Monday, November 16, 2009

Ghanaian English – A Second Installment

“Are you having <a product?> – Example usage: “Are you having coco?” said to a lady with a giant pot at the side of the street, meaning, “Are you selling coco (porridge)?”

“How?” – “How are you?” I guess in a hot climate it takes too much energy to finish the sentence.

“How is it?” – How are you?/How’s life? (The correct answer, of course, is “Fine.”)

“Garden” – Example usage: “Do you have a garden?” “How is your garden”. Not getting it? Don’t worry, neither did I at first. A metaphorical garden in Ghana is your collection of boyfriends or girlfriends on the side, outside of your primary relationship.

“How were you handled last night?” – Yeah, just let your mind wander where ever it wants to, that’s exactly what they’re asking you.

“Axe”, used as a verb – to become angry with and discarded as a friend. Example usage: Someone said to me, “I thought you axed me” after I failed to reply to a text message that may have been misinterpreted.

“No, please” – No, thank you. Note: If someone asks you if you want something and you just say please, they will look at you blankly. Because of the usage of “no, please”, you must distinctly say “yes, please” if you want it.

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