₦airaland Forum

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An average Nigerian fine girl receives over 15 'how was your night?' daily, with her usual reply "fine, urs?"

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And if you say "hope you slept well?", her usual reply "Yes". From there a boring, predicted chatting pattern begins.

post=73826136:
You are on point!

post=73826136:
You are on point!

Hahaha! This is so true

It is wrong to ask someone, "how was your night" by way of greeting.


What happened during the night is purely an individual private matter.

I do not even respond to such questions.

Liz, I think it is a Nigerianised expression.

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post=73880864:
Lol, yes, you still know one of our names shey?!

I know Last name and Middle name.

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post=73825902:
So, stumbled in a group I belong to and it puts words to my thought on the usual question of ‘How was your night?’

I remember how a friend asked my Glaswegian pal ‘How was your night?’ in Edinburgh in my presence and she retorted amidst a countenance of shock and condescension this way: ‘You are asking How was my night when we aren’t even familiar? Well, I borrowed a married man for the night, it was quite sloppy. He wasn’t what I bargained for and expected. Small device, short duration”. I smiled in shock.

So dear friends, If you are not very close to someone or you are not interested in the sexual mis-adventure of someone, don’t ask them how was their night. Will you?

Please, enjoy the excerpts and contribute your views.
The phrase ‘ How was your night?’
In the English language means, , ‘ How was last night’s sex?’
Or, if for instance, we are close and you know I went home with a man or woman last night and you ask as an accomplice ‘ How was your night?’
In this case it simply means, ‘ so did it go well or did it go as expected?’

I’ll give you two real life examples. One was mine and one happened in my cousin’s office. She consults for the UN.
In my own case, I jog most mornings.
Years back, having just returned to the country, this young man will greet me every morning and I’ll answer. Then one day, he asked me, ‘How was your night?’ He went merrily on his way, I stopped, turned looking at him in anger fuming. My thoughts were- ‘It’s not your fault, if I hadn’t been responding to your ‘good morning’ will we graduate to ‘How was your night?’

Second occurrence, at my cousin’s office.
English woman comes in and everyone exchanged the usual good morning. Then, one ‘nice’ Naija brother goes, ‘How was your night?’ English woman flares up ‘ How dare you!?’. ‘ How is my night your business?’ Etc, it took major intervention to calm the woman down.
The answer to ‘ How was your night?’ Is actually ‘none of your business!’

I have checked our local languages, I am fluent in two, and passable in one. Even as translation, no Nigerian language asks ‘How was your night?’
I am checking because this phrase, for those who know, was not in use in Nigeria as recent as 7years ago.
I suspect,some ‘oversabi wannabe’ heard it on a music video somewhere and wanted to form posh or as my Doctor friend said to me, it may have come from hospitals.
It’s common knowledge according to the doctor that sick people often have rough nights and most deaths to May occur at night. So a doctor’s question to the patient during morning ward rounds is usually ‘How was your night?’
If we exported hospital vocabulary to the streets, are we now to assume, we are all at deaths door?

The proper address for mornings is simply ‘good morning’ and if you want to spice it up by being overtly friendly, you may add ‘hope you slept well?’ A person’s night is not our business!

If we are Igbo it’s either, ibolachi- have you woken up? Ututuoma- Good morning.
If Yoruba, Ekaro- Good morning. You can go further as Yorubas love adding more, lol, “Se daada Leji’ – hope you woke up well?
None of these our local greetings intrusively asks ‘How was your night?’
So, No! It is not African either.
Let us be well aware when we leave our lanes to go measuring that of others.
TA

i guess its nigerian english to ask like that, but i think its also direct translation from native langauges, "you would be asking, did you sleep well"

as per brits the only time you ask "how was your night" (without the sexual thing) is when one was working a night shift so, you would be literally asking "how was work but specifically a nightshift hence "how was your night" aka how did the night go

if there was no nightshift work of sort, then literally you are asking about sex last night

then if its a doctor, s/he is simply asking did you sleep well, the question would be relating to whatever brought you to see him/her

post=73825911:
We are 100% sure that one Nairalander will still ask the OP, 'how was your night' after reading this!

While I agree "How was your night?" is not necessarily for strangers, I don't believe it is wrong either.
Don't let angry people change you. You are to change them. That's why you're a Light.

How do I mean?
Even "Good Morning" provokes an angry person.
Haven't you heard responses such as "What's good about the morning?"
Does that mean you should also delete that from your greeting?
By the time you're done satisfying every angry person, you will be left with Body Language which can also be misinterpreted.

Please if you really genuinely care about someone's night perhaps because you sense their countenance, please it's OK to ask. You might be able to bring a smile on their face at the end of the conversation and make their day and maybe even the rest of their nights.
All the best.