The Nigerian Pidgin language can be confusing to speakers of standard English because it often uses English words that take on completely different meanings in the context of their usage in Pidgin.
This is the reason it is often called “broken English”.
A good example of this is the Nigerian Pidgin phrase – “No Dey Whine Me”. In pure English, the word “whine” means “to complain constantly”.
But in the Pidgin phrase “No Dey Whine Me”, the word “whine” takes a completely different meaning.
In Nigerian Pidgin, in this context, “whine” or “to whine somebody” means to say untrue things to them in order to trick them or get them hyped up.
Another way of putting it is “to falsely hype someone up”.
The translation of the phrase “No Dey Whine Me” in pure English is “Do not whine me” or “stop whining me”. Only now, the English meaning of “whine” is replaced with the Pidgin meaning.
It is also common to see Nigerians or Pidgin speakers using this phrase as a modest way of accepting compliments.
For instance:
Odogwu says, “Nne, you are the most beautiful girl in the world!”
To this, Achalugo replies: “Odogwu, no dey whine me jor!”, a faint smile playing on her lips!
For Nigerians, expressions are rarely black and white, and someone can show a myriad of emotions in one look or response. They can be both grateful and excited but still sceptical. And all these can be effectively conveyed with one look or verbal expression, which can easily be picked up by the other party if they understand the language, or culture.
Which other Pidgin phrases do you struggle with? Let us know, and we’ll dissect it for you! Meanwhile, check out our previous related articles.
