Happy Sunday all my Jaderbugs! I know my blog is “typically” a craft blog but sometimes I like to throw in some fun things for you! This, lemme tell you I could not pass up! It’s something I believe everyone should see. It’s how us “cajuns” talk! I travel alot and when I go to different places people always tend to look at me differently because of they way I speak.
I always laugh because I KNOW I have a really STRONG southern accent but for the first time ever on my blog… Here it is…. Dumm Dummmm Dummmmmm
Cajun Dictionary
Cajun State Motto: Laisse les bons ton rouler. (Let the good times roll)
Cajun State Song: Jolie Blon
Cajun State Bird: Mosquito
A
abdominal, detestable, horrible.
“If you don get a hair cut you gone to look like de abdominal snowman.”
ablum, a collection of music on record.
ag, the round reproductive body of birds or animals.
“ I like my gumbo wit turtle ag.”
ah, I, the first person.
“Ah like you.”
ak, the process of doing.
“ Why don you ak right.”
all, petroleum.
“Check the all too, please.”
alma dillon, armadillo.
“Ther’s no more turtles, de alma dillions dig up all de ags.
anh, a reply used when one does not understand or as an expression of surprise.
“Oh Boudreaux, lan me twenty dollars? “ “anh!”
ax, ask.
“ax him if he wants some more gumbo.
B
bad, a piece of furniture used for sleeping.
“He’s sick in de bad.”
bag dare, in the rear away from civilization, in back of.
“He went bag dare in de swamp.”
ball, to boil.
“Ya’ll come over tonight, we gonna ball some crawfish.”
bat, to wash or bathe.
“Go take a bat, you stink.”
Boo-dree-ox, how Rednecks and Yankees pronounce Boudreaux.
booray, a card game played in Cajun Country, Also, to lose or go broke.
“You gonna booray if you try dat hand.”
C
cam, tranquil, calm.
“De fish should bite, de waters cam.”
cause, the price paid to aquire something.
“How nuch does dat cause?”
car porch, a hood entension used for parking cars (car port).
“My car porch leaks arrytime it rains.”
chew, from the French slang meaning rear end or behind. In Cajun dialect, it may also mean the whole person especially if he is undesirable.
“Get you chew off my boat.”
chew rouge, irritated, provoked. Translated literally, a red ass.
“Dat fellow gives me de chew rouge.”
chiren, infants or young ones.
“ Call de chiren, its time for supper.”
chock a block, very abundant, packed.
“De lake is chock a block wit duck.”
chockay, incoherently drunk.
“You gone to get chockay wit dat cheap wine!”
chu chut, a general purpose substitute for naming any small object or device.
“De motor wont run wit out dat little chu chut dair.”
chune, to tune a musical instrument or engine.
“Dat motor needs a chune-up.”
coil, to telephone to.
“Coil me later, my old man’s home from offshore.”
coo, a very enthusiastic expression of amazement.
“Coo! Look at de size of dem shrimp.”
cooyon, stupid, dumb, also an educated fool.
“If dem cooyon engineers don stop digging canals all over, we gonna all flood.”
D
d, always used in place of “th”, i.e. dem people, de car, dose apples, etc.
“All dough dis is you boat, dat is my motor.”
do do, to sleep (from the French dormir).
“It’s time to make do do, I got to get up at five tomorrow.”
dubba, twofold.
“I got dubba my money back on dat deal.”
dumata, a red pulpy garden vegetable.
“ My favorite vegetable is a dumata.”
E
each, irritation of the shin.
“I each all over.”
een, within, inclusion.
“He’s all the time een trouble.’
een dare, within.
“Dare’s a big coon een dare.”
“Dare’s a big coon een dare.”
enemy, injection of liquid into the rectum.
“If you eat too much cheese, you’ll have to have a enemy.”
F
fay dodo, a dance or party.
“De last time we went to a fay dodo all you did was dance with Tee-Harry’s wife.”
fooyay, to meddie, a foolish act.
“Ah told you not to fooyay with Alcide’s box.”
four michael, formica.
“Honey, if we catch plenty of shrimp dis season, can I have some four michaelon my kitchen cabinets.”
G
ga, to look, look at.
“Ga, here come Boudreaux wit his new gilfran.”
gaga, someone prone to be too inquisitive.
