Lag-knee-app?
An app for … lagging knees?
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!
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.
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.”
Have you received a lagniappe lately?
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?
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!
Guess it was just stuck in your subconscious somewhere. Have you gone looking for a donut yet this morning?
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
Blessings right back! All the way to Orofino.