Eating in Igbo phrasebook

What do you say...

Thank you, please and sorry can be useful in any society. The Igbo forms of these phrases are as follows.

Ndo (in-DOE)�

In Igbo society, ndo is usually used to console someone whenever something bas happens to them, for example someone may say ndo to you if you trip over, but it generally isn't used to apologise, only in some cases.

Biko (bee-coe)�

'please', can also be used as an equivalent of 'excuse me'

Imeela (ee-MEH-lah)�

Literally 'you've done it', this is used as a term for gratitude, if someone brings you a meal, this would be a term to use.

Daalu (DAH-LOO)�

'thanks', this is the most similar to the English 'thank you' and is the most polite

Jisike (jee-SI-kay)�

Literally 'use strength', this term is used to show support for someone's hard work; if you see a cook working hard in the kitchen, you can say jisike, usually with a honorific, or if not use their gender ('nwoke' for male, 'nwaanyi' for female), so it would be 'nwaanyi jisike', and you will get a response like 'oh!' which is an expression of acknowledgement.