Gratitude Day 20/62: Nigerian Pidgin English

Hello Steemians, #gratitudeday challenge is running smoothly and I'm excited that we are getting to the middle of the challenge. Today is day 20 and I want to share my views on Pidgin English. Yesterday I was in @ogoowinner's discord channel and I was engaged in one of the most interesting discussions in my entire Steemit journey. Just being in the Naija Pidgin discord and talking about my Steem experience in pidgin English made me very happy. It made me feel like I was at home. It's amazing to note that the things which brings us so much joy are the little things. Little things like pidgin English.

Some people believe that pidgin English is for the uneducated masses and it is not acceptable. I disagree! Pidgin English may not be ideal for formal communication but it a very potent and good mode of communication. It's an effective means of communication in many places. If you think that Pidgin English is not important, try doing business in Okere Market(Delta State, Nigeria), I assure you that you will have a healthy dose of contempt if you do not speak their official language(pidgin English)

_{@ogoowinner, founder of Naija Pidgin}

Pidgin English is my first language. Unfortunately, I cannot speak my native dialect form my mother or my father's tribe(Urhobo and Itsekiri respectively). This is because I grew up in a city with diverse culture, ethnic group, and language and so each tribe did not speak their native dialect but everyone has generally accepted the pidgin English as a medium of communication. I can imagine that the acceptance of pidgin English occurred slowly as people began to recognize the need for a single means of communication when they did business together.

What I love about Pidgin English

There are several attributes of pidgin English Speakers which have been ingrained in the language. I have highlighted them below. Please note that these are just my ideas, observations, and personal opinion.

• Pidgin English is a language of brutal honesty: One of the features of the Warri people (the largest community of Pidgin English speakers) is that they are brutally honest. they do not hold back in expressing their opinions and grievances. They will spill it out to you just the way it is without any fear or diplomatic restrictions.

• Slangs, proverbs and jokes: Pidgin English is (in my opinion) the best mode of communication for slangs, proverbs, and jokes. The language is structured very informally and jokes make a lot of sense when they are said in Pidgin English.

I love pidgin English because it is the language I grew up speaking. There was a time I stayed away from home for almost one year and when I came back, I was amazed at the how I effortlessly was able to speak pidgin English.

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Today I'm grateful for pidgin English or to put it more appropriately, "my belle just dey sweet me because of pidgin English".

Thank you very much.

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Special thanks to the following people who participated in #gratitudeday19. You are awesome and amazing.

@ohakfarm
@gee1
@julietisrael
@jo5h
@uche-nna
@thelovejunkie
@oredebby
@gloeze
@vintageverve
@botefarm
@penauthor
@samotu
@shollstun
@idowu-kunlere
@maribelquere97
@esttyb
@hillaryoki
@mayorfaruk
@omoyiwolabusayo
@chidera
@josyweed
@tammydixon

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Every day is gratitude day.
@tojukaka

What is Gratitude Day?

Gratitudeday is all about being thankful for the things that are happening in your life. A lot of us go through life taking things for granted. The goal is to challenge you to make a blog post about something you are grateful for. It could be big or small. It doesn't matter. Little things matter. I'll be doing this for 62 days (62 is not a random number). It's not an endurance game, you can join in anytime you want and opt out anytime you want.

How to Participate in #GratitudeDay Challenge

Upvote my #gratitudeday post
Resteem my #gratitudeday post(not compulsory)
Write a post about anything you are grateful for.
Use the tag #gratitudeday20

Your post should be done within 24hrs of the making of this post so as to get curated.

Use the tag #gratitudeday20 if you want me to find your post easily.

You may drop the link to your post in the comments below.

This is What I Will Do if you participate in Gratitude Day Challenge.
I'll upvote your post
I'll note your name in my spreadsheet, that you qualify for the grand prize of 62SBD. The grand prize is now unknown.

Thank you very much.