Browse African Slang

To know or be skilled at. Also as noun 'I too sabi' = know-it-all

A state of extreme broke-ness or poverty

A playful extension of "sapa," treating being broke as a country one belongs to. Saying you have a "passport in Sapa Nat...

A phrase combining sapa with "hold me" to stress being gripped by poverty. It's a vivid way to say "I'm totally broke ri...

Disorganized / messy person.

To dance energetically (as if scattering the ground).

When someone has lost awe or respect for you due to over-familiarity.

A phrase meaning to promote oneself or one's goods, often slyly. Common in Nigerian parlance especially on social media ...

Initiate a romantic move (short for “set plan”).

In Nigerian usage, to be settled means to be paid off, often as a bribe or to resolve an obligation. "I don settle am" i...

A filler word used for emphasis or to mean 'though/anyway.' Placed at sentence end or before a clause

(Pidgin) While it literally means to dance, in flirtatious contexts shake body can imply being confident and showing off...

Slang for alcohol or to drink alcohol/party. From Yoruba shayo (to be happy/drunk). People say I wan shayo meaning 'I wa...

A fun, nonsensical phrase from a song that Nigerians jokingly use to refer to plenty money scattered around. It's like s...

To snub or ignore someone deliberately. If you invite someone and they don't show, they shenked you

A warning to be alert and not get duped financially. Telling someone to shine your eye means telling them to be savvy, e...

Derived from 'relationship,' it means rooting for two people (often celebrities or characters) to get together romantica...

A mistress or the 'other woman' in a relationship – a woman who a man is seeing on the side, outside his main relationsh...

"Sinzu" became slang after a viral song lyric "Sinzu money" – it implies loads of cash money to ball with. People use it...

Undefined relationship

A playful term for loose change or a trivial amount of money. Sometimes used to describe coins jangling in one's pocket ...

Slight craziness or quirkiness.

A popular African social media term for a young woman who is glamorous and flaunts a lavish lifestyle (often funded by a...

A tongue-in-cheek phrase used (often by women on social media) to imply a young lady's lavish lifestyle is thanks to div...

A casual slang term meaning to have sexual intercourse with someone (similar to 'hook up' or 'hit it').

A phrase meaning to endure hardship or live cheaply. Garri (cassava flakes) soaked in water is a basic poor-man's meal. ...

In the hustling context, soap refers to voodoo charms or spiritual fortification believed to bring financial luck (liter...

Something achieved easily (popularized by musician Falz: “soft work”).

Yoruba for "speak up," used broadly to mean being bold. While not about money itself, it was popularized during protests...

Comic term for a cheap concoction of spaghetti often cooked with minimal ingredients by broke students

In Nigerian party culture, spray means to throw money notes in the air or onto someone (e.g. a bride or celebrant) as a ...

A slang term (in Pidgin) for someone who constantly suffers or is perpetually broke despite efforts. It's like saying "b...