| TERMINOLOGY |
MEANING |
| ABYSSINIA |
The act of learning after lights out |
| AFRO-AMERICAN |
Those students who term themselves as Afro-Americans and usually put on T-shirt and a plain face shorts and white socks |
| ATOMLESS-NIGHT |
The nights are Mondays and Wednesdays when students used to eat Palava sauce at supper in the 1950s and 60s |
| ALBA-LONGA |
A tall fellow |
| BULLET, SHOT, DILUTE |
Grammatical mistake in English |
| COCO |
Easy |
| OFIRST-NI |
A first year pupil |
| OSO |
A trickish spike in table tennis |
| ENWIESO |
Inability to do something |
| GENTLEMAN'S GRADE |
Grade II in School Certificate |
| GRASS-HOPPER |
A student who studies little and plays all the time |
| GWADAM |
Maize grains in the form of porridge |
| LAAME |
An ugly looking fellow |
| TO SOAK |
To eat between meals |
| NIGERIAN COFFEE |
Gari |
| GWADAM |
Maize grains in the form of porridge |
| HWEM |
Ring the bell for dining hall |
| NKOWHIEGUO |
Surplus food |
| CHANKU |
A beautiful girl |
| SCOPE |
A girl |
| NON SYLLA |
Not in the syllabus |
| EASTERLIES |
The smell of fried plantain from the kitchen |
| WOTE AKOMA |
Always studying to frighten others |
| MATRON SUBJECTS |
The food we eat in the dining hall |
| ENTEN |
Not nice |
| ETEE |
The opposite of entee |
| MARLOLOGIST |
A boy who always follows girls |
| S.S |
A student who sleeps during classes |
| PREMCONIANS |
Students of Prempeh College |
| ABYSSINIATOMETER |
A specially constructed box used to control the rays of light during mining |
| STUDENTS COMPANION |
Gari |
| STACCATO |
A short, fat fellow |
| WATATWEFY |
He is stout and strong |
| WADI HYE |
He is in hot waters |
| OSMOSIS |
Yams and beans usually eaten during the shortage of kekee |
| COLD SWEAT |
Bread, ricewater and beverage which makes students sweat (taken on Sundays at supper) at Sunday evening worship |
| NEW HORIZON |
Yam and palaver sauce (taken on Wednesdays at supper) |
| ATOMLESS |
The act of eating all the food on one's plate at the dining hall without leaving even a particle of the food in the plate |
| CIBUS |
food |
| BONE |
boy |
| NSIA PANIN |
Upper 6 |
| NSIA KUMA |
Lower 6 |
| S'APPAYER |
To fail in an exam |
| Sua-Conscious; Boysylla |
One who learns too much |
| Amor |
An ugly looking fellow |
| Apoo | Examination tips |
| Akwei | Bribe |
| Pinnings | The act of instigating in order to get a junior
in trouble |
| Nsoa | When one gets into trouble with his senior, the
junior is summoned to face questioning and/or punishment |
| Agade | Gari |
| Loogo | To have one's mattress seized by a senior. That
is the only guarrantee that the junior will report to the senior upon arrival
at the dorm |
| Aboro | Wickedness |
| Antioch | Porridge |
| Appean Way | The concrete walkway leading from the classroom
block to Ramseyer House |
| Atiso Base | The Place where we purchase Beans after supper
when the Dinning hall meal is not satisfactory |
| Abodie | A stoutly built person |
| Amanfoo | Old Boys of Prempeh |
| Ashele | Any foul odour from the mouth |
| Adwete | Fante kenkey |
| Sylla Mantse | A person who is constantly studying |
| Shaba | The Old Form Five Classroom Block |
| Persona | A handsome person |
| Sheea Bonoo | Expression of applause especially when somebody
uses a big word in his sentence |
| Soma | To fool while others learn |
| D'Hall | Dining hall |
| Scatter | When students rush for the food before grace
is said |
| TDB (Till Day Break) | Studying till the break of dawn |
| White House |
Another name for OT House |
| White House |
An illegal place near the Barracks where people used to go and eat banku |
| Moley-moley |
Incoming Prefects |
| Stool |
The Prempeh school Magazine |
| Gallery | The upper section of the assembly hall where
Form 5 boys used to sit in the good old days |
| Rat race | Two boys chasing the same girl |
