# Today I learned the BBC has a pidgin English section **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297 "2023-06-10T20:19:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/1 "2023-06-10T20:19:41Z")
I must have read thousands of BBC articles over the years and never ran across this before. Pretty cool. I did a search before posting this and I got more hits of posters spelling pigeon wrong than about the language. > **[Video of shark attack on Russian man off Egyptian red sea coast show im last...](https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/c3gpjxk0mx3o)** > > One eyewitness catch di moment of di attack on camera and share di video. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/2 "2023-06-10T21:16:43Z")
Even the cookie opt-in is in pidgin (should that be capitalized?). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/3 "2023-06-10T22:23:31Z")
No, it should not be capitalized. “pidgin” is a broadly used term. There is no “one true pidgin” for English… There are hundreds of them. The idea of a website having “a” pidgin is ridiculous. A person speaking another pidgin English might find that quite incomprehensible. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/4 "2023-06-10T22:30:19Z")
There is a type of language called a “pidgin” and if you’re stating a particular language is a pidgin language then no, because it’s an adjective. Just as you wouldn’t capitalize “creole” if you said a particular language was a creole. If, however, you are referring to a _specific_ pidgin language then yes, you probably should capitalize it just as you would capitalize French or German or Japanese. There are a _lot_ of pidgins - [here’s a list from Wikipedia.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin#Examples). Note that specific pidgins are capitalized, like West Greenlandic Pidgin or Nigerian Pidgin, but it’s a bit spotty regarding capitalization for others on the list. I’m guessing it depends on whether “pidgin” is part of the language’s name or an adjective modifying the name. And the entry “English-based pidgins” does not capitalize pidgin, presumably because it’s not referring to one specific language. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/5 "2023-06-10T23:40:34Z")
I myself was going to ask which pidgin it was. I had to jump to Google to find that it is “West African Pidgin English, also called Guinea Coast Creole English.” > **[Pidgin - West African lingua franca](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38000387)** > > As the BBC launches a service in Pidgin to target West African audiences, we look at what the language entails. And I note that the BBC themselves do capitalize the word “Pidgin” when referring to this specific variety. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/6 "2023-06-10T23:50:00Z")
Well… technically, if it’s actually a creole then it’s not pidgin. But it wouldn’t surprise me that there are creoles that are called pidgins, because most of them started as pidgins (then later acquired native speaker who further refined it). ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/7 "2023-06-11T14:36:13Z")
That’s really cool! ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/8 "2023-06-11T16:50:21Z")
Since it specifically separates Nigeria from the rest of Africa, I assumed that’s the specific pidgin being used. Announcement from 2017: > **[BBC Pidgin: Meet the team](https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-40981051)** > > Meet the team bringing the BBC to tens of millions of Pidgin speakers in West and Central Africa. > Pidgin is spoken by an estimated 75m people in Nigeria alone, with additional speakers across West and Central Africa. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/9 "2023-06-11T16:52:21Z")
I grew up in Freetown, West Africa. My sister and I were both fairly fluent in the local pidgin. Our mother disapproved. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/10 "2023-06-12T15:14:54Z")
Did you retain any of it or is it a struggle for you to comprehend it now? I run across a few different versions in NY and I’m often surprised how much I can understand. I actually have to do a little pause to mentally switch over, unlike daily users. There are also immigrants who have their local pidgin, but start adding American English to it so it seems to constantly evolve. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-i-learned-the-bbc-has-a-pidgin-english-section/985297/11 "2023-06-12T17:04:37Z")
> [@mordecaiB](#): > > Did you retain any of it or is it a struggle for you to comprehend it now? I have no background in pidgin and have no problem comprehending it. Speaking it on the other hand…