“Arrytime we pass in front of her house dat gaga is rocking on de porch.”
galee, an expression used to denote surprise or astonishment.
“Galee, it’s you dat was dressed up like dat for Mardi Gras.”
goat rocks, how Rednecks & Yankees pronounce Gautreaux.
gang warden, a wildlife agent.
“Git rid of the dinner mite here come the gang warden.”
gogo, a slang expression for making love.
“My husband never wants to go anywhere, all he ever thinks about is gumbo, gogo, and dodo.”
gree gree, any object of contrivance used to conjure harm or evil to the recipient.
“If dat new guy don’t stop follin wit ma girl, ahm gon put a gree gree on him.”
guff, large body of water, Gulf of Mexico.
“Lets go to Grand Island, de guff is cam.”
H
had, the upper part of the body, also the brain.
“You might as well git it into you had, you can’t go to dat trashy place.”
hafass, low grade, half hearted effort, inferior.
“Dat’s a hafass job if I ever saw one.”
hairline, a major thoroughfare in New Orleans (Airline).
“Dey had a bad wreck on de hairline.”
Halo Statue, a reply over the telephone, when the answering party is familiar.
hayacall, used to denote any object or creature for which the name is unknown.
“Dat hayacall jumped out de tree and ate him in de show.”
hormel, substance formed in Endocrine glands.
“Dem hormel pills make all dem women crazy.”
hose-pipe, water hose.
“Pick up de hose-pipe befo you cut de grasses.”
I
I, seldom pronounced as such. In cajun dialect: I is pronounced as ah, but pronounced as e when preceding a consonant.
if, used often as a strong affirmative reply.
“You lak to dance?” – “If!”
ion, a common metal, also to press clothes.
“Ion you own dress, lazy.”
J
jaws, a glass container.
“Tante (Aunt) Cecile sent us 12 jaws of fig preserves.”
Jaypan, Japanese.
“All dem Jaypan radios is trash.”
juga keen, sugar cane.
“Arry time dey spray de juga keen it kill all de doves.”
Junya, a young boy, junior.
“Oh, Junya, quit teasing your sister.”
K
kang, a metal container.
“Pop me another kang of Bud, please.”
kritspee, crispy.
“We out of bread, eat de kritspee.”
L
lak, to show affection.
“Ah lak her but she don lak me.”
launch, noon meal.
“He was fired from NASA because he taut a launch pad was where you went to eat.”
leaf, to go away, depart.
“Leaf me alone!”
loan motor, a device for cutting grass.
“With all dis rain de grasses is too high for de loan motor.”
loopey long, The Huey P. Long Bridge.
“Ah don like to go to New Orleans de loopey long is to narrow.”
M
ma, possessive adjective.
“Ma feet hurt!”
marry, happy. Gay.
“Marry crease-moose.”
may, but, well(from the French – mais ).
“May, ah taut you brought de bait.”
me, same as in English but frequently used with I.
“I’m gone to town, me.”
metry, system of measurement.
“Why we gotta have dat metry system, arrybody knows dat 2 pints equals 1 quart, 4 quarts equal 1 gallon, and may, 5 gallons equals a 5 gallon kang.”
moodee, cursed, foul, no good.
“Dat noodee loan motor never starts until you crank you arm off.”
N
Nannan, god mother.
“I wish ma nannan was rich lak you nannan.”
neutral, nutria.
“Dem neutrals will bite you if you not careful.”
nonk, uncle.
“You nose is big lak Nonk Justin.”
nort, north.
“All de crabs is gone up nort.”
nuttin, nothing.
“nuttin went right today.”
O
ohm, house, home.
“It’s time for you to go ohm.”
ovadaddy, over there, away from.
“He’s way ovadaddy across de lake.”
P
paunch, to pole, hit.
“Shut up or I’m gonna paunch you.”
peeve, concrete road.
“Dey need to peeve dis road to git rid of de holes.”
pansil, implement used for writing.
“Don’t run wit dat pansil in you mouth!”
pleece, deputy, law officer.
“Keep ;you dog in you yard or I’m gonna call the pleece.”
pleet, plate.
“De pleet launch is good at Annie’s.”
pooyie, distasetful, offensive.
“You smelled dat perfume she has on.” “Pooyie!”
prospect, male gland at base of urethra.
“Nonk Harry had trouble wit his prospect gland.”
