It's the lingo, innit?

 Hey fam, 

So recently. I was chanced to listen back to a call recording where I was talking to a British client of ours. Joanne is the quintessential Brit lady…. All posh, polite, ‘’darling’’ this and ‘’that would be absolutely lovely’’ that.

As I listened to the slightly unrecognizable accent coming from my end, the code switching in accents was so noticeable as to actually be slightly jarring. Initially, I wasn't sure why I felt a bit of a fraud as I heard myself adopting the Brummie accent, spiced with British fluency, and actually being quite successful with it. Joanne even commented on how glad she was about the conversations we had.

As I reflected on the experience later, it occurred to me that there was actually no reason to feel this way, because, to put it bluntly, code-switching is very useful. It’s a part of surviving and adapting to the realities of being in a foreign land. This ability to flow in correct pidgin when gisting with Nigerian office colleagues and then switch effortlessly when sitting in meetings or hanging out with my white friends is something to be admired. I realize that to some ears, it might sound a bit fake and duplicitous, but in the end, I believe that this ability to suppress your natural inclination to speak a certain way and adopt another is a remarkable adaptation strategy that is rooted in existentialism and survival.

I first experienced this when we went out once with my cousin Vanessa some time ago in London. She’s been in the UK a bit longer than we have and effortlessly switched to a very passable British accent when talking with the staff there. It struck me again that it’s a very useful survival adaptation, especially when dealing with clients on a daily.

It's such a weird thing, though. I can never seem to replicate this while speaking with black people or when I’m at home with family. Also, to be perfectly honest,  i dont think it’ll ever get to the point where I’ll only be able to speak with a British accent and not be able to successfully code switch back to Naija lingo on request.

Anyhow sha… let’s just agree that i’m not going to be an ‘’innit bruv’’ anytime soon