We don’t fight. We jaw-jaw!

I love Ghanaians anyway. But if I didn’t already, then their creative use of the English language would definitely convert me. After a hot net-map session about risk communication in the context of avian flu, one participant from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture introduced me to this Ghanaianism: “We only jaw-jaw!” Meaning: “Man, we can move our mouths and shout at each other, but in the end, it’s just a movement of the jaw, it doesn’t lead to any serious fighting.”

(Later: Talking about this with a Canadian friend, who grew up in Nigeria, I learn that this is actually a Nigerianism… Well, I have been saying for some time now that I would love to go to Nigeria)