Q
No Q in Cajun Allphabet.
R
rad, Crimson, scarlet, also to blush.
“His face turn rad when she left wit dat other guy.”
ranch, to wash off.
“Always use cistern water to ranch the dishes.”
rat cheer, in front of, before you.
“Rat cheer is where we caught all dem trouts.”
roday, to run around, on the go.
“Avery time her old man goes offshore all she does is roday.”
Rob E. Chocks, how Rednecks and Yankees pronounce Robichaux.
S
s, seldom used with the plural often with the singular.
“Ah lak crab, shrimps and ouster.”
salse, a seasoned, preparation usually containing tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
“Clovis is cleaning de turtles, you can start with de salse.”
seem, alike, identical.
“All dem politicians is de seem.”
severe, land surveyor.
“Ah’m gone see de severe, he built dat fence across ms propitty.”
sha, dear, precious (from the French cher).
“Oh sha, you want to dance.”
shad, small building.
“Cut the wood and put it in de shad.”
she, used with nouns to denote gender.
“Ma car, she is broke.”
shoepick, a large fresh water fish found mostly in swamps and bayous: cypress trout.
“Crawfish is de best bait for shoepicks.”
slug ranch, a special tool for changing automobile tires.
“Ah had a flat in de middle of the road and no slug ranch in de trunk.”
swimps, edible crustacean common in South Louisiana.
“Don forget de swimps fo de gumbo tomorrow.”
T
T, small, petite, little; also used as a nickname when affixed with surname. T-Boy, T-Harry, T-Cat, etc.
“He don lak for you to call him T-Norman since he moved to Baton Rouge.”
tan, the number ten.
“Tan dollars is too high for khaki pants.”
tanks, to express gratitude.
“Tanks for letting me use you duck blind.”
teeree, the number 3 (roll the “r”).
“All ah got left is teeree dollar.”
teet, teeth.
“He laughed so hard his teet fell in de bayou.”
tie loose, to untie.
“Tie loose de boat.”
tied, exhausted, weary, impatient.
“Ah’m tied of dat job.”
tink, thought, thinking, concept.
“What you tink ah’m crazy.”
true, in one end, out the other.
“He fell true de roof.”
trow, to durl or propel, also to put.
“Trow it in second gear or you gonna get stuck.”
tunda, the loud noise which accompanies lightning or the lightning bolt.
“Don stand under dat tree, you will be hit by de tunda.”
tursty, craving drink.
“Let’s stop at de Bon Ton Roule, ah’m tursty.”
twat, person or thing of a derogatory nature, also rear end or butt.
“Tell dat little twat to go home.”
U
udder, another person or thing.
“Ah no, it was dat udder guy what did dat.”
umpie, referee.
“De umpie was for dem, dats why we lost.”
V
vary, extremely.
“Ah am vary hungry.”
very close, swollen veins (varicose).
“If dem women would walk in de swamp lak dey used to, dey wouldn’t have dem very close vein!”
violet, ranging, disorderly, violent.
“When ah told him he pay too much for dat boat, he got violet.”
vote, unit of electromotive force.
“It takes a 24 vote battery to crank dat moodee machine.”
W
warse, stinging insect.
“He’s mean lak a warse.”
wone, to gain or succeed.
“Ah wone eight dollars playing booray.”
X
X-rated, to examine by means of X-ray.
“You batter go have you had X-rated!”
Y
yallo, bright color like that of lemon.
“Dat yallo dress she had on for de wedding was ugly.”
year, the organ of hearing.
“Dat cooyon had a ring on his year.”
yestitty, the day preceeding.
“Ah know yestitty was you burtday, but today you lak de rest of us.”
Z
zinc, a basin in a kitchen.
“Don wash you hand in de zinc.”
I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but certainly you’re going to a famous
blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
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This is awsome! I am a 4th gen native Californian, but my daddy was from South Carolina, so I sometimes speak with a bit of the south in my accent. There is one word that my daddy would say that always made me cringe: nukular, as in nuclear bomb. When George Bush was president, it always amused me that the person in charge of the deployment of such a horrific weapon couldn’t correctly pronounce its name 😉
Vickie! That is great… I actually like the work nukular.. hahah! Well then again everyone around me doesn’t really pronounce things correctly so I totally get it! Happy FRIDAY! Jade