palava

Palava (also spelled palaver) enters West African languages from Portuguese palavra (word, speech), from Latin parabola (speech, parable), from Greek parabolē (comparison, analogy). Portuguese traders on the West African coast used palavra to mean a discussion or negotiation — the palavras between Europeans and African chiefs. In West African Pidgin English, the word shifted from 'discussion' to 'argument' to 'trouble.'

The shift happened naturally. Portuguese and African traders met on the coast for palavras — trade negotiations. These negotiations were often contentious. The word absorbed the contentiousness. By the eighteenth century, 'palaver' in English meant a lengthy, tedious discussion — often with the implication that the discussion was unnecessary or that the other party was being unreasonable. The colonial attitude is embedded in the word.

In West African Pidgin English (spoken across Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Liberia), 'palava' now means trouble, a problem, or a complication. 'No palava' means 'no problem.' 'Palava dey' means 'there's trouble.' The word is one of the most used in West African Pidgin — it appears in conversation, in Nollywood films, in music, and in text messages. It has shed its Portuguese formality entirely.

English borrowed the word as 'palaver' in the eighteenth century, meaning a long, pointless discussion. 'What a palaver!' The British sense is dismissive — a palaver is a fuss about nothing. The West African sense is more serious — a palava is real trouble. Same word, different weights. The Portuguese wanted a conversation. The Africans got an argument. The British got a complaint.