic, uncouth.

 bush

  uncultivated land, usually open savanna. In originally forest areas, woodland

 bush greens

  any green vegetable used in soup that is gathered from the bush

 bush man

  unsophisticated man

 bush mango

  tree and its fruit much prized for use in soup Irvingia gabonensis { ọgbọnọ}

 bush meat

  a village girl

 bush-burning

  preparation of land for farming by burning weeds/scrub

 bush-candle

  tree, Canarium schweinfurthii so-called because the oil can be used in lamps. Colonial-era expression no longer in use

 bush-cat

  any wild felid.

 bush-cow

  buffalo, Syncerus caffer.

 bush-dog

  civet-cat

 bushfire

  uncontrolled savanna/bush burning in the dry season

 bush-lamp

  kerosene lantern In the rickety wooden huts of Tselekwu, kerosine bush lamps fight a losing battle to dispel some of the pervasive darkness.

 bushman

  unsophisticated person He is a bushman! he doesn't know city ways.

 bushmeat

  any meat from a hunted animal; often served in special restaurants, and in bushmeat soup

 bushmeat

  female visitor from the town, as opposed to the campus/hostels; considered less sophisticated than female students student slang

 bushmo

  a very local girl

 bush-pig

  wild pig, usually Sus but can apply to Phacochoerus or Potamochoerus porcus Red River Hog.

 bush-taxi

  car or pickup that travels along back roads taking passengers

 busybody

  prying person

 butcher

  to cut up {any dead animal}; He is butchering the fish

 buttered

  with butter in, not spread on buttered bread common inscription on bread labels

 by

  exactly at {time} not 'in the period up to' He arrived by 2 p.m.

 byah byah

  bushy beard