| Tombay | Rejection of a boy's advances by a girl |
| SHM (Simple Harmonic Motion) | To doze in class |
| Gas Oil |
A special D-Hall soup that often comes with adwete |
| Gas | gari andsugar without water |
| Diplo | Gentleman |
| Emosoo | fun fair/dance |
| Eyes Obey | the muscle in the leg immediately below the rear
of the knee cap |
| Deva | A verb used to describe how an athlete has improved
|
| Rush Koti | Rushing in everything one does, only to realize
your folly later on |
| Obonfo | A teacher who is clueless about some topic |
| Boneshaker | The School truck |
| Kruhays | Acting like you are crazy and bad |
| Scrubbing mo' |
The scrubbing moniter |
| Ofoosolooso | One who lobies for Prefectship and loses |
| Macho | Well built fellow |
| Kokosakora | Porridge without bread and milk |
| Nkyiee | The act of receiving mail or welcoming visitors |
| Nhyiee | The act of sleeping |
| Operation |
A term that originated from Pearson Dorm 9 in
the late 1980s. Refers to seniors breaking into other people's chop box
late at noght while the victims sleep |
| Last Days are dangerous |
The period between final exams and closing assembly
at the end of the term. That is when most people get their things stolen |
| Slaughter House |
The School's O-Level Examination Center |
| Foreign table |
Any table in the D'Hall other than the ones assigned
to one's house |
| Bangladays |
Vacation period during which the school's exam
candidates remain on campus for studies |
| Katanga |
The Block behind Freeman House where senoirs
learn after "lights-out" |
| Minning |
The act of burning the midnight oil |
| Tawe | Emo tuo |
| Agyaba |
A student from a low-income family |
| Apino | A form of soap poor kids used |
| yams | D'Hall yams dish |
| Banks |
Banku |
| Palms | Palm wine |
| Awass | Awakye |
| Apio |
A special form of beer (akpeteshie) |
| Nsuoshee |
Tea |
| Nwiee | The act of eating another students food in the
D'Hall when he's absent |
| Choo | Food |
| Nicki Cruzon | Another term for Kruhays |
| Antiso | An antisocial person |
| Alors | Hiding yourself from others |
| Amoeba Nash | The school's Chief watchman |
| Doubles | excess food claimed at the dining hall |
| Buu | Pennis |
| Copper | To claim to be Mafia-like |
| Baba | To learn something by heart |
| Magne |
Ability to understand lessons easily |
| Nonfa | Irrelevant facts |
| Mpae |
To fail in exams |
| Bata | To do something with excessive vigour |
| Soaks | To help oneself to a gari meal |
| B'star | kontomire stew |
| Ble | English |
| Budey | Girlfriend |
| Capa | The ability to learn for many hours |
| Brass | Extraordinary |
| Conc | Fantastic |
| Shanks | Toilet |
| Kekee | Fried ripe plantain |
| Ntuo | Pronounciation mistakes |
| Base | St. Monicas Girls' School |
| Nestry keeper |
The person who oversees the work done at the
nestry, the small office attached to the Assembly Hall. This person is
usually a future candidate for Chaplain Prefect |
| Canteen keeper | A junior who is in charge of the house's mini
restaurant. He sells the doughnuts |
| Eshe wo | It means "You have cash" |
| greenhorns | new students |
| greenshirters |
in the Old "A" and "O" level system of secondary education, Prempeh's Sixth Formers wore blue shirts, while Forms 1 to 5 wore the traditional
green. So 6th Formers refered to the rest of the students as greenshirters. |
| blueshirters |
Sixth Formers |
| China |
- |
| Break bounds |
To walk out of the school territory without permission |
| Enyo | The act of taking a shower |
| Inspection |
A saturday morning weekly ritual in which houses clean their
assigned stations on campus to be awarded points by the prefects that same day. All weekly points are
summed up and the winning house takes home The Efficiency trophy at the end of the term, during closing Assembly.
