Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,154,544 members, 7,823,385 topics. Date: Friday, 10 May 2024 at 09:30 AM

Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes - Business (3) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Business / Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes (36813 Views)

What's The Meaning Of These Symbols On Naira Notes / <<<<??>>>>>CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN WHY NIGERIANS GIVE NIGERIA BAD NAMES..?>>>??? / CBN Clean Note Policy: Mutilated Naira Notes May Be Useless After September 2 (2) (3) (4)

(1) (2) (3) (Reply) (Go Down)

Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by emu22(m): 10:54am On Feb 25, 2018
in warri.
#5-5card
#10-10card
#20-green
#50-sky
#100-H
#200-2H
#500-5h
#1000-1skin

2 Likes 1 Share

Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by deepwater(f): 11:42am On Feb 25, 2018
YOUNGELDER1:



Lol your head dey there .

Back in the days when men do go to play Konami . Konami nearly ruin life’s but thank God sha .

Winning eleven 4
I can relate, when the triangle button gives you through pass straight into ur opponents 18yrds

1 Like

Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by Nobody: 11:54am On Feb 25, 2018
Jarus:



E no fit leave body jare. grin

sura and danfo is like lalasticlala and snake cheesy
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by taurusdude0(m): 12:50pm On Feb 25, 2018
rano1:
GBENGA ADENIJI writes about the funny names Nigerians give Naira denominations

Nigerians are creative. Whoever is in doubt should check the speed with which they often turn serious matters to grand jokes. The latest being the memes targeted at the incongruous story about a snake swallowing N36m at the Benue office of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.

From the names given to car brands to churches, the humour cum inventiveness is never in short supply. Nigeria has naira denominations ranging from N10, N20, N50, N100, N200, N500 to N1,000. But the names they call the notes are sometimes confusing and astonishing.

The Hausa for example give ethnic names to naira notes. One has to understand the language to know the naira note being referred to. Same goes for the Yoruba who refer to money as ‘kudi’ or ‘owo’ and the Igbo who call money ‘ego’.

For instance, Hausa call N5 naira biyar; N10, naira goma; N20, naira ishirin; N50, naira hamsin; N100, naira dari; N200, naira dari biyu; N500, naira dari biyar; and N1,000, naira dubu daya. Naira is added at the beginning of each local name to identify the denomination.

Among the Yoruba especially, N50 is called wazo (wazobia), denoting that the note has images of the three major ethnic groups in the country. There is also the image of a lady in the note representing the Middle Belt. Wazobia is coined from how the three major ethnic groups express the English word, ‘Come’. Yoruba say “wa”; Hausa utter, “zo”; while Igbo say “bia.” Funnily enough, N50 is also referred to as ‘white’ or ‘kala.’

A driver, identified only as Akindele, said the name came from the colour of the note. He said, “I hear people call N50 ‘white’ and ‘wazo’. But there was a time I asked to know how the names came about and some boys in our park asked me the colour of N50 and I said it’s white. So, they told me not to ask them silly question again as I could see the colour myself.”

SUNDAY PUNCH observed that the majority of the names given to naira notes in Yoruba came from boys who work at motor parks, especially the ones popularly known as agberos, otherwise called union boys.

The N20 has the picture of the late former Head of State, Gen. Murtala Muhammed. The N20 is identified as ‘Muri’, a shortened form of ‘Murtala.’ Apart from that, the note is also called ‘shandy’.

Most of the ‘street boys’, who spoke with our correspondent, were unable to explain how N20 came to be known as ‘shandy.’

But one of them identified as Busayo Ahmed said, “It is a slang. Something can just happen, you know like a brainwave and someone will rename a note. Since street slang is meant to dumbfound people, it will be adopted by those within the clique.’’

Ahmed may be right when one examines the name, faiba (spelt fibre) used to identify N10. This thus translates to the marking of N100 as 10 faiba, indicating N10 in 10 notes.

The N100 note has the image of the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. They also refer to it as ‘Awo’. The ‘Awo’ is understandably an abbreviated form of Awolowo but referring to same note as faiba can be puzzling.

