3. “Form.”
This word is used as a verb in Nigerian English to mean put on airs, that is, affect manners with intent to impress others, as in “the guy is just forming; that’s not the way he speaks naturally.” I thought the word was self-evidently slangy until I found that it is used even in formal contexts by Nigerian English users. Someone with a high level of proficiency in English also once asked me if the word was standard. That was when it really dawned on me that the word had crossed over to mainstream usage in Nigeria.
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