I’ll save my readers the barrage of various meanings of the word slang from different dictionary editions. I’ll just say that slangs are a secret means of communicating openly. When slangs are used in a conversation, the individual who doesn’t belong to the circle of the ones using the slang would be virtually lost.

This article is basically written to reveal the usage of slangs in mainstream Igbo language and how it has helped sustain the existence of the Igbo language. I’d surmise and rightly so that 30% of spoken Igbo language today consists of slangs and coined words. How many times have you, as an Igbo, found it difficult to understand even a syllable from the conversation of sellers in the market not withstanding that you share the same tribe and language with them?
I can’t really tell the reasons that have amounted to the ever increasing use of slangs in spoken Igbo language but I do know that it has helped preserve the longevity of the Igbo language in more ways than we might have noticed. Given the negative attitude showed by most Igbos towards their own language I think the existence of slangs have at least propagated the informal use of Igbo language especially within the male folk. To further clarify this claim, I’d like to point out that some slangs have outlived the existence of most mainstream words and expressions that came before them.
I’d like to give an instance. In my primary school days, we were thought that the Igbo word for the figure nine was ‘iteghete’ but I can’t recall making use of that word at least ten times since then (a duration of twelve years). Most Igbos don’t use the term though preferring the alternative ‘itenaani’ instead. I think it’s because of the weighty pronunciation of ‘iteghete’. Anyway, that’s of course in stark contrast to my usage of the slang expression, ‘I na-akọ mgbu’ which connotatively means, ‘You are talking nonsense’ but when the, ‘I na-akọ mgbu’ expression is translated word for word the meaning is nonsensical in itself. Poor irony, I’d say. The point I’m making is that I started using that expression from my early secondary school days but it has stuck ever since. Younger generations have picked up on it too.
The nature and origin of some of the slangs used in Igbo language today is quite elusive and divisive. Some slangs came to being due to the misuse of our borrowed language (English). Other slangs were as a result of prevailing societal trends and some others are, to this writer, simply inexplicable. Some are vulgar and very abusive while some others are very comical and used in jovial circles.
I’ll try in the course of this article to highlight, as much as I can, some of the slangs that I think are common place in spoken Igbo language today try as much as we could to trace their origin.
Growing up, I think the first slang that I came to know about due to its incessant use was the expression, ‘I bụ Jew man’ which literally translates to, ‘You are a Jew man.’ This is one of those slangs that do not have any stated origins but that has been in use, to the writer at least, since forever.
When the expression, ‘I bụ Jew man’ is used to make reference to anybody, it simply means that the person in question is really lagging behind in terms of current trends or doesn’t belong to the elite circle of whatever social strata they find themselves in. It can be said to be a compund slang though because it can be extended to cases when one has cold feet or can not man up, when one is nerdy or geeky or when one falls short of being wholly acceptable to his circle of friends.
As an aside, I’d like to make it clear that the slang is not in any way a slight or sign of disrespect to any Jew but what, given the literacy level or social integration at the time (which I can’t be specific about) seemed good enough and has stuck ever since.

Continue here:http://www.infolited.com/igbo-slangs/

OP to be frank, I na-ako mgbu, i dont know if u r writing text book

OP pasa one place ka m fu Uzo.

Op, why didn't you just go straight to the point instead of writing all the long & boring 'stories'?