Stubborn Academy, 'sika mpɛ dede' and other popular slangs that trended in 2022

A lot of these slangs usually started with some famous people using them in an address or a popular post, or simply using them to describe something.

And being the people they are and with the clout they carry, a number of Ghanaians just jumped onto those terms, and before long, they became terminologies that were on the lips of many citizens.

But the best part of these slangs is that they cut across sectors and the personalities in those areas, from politics to entertainment and even to social media terminologies.

Let’s take a look at some of them and also find out how they came about. We will also show you how some of them are commonly used.

Stubborn Academy:

During the recent national SIM re-registration exercise in the country, there were instances where the Minister of Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, was forced to extend the deadlines for citizens to get their registrations done.

But as it turned out, almost every time the deadlines were close, that was when the service centers of the various telecommunication companies in the country would be flooded with people.

It was always an eleventh-hour thing for most citizens, and that gave cause for the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam Nartey George, who was one of the people who fought against the national exercise, to give it a name.

His tweet of July 30, 2022, read, “Stubborn Academy. Cheers,” caught on with many people, and soon enough, it became a regular term for people to use in their daily interactions.

It is worth noting too that Medikal, a Ghanaian musician, has a song with the same title, “Stubborn Academy.”

Sika mpɛ dede:

Following his address to the nation at the peak of the economic hardships that have been experienced in the year 2022, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo made a statement that caught on with many people, albeit for both positive and negative reasons.

"Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money. If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down," he said.

When many people were looking for messages of hope from the president and were intrigued by this particular Twa statement, it quickly became a term that people referred to.

The term has since stuck with people.

A song was eventually produced with those same words, confirming how popular the slang was.

L’argent n’aime pas le bruit:

Not a particularly strong French-speaking country, although it is surrounded on all borders, except to the south, by francophone countries, many Ghanaians were intrigued to hear their president use the term “l’argent n’aime pas le bruit” while addressing them on October 30, 2022.

With many variations of the French phrase becoming common in the country, this slang was undoubtedly one of the most commonly used in the year.

Wei:

The term "wei" was most commonly used on Twitter.

It came from popular actor and broadcaster Akrobeto, who uses the term as a prelude to teasing people who are funny or engaged in things that he uses for his comic news show, The Real News, on UTV.

The influence of Akrobeto made it easy for people to also use them in equally appropriate ways, and on Twitter, it became a usual term that was used by many users.

Wotowoto:

Originally a term from Nigeria, the use of wotowoto, which literally means ‘plenty’ or ‘in abundance’ became a common slang used in Ghana too.

Being two countries with many similarities, it is unclear what exactly increased its use so much in Ghana, but before long, many people began using it to describe situations in which people are threatened with being mercilessly beaten.

“I will beat you, wotowoto,” is one way the term is used.

Ashawo Season:

Ghanaian artiste, Kwesi Arthur, granted an interview in late 2021, where he was asked what he projects for the year 2022.

In his response, he said he expects the year to be an ‘ashawo season.’

The slang caught on and became another one of the popular ones that Ghanaians used.

Which other popular slangs of 2022 do you remember? Let us know in the comments section.

AE/BOG