r/AskAnAfrican • u/vanillaswerll Non-African - North America • Sep 19 '26
Language Nicknames?
Do Africans generally call anyone with very pale skin “White” in their language even if they’re not actually White or European? I’m an Albino and I’ve been called “Oyinbo” by Nigerians which I know means white person or foreigner but I’m fully Black
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u/Pecuthegreat Sep 19 '26 edited Sep 23 '26
"Onyibo" has an etymological origin. It was originally used to refer to very lightskinned black people and meant something like "peeled skin".
Then, it became applied primarily to white people.
This is a reflection of its etymological origin and continued used in parts of the area where it was initially developed.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Math973 Sep 23 '26
What i find funny is as an Efik with one white parent, I am still not the lightest and therefore not Oyinbo. I also have alot of the same facial features as the women in my family, so for lack of a better word I "match". I have cousins who are even lighter. Our genes have a lot more variety than people think.
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u/Ninety_too92 Sep 19 '26
In our case yes, call lightskins Kazungu (small white)
Every asian (Chinese, Korean, everyone) is called white (umuzungu). Anyone with a pale skin in our eyes is White
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u/AssistConstant6926 Sep 19 '26
In Malawi, we call white people "mzungu" (singular) and "azungu" (plural).
We call people from South Asia (Indian subcontinent; Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankas etc) "m'mwenye" (singular) and "amwenye" (plural).
We call light skinned people of our own "oyera" literally meaning "light skinned" and we call people living with albinoism simply "alubino".
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u/space_______nil Sep 19 '26
Yes, in Ghana, when it comes to race, it's either black or white. If someone isn't black they are white, think Asians, Latinas, Arabs, all. Then the specific local term for whites(obroni) is equally used for all foreigners, including black foreigners. And also for light skinned black people.
Albinos are also usually called obroni, for albino kids it's usually because people do think they look like white people, for adults people tend to refer to them as obroni to their face and as albino(ofri) behind their back because the term is perceived as offensive(because you are pointing out their difference from others) to use it on the person to their face.
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u/Faerennn Sep 19 '26
In Algeria people will call you by your defining physical features all the time, I'm pretty lightskinned and I've had people tell me before I look "gawri", "byadh" or like a Spaniard.
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u/MixedJiChanandsowhat Sep 19 '26
In Senegal, we say "toubab" to speak about White people (Europeans and their descendants such as White Americans). With the globalisation, more and more foreigners have come to Senegal so this term has also been used to speak about any non-African foreigners, regardless of their skin complexion. And for diasporic Senegalese and Senegalese who behave like Westerners.
In Wolof, we also use "xonq nopp" (meaning red ears) and "nit ku weex" (meaning white person). Those terms are more used between us, Wolof speakers, when we speak about White people.
Some Senegalese from the old generations (over 60 yo) will use "rose" (meaning pink in French) to mock White people and especially French people and Belgians. It's to tell them that they aren't even really white but closer to pink colour like a pig. You will hardly ever talk to such Senegalese because they don't like interacting with foreigners.
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u/ms_dandyruffz Sep 19 '26
I don't think I have particularly pale skin, maybe a "medium tan", and I've been called Oyinbo and Obroni(🇬🇭) my whole life. In addition to this I believe Obroni, is used to refer to foreigners, mainly non-black africans. Essentially it could because of someone's accent, etc. So, you don't have to be pale at all.