By Isah Ojo
IDAN. This has been the trending slang on the lips of social media users as it is spreading so fast on all social media platforms “in Nigeria”.
The slang IDAN came into existence few weeks after the gradual death of ARA-AGBALA slang. One very interesting thing about these slangs is how people freely embrace them without knowing their meaning.
Well, for Nigerians, what matter is a “follow of trends”. The most important thing is knowing when to use and how to use it, what it means is just a topic for another day.
Many slangs such as, Dey play, Who goes u, oga at the top, Go to court, PD-APC, agbado, Japa, there is God oo, Elluuuu P, EYENECK, Hakimi, ARA-agbala and most recently IDAN are the trends within the last few months.
Most often, what baffles the most is the fact that their origin has never been traced to any particular person, it often spreads like electricity speed unless for some that have a political attachment that could be traced to an individual who mis-used or mis construct an English word that was supposed to be an error but taken as a subject by Nigerians.
As surprising as all of these appear, the fact that other African countries always find a way to join the trend makes them more interesting, joining what even the users don’t know there meaning.
When asked, many Youths would say, they are just cruises, jokes, or trends “Ahbi Dem don leave you for back?”.
For Idan, it is a Yoruba word used to describe Magic, Miracle, or a shocking incident. However, in the context of what it is now been used for. Idan has been transformed to become a person, or an individual who does the unthinkable, a likened Gangstar, notorious street boy, whom many say “no dey fear person,” “him visit you” you become the visitor”.
Idan has been consistently used as a pronoun (used to describe a person). The originator can not really be traced but the fact that many celebrities have also participated in its usage makes it more acceptable by not just youths on social media but those above even 50 years of age on the media space.
Despite their wide usage on social media, it will interest you to know that such slangs are hard to hear from people’s mouth on the street, this look sought like a planned agreement that these slangs should only be used on social media platforms. Undoubtedly, everything looks normal and slangs in daily activities are just “e no easy” may God help Naija” etc. With no reference to any of the social media trends.
The maturity displayed by many Nigerians when these slangs are attributed to them is another thing that calls for serious research. So far, no matter how harsh or under any context slangs like IDAN is used to describe a Nigerian, he/she feels so normal at it because of the mental belief that “we are all Nigerians” and “na cruise”. This is highly commendable and a part of the factor that brings unity among Nigerian youths.
Many often say that all you need in Nigeria is “data” to stay alive. This statement is just another way of saying you are liable to miss a lot from the happenings, latest slangs, and jokes on social media.