Street
mangala
What does mangala mean?
A grim but real piece of transport-worker slang: a corpse being carried from where a person died back to their hometown for burial, compared to how dried fish is packaged and transported.
"The bus wasn't taking passengers that trip — it was carrying a mangala home to the village."
Origin
Documented Otu-Onitsha transport-worker slang in Nkamigbo & Eme (2011); literally 'dried fish,' used for a corpse being transported from the place of death to the deceased's hometown, reflecting the real Igbo custom of returning bodies home for burial.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mangala mean in transport slang?
It refers to a corpse being transported home for burial, literally 'dried fish' — a reference to Igbo transport-worker slang for this journey.
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