Greeting in Pidgin
tl;dr how far.
How Far
The most common pidgin greeting for informal situations is “how far.” This greeting is almost analogous to “what’s up” in English. Saying how far would generally be considered appropriate in most informal situations, and is commonly used in the following scenarios:
- at the start of a conversation with people one knows
- with people one meets in casual (informal) situations (in the same way you would say “hi” to a person you just met)
- as an acknowlegement to people you know (in the same way one would say hi to a friend they walk by on a college campus without necessarily having to say anything)
The most common response to “how far” is “I dey.” The literal translation of “I dey” is “I am.” It is helpul to note that “I dey” neither implies that a person is doing well or not doing well. You have to rely on non-verbal cues that accompany an “I dey” to determine how a person is doing.
Good morning/afternoon/evening
In more formal-like situations (including when interacting with older adults), Good morning (or afternoon or evening) is typically the more appropriate greeting. “Good morning” on its own, without an accompanying name or other noun would sound more like English than it would sound like Pidgin, so you might likely want to consider adding “sir” or “ma” at the end of the greeting (“good morining sir” / “good evening ma”). These should work in most situations, as you using “good morning” as opposed to other less formal greetings implies that you are in a formal situation where in English, “sir” or “ma” would be equally appropriate.