Lesson 1 of 1
The story
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Money or a fly?
Fiction
Audu, a student in Kano, typed a message on a phone with no hooked letters: “Ina neman kudi.” He meant: “I am looking for money.”
His cousin Hauwa read it and wondered. Was Audu asking for help? Or, if the hook was missing from the k, was he hunting a fly?
She wrote back: “Kudi ko ƙudi?” Money or fly? Audu laughed and sent a second message, with a photograph of his empty wallet.
“Kudi,” she wrote. “Understood.” Readers usually manage, but a hook can change a word.
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Did you know?
The story is invented. The pair is real: kudi means money and ƙudi means a fly, and Hausa is often typed without hooks.