The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has introduced several new East African words and phrases in its September 2024 update, including the popular terms ‘panya route’ and ‘kitu kidogo’. The update, announced on Wednesday, includes more than 600 new words, phrases, and senses from various regions.
‘Panya route’, a phrase partly derived from the Swahili word for rat, has been added to the OED as a noun. It is defined as “a secret path or roundabout route, especially one used for smuggling.” The term is widely used in East Africa to describe hidden or unofficial routes commonly utilized to evade official checkpoints or avoid traffic.
Another Swahili phrase, ‘kitu kidogo’, has been recognized as an English noun, meaning “money offered or accepted as an inducement or bribe.” The phrase, which translates to “something small” in Swahili, is commonly used in informal settings to refer to small bribes or favors.
Other notable East African terms in the update include ‘African massage’, a term describing the bumpy, jarring experience of traveling on uneven African roads, and ‘Bantu knot’, a hairstyle consisting of twisted sections of hair coiled into small, tight knots.
The update also includes words like ‘cheap ass’ (a stingy or miserly person) and ‘Dholuo’, which refers to the language spoken by the Luo people in Kenya and Tanzania.
Catherine Sangster, Oxford English Dictionary ‘s head of pronunciations, highlighted that the update was particularly broad, incorporating words from Caribbean, Bermudian, East African, New Zealand, and Welsh English.
The OED, first published in 1884, remains the leading historical dictionary of the English language.
This update follows OED’s 2022 addition of several common Kenyan words and phrases, including ‘mpango wa kando’, ‘nyama choma’, and ‘githeri’.