H Letter Words for Nigerian English
to Nigerian Translation

Nigerian

Word

Continuous Meaning

ENGLISH

NIGERIAN

 H.

 h

  it means for someone to be hungry

 Haba!

  Expression of surprise or amazement; Hausa and heard mainly in the North. N.B. Habahaba! was a common expression of joking amazement in the US in the 1940s. Related?

 habba

  relax for a moment; please, consider me; can be used to make someone consider of the seriousness or craziness of what he is about to do {e.g. So just because I don't share the bread with you dey vex? Habba! Meaning - Are you cross just because I didn't give you some bread? For crying out loud!}

 had to

  it was likely that...would; When the war broke out many people had to die

 hail

  form of greeting when you walk into a room filled with people or a person for instance, sign of courtesy... {e.g. Bros I hail you ooo!, na me hail pass}

 hair-packer

  small elastic band with beads attached, used to adorn a hair style

 hairy

  with plenty of hair {but with a positive implication} she is a hairy girl she has lots of hair

 hala

  to shout at or raise your voice at someone.

 hama

  sexual intercourse

 hama/hit

  make money unexpectedly

 hamma

  to have sex

 hammer

  to make a lot of money; become rich quite suddenly.

 handset

  mobile phone

 hand-work

  anything produced by hand, including both crafts and physical labour; It is a hand-work Presumably from Standard English 'handiwork'

 hanging

  state of hanging from the back of a passenger vehicle; The policeman demanded N200 'fine' as punishment for the offence of the conductor, who was hanging on the vehicle's door {The driver} said: 'One of the policemen demanded N200 from me alleging that my driver was hanging'.

 harlot

  prostitute; The harlots are dancing; N.B. not considered archaic in Nigerian English

 harmattan

  season of dry winds and dust, usually December-February

 haste

  in the expression; in a haste

 haus

  House, home

 Have it!

  Usually in the context of shopping, a shopkeeper will say 'Have it!' meaning 'Take it!'

 have you added?; you've added oh!

  you've gained weight!

 head

  as in Standard English, but also state of mind, mental state as in Californian English Your head is not correct You're mad {abusively rather than medically} but also 'You are seriously confused' {about some specific matter}

 head scatter

  confuse or disorganise

 head-load

  amount that can be carried on the head

 head-pad

  quoin, circular cloth or fibre pad, to protect the head when carrying a basin or similar.

 head-pan

  large enamel basin commonly used to carry loads.

 head-tie

  kerchief tied around the head.

 hear

  to sense, smell; I hear the food on fire

 hear

  to understand a language; I hear Yoruba

 hear word

  listen

 hear word

  Obey iinstruction, listen

 heart cut

  shock

 heart cut

  to be afraid or shocked

 heavy

  pregnant; My wife is heavy

 heavy

  very; very much; serious; a lot of

 heed to

  to heed; The students refused to heed to their pleas. {senate minutes} {on the analogy of listen to}

 hell of

  plenty of; They were making hell of noise; hell of a lot of

 hemp

  marijuana, dope archaic; also Indian hemp

 hence

  since, because; Hence we are going to market, we'll buy oranges, 'hence' means 'therefore', 'thus', 'consequently', 'it follows that': it marks the conclusions of arguments; it means 'since' or 'because', marking the premises.

 herbalist

  traditional doctor who treats patients, in principle with plant remedies, but also other types of socially approved magical remedies.

 h-factor

  a factor of h added into every razz Nigerians sentence.

 hia

  here

 high

  to drink or smoke any stuff that intoxicates; drunk

 high{-}life

  musical style now rather outmoded Probably of Ghanaian origin. {1950s and 1960s}

 highly welcome

  very welcome; You are highly welcome!

 hint

  to give a hint; he hinted me that he would go; hinted to me.

 hiphop

  a usually percieved posher way of living.

 hit

  to have sex with a woman; he hit her in the palour

 hold

  take place, be held; The meeting will hold at 4 o'clock arch.

 hold

  to stand guard over, to be in place; We are holding the road so that no-one may disturb you

 hold

  to stay in place; Although I patched my bicycle it did not hold

 hold belle

  this is to prevent or endure hunger

 hold-up

  traffic jam

 holy

  describes one who is neat and clean; student slang

 holy ghost koboko

  a term used to mock a self-righteous person.

 holy holy

  to act in a righteous way, especially in an overdone way; Self-righteous.

 home

  place where some activity is carried out; barbing home hairdressing salon; maternity home clinic for women to give birth; funeral home funeral parlour

 home and abroad

  {last pint of} cash

 home people

  extended family in your home area; How are your home people?

 home video

  locally made Nigerian Films {Nolloywood; Kannywood}

 hometown

  association of expatriates from a particular area or tribe, formed to promote development in their area of origin

 honeycomb

  vagina

 hook

  to feel {as a pain}; the pain hooks me there; to be arm-in-arm with someone

 hook

  to have made a woman pregnant; he sexed her and it has hooked; he had sex with her and now she is pregnant

 horn

  to blow the horn on a car horn him!

 hospitality committee

  group formed to meet with incoming Fulani pastoralists and inform them of local grazing access rights Northeast Nigeria only

 hot

  alcoholic; any hot drink for me, sah? {often said by policemen at roadblocks}

 hot

  short for 'hot drink', i.e. spirits beer and hots for sale {Notice on shopfront}

 hotel

  commonly applied to bars and drinking places that serve food but may have no lodging 'hotel' in the Standard English sense is 'guest hotel'. Modern usage is gradually replacing this so that nigerian english is coming to conform to.

 house boy

  male servant or house keeper

 house girl

  House keeper, nanny

 houseboy

  male servant

 house-rent

  rent the landlord has increased the house-rent

 how bodi

  how are you

 how body

  how are you?

 how e be

  how is it

 how e be u

  Whats up with you

 how far

  what's up?

 How far?

  how far are you going? How far have you succeeded {in the matter we discussed previously}? Taken as an invitation to ride with the speaker who would normally be in a vehicle. Also used when you cross paths; and want to know how far they have come.

 how na

  how are you!

 How now? How na?

  How are you?

 how ur end

  just want to know how you are doing

 how was your night?

  good morning

 how you dey?

  a common pidgin greeting. It means 'How are you?' 'Hope you are fine today?' 'Hello' 'Hi' etc.

 howfa

  an informal greeting that loosely translates to 'how are you?'; May be applied more generally to inquire about an individuals circumstances or more appropriately a status update {e.g. My man howfa na? Howfa with that business?}

 hu be gofnor for Lagos?

  who is the governor of Lagos {State}?

 hyper-jack

  reading or studying to much