Similarly, N200 is referred to as 20 faiba, indicating that it is N10 in 20 places or notes.

The next time you hear Figo, know that N500 is being referred to. The note has the image of the late ex-President, Nnamdi Azikiwe. He was popularly called Zik, hence the ‘Ori Zik’ which is used to identify the money.

A Twitter user, @okeyjames, reacting to the slang used to identify N500, wrote, “If only Luis Figo knows that his name ‘Figo’ means N500 in Lagos.” Luis is a retired Portuguese footballer.

A sociologist at the Kaduna State University, Dr. Hauwau Evelyn Yusuf, said people used their dialects to name money in order to identify well with it.

She said, “The Yoruba call money kudi or owo and the Hausa refer to N50 for example as naira hamsin to identify with their own languages and people. It is just to make it blend with their cultural system.

“In Southern Kaduna for example, the people refer to money as krum. Though the money we spend is naira, the 50 in N50 for instance is a borrowed counting system. So, people will just find a common name which their people can relate and identify with.’’

Source :http://punchng.com/amusing-names-nigerians-give-naira-notes/



Pls what's this na? Put lubbish in the lubbish
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by wellmax(m): 1:50pm On Feb 25, 2018
The writer is so ignorant.
Those Hausa names are the norminal names for figures.
Hamsin is 50, Goma is 10 etc whether money or anything.

Just as most people do not use slangs either Yoruba Hausa or Igbo.

Its mostly in the South West especially Lagos that you hear these slangs.
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by Papadoh(m): 2:31pm On Feb 25, 2018
The first time I heard someone refer to a #500 note as Figo, I laughed so hard I popped a vein. Naija people will not kuku kill pesin.
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by ranson(m): 2:49pm On Feb 25, 2018
The name "shandy" came from a popular soft drink in the 70s and 80s called "Green Shandy." 20 Naira used to be called green shandy due to its green colour but later shortened to "shandy."
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by Apollux(m): 3:03pm On Feb 25, 2018
I think the N20 note being called "shandy" is because of its green colour and that is from a particular old soft drink called "green shandy"
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by hopexter(m): 5:10pm On Feb 25, 2018
Warri simply calls #50 Sky due to its color smiley
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by snipernigga(m): 5:33pm On Feb 25, 2018
Proudlyngwa:

No twenty naira was called shandy because of the popularity of pasumas song orobo Kibo and lepa shandy , then Pepsi 50cl was called Orobo ,while 25cl was called lepa, and it was sold for twenty naira them.

There was no way a non alcoholic drink could have been sold for twenty naira in the eighty's, not even at Hilton.
N20 naira has started bearing shandy ever b4 Pasuma or Lepa shandy came into limelight. Ask any of your senior ones who is an adult in Lagos around late 70s and early 80s, the soft drink bottle is like small stout but its green both bottle and liquid content. The name comes from the color and not the amount, besides do you know the value of N20 naira back then? You could buy crates of that drink with N20 naira.
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by Ilaje44(m): 6:13pm On Feb 25, 2018
AJOBI77:
Street guys called N1,000 note one naira or shile kan.

Shile kan is not one Naira. One Naira was equivalent to "Shile mewa" while "Shile kan" was just "ten kobo".
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by AJOBI77(m): 6:21pm On Feb 25, 2018
Ilaje44:


Shile kan is not one Naira. One Naira was equivalent to "Shile mewa" while "Shile kan" was just "ten kobo".
you are right. But that shile kan is the street boys term for a thousand naira. Most especially guys that sell second hand phones
Re: Amusing Names Nigerians Give Naira Notes by Brush1: 6:58pm On Feb 25, 2018
gabazin080:
I just need 500 likes, me and my Dad is competing for who is more popular on NAIRALAND

Okay. Here's a piece of advice. Compete with your dad over something more productive.

(1) (2) (3) (Reply)

Fidelity Bank Appoints Mustapha Chike-Obi As New Board Chairman / Court Freezes Ubah’s Capital Oil Accounts / Banks In Dilemma Over Idle $5bn Deposits

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 27
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.