In the dorm (also on saturday mornings) there is inspection of juniors' bed and personal neatness. |
| Stations | see above |
| Coloured | Any attire other the prescribed school outfits |
| Freesawyer | He who cuts classes |
| Dadaba |
Son of a wealthy man or to be from an upper class home |
| W'akura |
Means you are a village boy |
| Trunk & Chopbox |
Those pink two-storey bungalows behind OT house. The top storey sits on the bottom one like a trunk sits on a chop box in the dorm |
| The Castle | The bungalows on the side of campus facing Arthur Clark Street. Examples are the houses near the dispensary and the one next to the Slaughter House. |
| Ambassador |
A student who visits neighboring girls' schools so frequently that he is labeled as prempeh's ambassador to that particular girl school |
| Wretched | A wretched student is he who doesn't maintain a good personal hygeine; doesn't wear clean uniform; wears "charlie wote" to class, etc. |
| Weak |
A student who is afraid to make certain bold decisions is considered "weak." Usually
when some senior is about to punish a junior, another senior will instigate by labeling his friend as weak. This will in turn change the senior's mind and give the
junior an even harsher punishment, for no one wants to be called "weak." |
| Ntesoo |
"Me te so" means "I'm doing poorly." This term is usually used when a student perform poorly in an athletic event or even when one fails in his attempt to "mine." |
| She diplo |
being gentle |
| Watenaso |
confiscated / seized |
| Lie-low |
be calm and reserved |
| Stra |
Strategy |
| Snaps |
pictures |
| Gate crasher |
uninvited guest |
| Land-guard |
waiting patiently |
| Buso |
to sleep |
| Ala-ala |
pretending to be a guy, but really not |
| Whe micro feeling |
to benefit from someone's girlfriend e.g.
embracing/hugging her. |
| Ote so |
leading in something |
| atakwa |
false pretenses |
| Ditto-ditto |
to learn/copy something word to word |
| Harlem |
'Foes' (Second hand clothes) |
| Odem |
wearing long pair of socks beyond the knee level |
| Wo Tika |
to disgrace |
| Allow |
to be pardoned or forgiven |
| Dwa |
to be angry |
| Gua |
to use a word wrongly or to form a wrong sentence |
| Twama |
(1) to give up, (2) to surrender (3) to pardon |
| Huso |
To understand |
| Biri waniso |
to mislead or confuse |
| Nso |
to beat |
| Too-known |
pretending to know everything, but not really |
| Esi wo |
to have money |
| Abedwa |
something has arrived |
| AD-11 |
to walk to town |
| Osaman |
unknown person |
| Adwaalee |
a person who exaggerates or boasting too much |
| Abomuu |
a stupid person |
| Afuom |
A villager |
| Akote |
a very timid person |
| Attay |
an idiotic person |
| Bonsuo |
Underwear |
| PF (Pants-Free) |
wearing the famous khaki shorts without any underwear |
| Bo anti-pay |
wearing no underwear |
| To shank |
(1) to add some few drops of urine to the cup of water meant for an
irritating and intimidating senior.
(2) To wash or rinse a senior's cup or plate with water from the toilet or
urinal bowl |
| Kom so |
The process of applying for scholarship abroad |
| Arena |
(1) short-cut route to the dining hall using the tops of the bathrooms
and the corridors.
2) It is the safest route for juniors trying to avoid meeting seniors in the
corridors.
(3) It is the shortest route to the church service on Sundays when the seniors
are checking from dorm-to-dorm. |
| Car screeching |
joy-riding on campus |
| Kuntann |
resistance |
| Tawee |
persistence |
| Strow-way |
leaving the school grounds without exeat, via the pantry boys'
residence |
| Swapper |
womaniser |
| Bomfu |
plenty |
| Borough Highway |
the escaping route behind the pantry and via the small
orchard |
| Lights out |
sleeping hours for juniors, after Prep |
| Chrife |
Scripture Union |
| Foosu Pee |
A lower sixth-former over approving himself in order to be
considered a
Prefect's position |
| Asomdwoe don |
the sound of the dining hall bell, especially at lunch times |
| Batanga |
Excessive force |
| Bele-bele |
the school's church choir in their white robes |
| Apantan-kuntan |
a person with protruding jaw and cheekbones |
| Se-bo-glass |
protruding front teeth |
| Isobay |
Originates from the geomorphology word 'Isobar' referring to
isolated, dry, hard, and
steep calf sticking out at the back of one's legs |
| Bucher |
to favour someone at the dining hall by giving more food when serving
the food |
| Crucify |
to deliberately serve someone with smaller food at the dining hall.
