Lagniappe

Lag-knee-app?

An app for … lagging knees?

400px-Ostich_legs

Photo by Tamar Assaf via Wikimedia Commons

Um, no, somehow I doubt that’s it.

Here—you take a look at the word I’m sputtering and tell me if you can pronounce it:

Lagniappe.

This is what the dictionary tells me:

lan-YAP – or – LAN-yap

Easier said than read!

With that cleared up, all I can think is, “Stop your lan-yapping … lagniapping?”

Sigh … wrong again.

If you’re a Texas or Louisiana belle, you might have used this word in conversation, and I do wish you were here to save me from sounding so silly!

The__Lone_Star__Belle

The “Lone Star Belle,” ca. 1908, Cowgirl Postcard, via Wikimedia Commons

But, since I’m on my own up here in Idaho, I’ll give it my best. Something like …

When Debbie Sue was at the farmers’ market selling her delicious homemade doughnuts, the early-morning customers would flock to her stand to buy a dozen because everyone knew that Debbie Sue loved a lagniappe— her dozen always meant a classic baker’s 13.

Photo by Kronn via Wikimedia Commons

Get it?

Debbie Sue’s lagniappe was an extra doughnut, but it could be just about any small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of a compliment or for good measure.

“The word entered English from the Louisiana French adapting a Quechua word brought in to New Orleans by the Spanish Creoles,” explains Wikipedia. “It derived from the South American Spanish phrase la yapa (referring to a free extra item, usually a very cheap one). In Andean markets, it is still customary to ask for a yapa (“a little extra”) when making a purchase. Although this is an old custom, it is still widely practiced today in Louisiana. Street vendors, especially vegetable vendors, are expected to throw in a few green chilies or a small bunch of cilantro with a purchase.”

502px-Farmers_market

Photo by Tammy Farrugia via Wikimedia Commons

Have you received a lagniappe lately?

 

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    I believe Krispy Kreme Donuts has incorporated that into their business policy at times here on the east coast. Leave it to the Louisiana Creoles to make it a policy. Hmmmmm, I wonder if that would include their incredible beignets?

  2. Karlyne says:

    I’m not a donut lover, but I have to say that that picture made me hunger for a hot, perfectly filled raspberry donut… And, for some strange reason, I did pronounce lagniappe correctly, but I did not know what it meant!

  3. Cathy R says:

    AH! Brings back memories of when I lived in Baton Rouge, LA. Definitely a Louisiana word that migrated to TX. Extra Blessings today! Cathy in Orofino

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