|
| Woote-wo-coacoa |
expression used when others become aware that the topic that
one studied has appeared in the exams |
| Sony |
Freshly baked bread from G'berg House Master's bungalow in the early
80s |
| Raps |
sweet words to convince someone. This is the only saviour during Nsoa |
| Non-scor |
unofficially partaking in an athletic event |
| Doh |
doughnuts |
| Woo-pae |
study at length |
| Past-quo |
past questions |
| Button |
a letter delivered by hand, mostly from girl schools |
| Koopii |
parasitic company |
| Wabu so |
to be asleep |
| Apoo-fi |
unreliable or false information |
| Kikim |
very good |
| Kiko |
Brilliant |
| Hiras |
excellent |
| Paramus |
A parasitic student who depends on others |
| Boho |
o kneel down. This is the commonest and the quickest form of
punishment |
| T'Vei |
chooboi (asking for people's attention) |
| Zoai |
Yei (response indicating that you have their attention) |
| Table head |
the width end of the long dining hall table always reserved for
the sixth formers |
| Abunkwan |
palm-nut soup |
| Cyto |
elementary school girl |
| Akotex |
a middle-school girl. (Nkotex is the plural) |
| Akosa |
A middle school at Sofo-line where Nkotex were hunted |
| Kapeeloo |
roasted groundnuts / peanuts |
| Aka pice |
very small remaining |
| T.B.F. |
To-bo-fom. (a very low backside / bum) |
| Mango-down |
where food is sold during break times |
| Akwadaa Nyame / Abontoa |
a very small, but a grown up person |
| Home made |
food prepared from home and brought to a student on visitation |
| Ashitoa |
flatulence (to fart or break wind) |
| Washe-wo-to |
expression meaning someone has farted or broken wind |
| Woo she-wo-mu |
expression for someone having a hot drink |
| Meeko di |
expression meaning ' I am going to study' |
| Meeko we |
expression meaning ' I am going to eat' |
| Meeko yo |
expression meaning 'I am going to shower' |
| Meeko she |
expression meaning 'I am going to sleep' |
| Meeko so |
expression meaning 'I am going to urinate' |
| Meeko ban |
expression meaning 'I am going to the toilet' |
| So no-mans |
to urinate |
| No man's land |
an inappropriate place to urinate |
| Chaw |
plenty |
| Ode wo be sim |
you will be disappointed / cheated |
| Mellow |
surprised |
| Yi no fly |
to throw away |
| Lega (Legacy) |
to be offered something of a second hand value |
| Hype |
to try to lie |
| Nyima |
to disclose (mostly when a senior is looking for a particular junior |
| Ataamo |
prostitution |
| Huso |
to understand |
| Wate shock |
to be surprised |
| Mate wo whene mu |
expression for 'extremely wonderful / surprised' |
| Biri waniso |
(1) to be surprised (2) to mislead |
| Esi wo |
to be rich |
| Abe da wo |
to have money |
| Nso |
to beat |
| Anom |
to beat |
| Alos man |
A hard-to-find guy. Always hiding himself from others |
| Opooman |
unsure guy |
| Atikoboo nana |
a hairstyle, which is short on front and sides, but more at
the back |
| Mpee |
discharge / release of sperms |
| So classes |
fail to attend classes |
| Wo te so |
finding something too difficult to do |
| Nkye so |
(1) to catch up (2) to beat someone in a competition |
| Wa te awe |
too late to catch up with something / competition |
| Choopii |
someone who eats too much |
| Mellow |
surprised |
| Para |
(1) to borrow (2) to depend on |
| She |
to smoke |
| Samammo |
cheering and chanting songs |
| Oso |
the school chaplain |
| Aboyie |
a grown up student |
| Obi papa |
a grown up student |
| Afu-ashia |
a bearded person |
| Phobians |
students from TI Ahmadiyya |
| K-Lomo |
to run faster |
| Scarter |
to disperse / escape |
| Ndwie |
punishment |
| Dwi |
to punish |
| SSS |
Save Soap Society |
| SSA |
Secret Soakers Association. (Members soak in the dark, after the Lights-
out or in Secret and isolated places. Membership could be seniors or juniors) |
| Middle East |
the softer middle bread, usually for seniors during breakfast |
| Somebody |
The hard outer ends of a roll of bread. Usually a senior on a
particular day could
instruct for it to be given to a particular as juniors as a form of
punishment. |
| Baayree |
yams |
| So |
to have higher marks in an exam |
| SALTRE (Strong Apoo Limitations Treaty) |
strong agreement between some few students to keep leaked exams questions secret to themselves |
| Watena so |
(1) to hide (2) to have the highest mark in an exam |
| China |
Sofo line Health Clinic, where students go to study during lights-out
on exams week. |
| Amorphous |
An ugly looking fellow |
